Last night I received the following report on the shooting; > We just returned from the scene of a police shooting of a young man in > North Minneapolis.� This young man, while critically injured, is > fortunate to have survived the shooting. > > We spoke to several witnesses who told us that the young man was > running from police at the time of the shooting and that he was in the > middle of jumping over a fence when he was shot FOUR TIMES IN THE > BACK!� Police are claiming in the media that he had a gun but all of > the witnesses told us he did not.� Further, a number of witnesses have > signed an affidavit stating that police officers told them, "you got > one of ours so now we got one of yours," alluding to the death of > police office Melissa Schmidt. > > While we were in the area, police were quite out of control, harassing > people, making racist comments and threatening that they "will be next" > if they tried to walk down the street, pick up their children from > daycare in the area, etc.
Now if I assume, for the sake of argument, that the police story is absolutely true, and the this story is entirely fabrication - I have to ask myself "What purpose would such a lie serve?" I can't find an answer. If, on the other hand, I reverse my assumption and ask the same question, I can easily see the motivation behind such a lie. As in most things, I would guess that the truth lies in the middle somewhere but this is one of those occassions where the facts may be less important than the perception of the facts. The perception is simply that we can not trust the police. It is an assumption held by many and it effects their perception and judgment. The same is true of those who implicitly trust the police. There is a clear need to rebuild this trust and I have SOME ideas that will help. I for one favor police who will live in the neighborhoods they patrol. An officer who is more afraid of my neighborhood than I am, is not an officer that I can trust. But how do we compel officers to live in the community? I would aks that the city council establish a scholarship fund. This fund will be available to student-residents of Minneapolis who are committed to acquiring the necessary degrees and training to become a police officer. In return they sign a contract binding them to 5 years residence in and employment with a particular Mpls police department precinct. In other words, in high school, a student commits to returning to his/her neighborhood for five years as a police officer. If they drop out or leave, they are obligated to pay back the loan. I'm sure that the city could wrangle something with federally guaranteed student loans to ensure that they are not dismissed under bankruptcy. If this is enacted now it will be ten years before we see its benefits. It may be a long wait but the important question is, can our City Council and Mayor see that far ahead and plan that far ahead? On Wednesday, August 14, 2002, at 09:01 AM, Rosalind Nelson wrote: > I think that people are upset this time not so much because the police > shot the suspect but because of reports that one officer told people at > the scene, "You got one of ours and we got one of yours." > > Rosalind Nelson > Bancroft neighborhood > > > Stephen Jester wrote: >> >> According to today's paper, the suspect was carrying a .40 caliber >> handgun. >> I recently shot a gun of this caliber, and let me tell you it packs >> some >> punch. I'm not surprised by the resident's reaction, and the complaint >> that >> the police didn't have to shoot "this boy". Well, he's 19, so he is a >> man, >> and I don't think veteran officers would shoot a man in cold blood. >> Let's go back to the chase and shooting of the boy on 3700 >> block of Girard >> last summer. What was the reaction then? Why did the cops have to >> shoot that >> boy. Why? HE HAD A GUN AND POINTED IT AT ANOTHER HUMAN BEING. The >> parents of >> that boy came out and blasted the police, without knowing all the >> facts. >> Turned out that he was running with the bad crowd, and all police >> accounts >> were correct. Once again the community activists come out when a black >> person is shot by the police. But why aren't they over here off of >> Lowry? >> Why aren't they telling the black kids to get off the street corners >> and >> clean up the neighborhood they live in? I see more people sitting on >> the >> stoop of their house with beer cans and bottles in the front yard. >> What's up >> with that? I just would like to see these activists facing up to the >> real >> problems on a day to day basis her on the northside. >> I've told my father that the only solution to this is to hire >> a black >> police chief, and hire all black cops to run the areas that blacks are >> concentrated in. What will be the complaint then? This is another case >> of >> the police saying one thing, and the residents saying another, well I'm >> going with the police on this one, just like last summer on Girard. >> >> Stephen Jester >> McKinley >> >> _______________________________________ >> 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 > _______________________________________ > 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 _______________________________________ 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
