while I would agree that the comment by Mr. Jamal and even my reference to police having the "taste of blood in their mouths" are inflammatory they are made in the context of frustration at a Police Chief who cautions us to withhold judgement and in the next sentence all but declares the innocence of his officers.
Whether it is true or not their is at the very least the perception of many(?)some(?)people that the field is not level. I tend to fall into that category but then I have been lied to so often that i have become cynical. how hard it is to say that. for the longest time I wanted to portray myself as in possession of a healthy skepticism. The one comment that I have seen over and over again in countless letters and editorializing and even in the words of higher-ups in the Police Federation is that these officers were acting in accord with their training. If I recall the same comments were made after all the other shootings we have witnessed by police. And therein lies the problem I think. There and in attitude. I'm told the Chief has a sign of some sort that says something like "Attitude is Everything" on his desk. I apologize for not being exact or seeming unsure but it is something my razor sharp mind recalls from a Strib piece shortly after the Chief rode into town. I think the Chief's attitude stinks not to mention his inability to at least fake an open mind. I've read the report on Barbara Schneider's death. It wasn't pretty. The incident would have been laughable were a person's life not taken. I thought I was reading a script for a Keystone Kops movie. One week after her death the President of the Police Federation said the officers were only following their training. As to attitude, all I know is that we sent an officer and a psychiatrist to check out a CIT program in Memphis that had been successful by all measurement and they came back to Minneapolis thinking they would just change a few things. What do you call consulting experts and then thinking you know better? Arrogance? Unteachability? By the way one thing that changed: Memphis had stopped using Tasers long before then and had gone to a foam substance that immobilizes people. Why, I am not sure. That is a question for someone else to ask. I don't think for a minute the police enjoy shooting a mentally ill person yet it doesn't help their chances of not repeating the same mistakes over and over again by circling the wagons and professing innocence. Tim Connolly Downtown __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Sports - live college hoops coverage http://sports.yahoo.com/ _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
