I propose to end the oversight of due process within law enforcement and ban the use of homicide throughout national police departments. According to the FBI, police kill an average of 400 people a year. The figure thus far in 2015 is over 600, with the police killing over a hundred people in the months March and July.
The reason for this, is because we all know that police killings often go underreported. If to protect and serve is the motto, then the police must especially protect those who cannot serve themselves. There is firm reason to believe the casualty rate is grossly underreported and disproportionately affects and targets the mentally disabled and ethnic minorities.
I’ve seen the story repeated on all sides right in my little sleepy town Long Beach. Doug Zerby was the first story of an “accidental” police homicide I remember. When I was 14, an officer killed him thinking he was an armed robber because he forgot his keys and picked up a fire hose on his way in.
Even if he was an armed robber, thou shalt not kill.
I understand that it’s because it happens to police too. I remember my neighbor shot a cop in the face and fled. The SWAT team kicked us all out and raided our building, despite the fact he was long gone.
On the flip side again, I remember all my neighbors saw an armed mentally unstable woman in her car down the block.
The cops weren’t taking any chances this time so she was murdered by the police. They told us not to take photos or videos and took her body away in a bag…
Most recently, you may have heard the tragic story of 20 year old Feras Morad who was killed by a scared Long Beach police officer after falling through a second story window…
People don’t have control over themselves a lot of the time. That doesn’t mean the first reaction should be to put them down like a beast. People also don’t have the access to a SWAT crew who will raid the apartment complex of their shooter. Even when officers are taken to court, many times the officer wins and gets rewarded while the family of the murdered civilian ends up losing and paying thousands in legal fees.
Barack Obama can and should put into action an executive order to ban the use of homicide within the police department, especially on unarmed individuals on the basis that it’s a violation of an individual’s right to due process.
If he sets this into order, then it will set a tone for the future presidencies to come because I’m sure it’ll become a topic of the current debates that are going on. Future presidents and ultimately congressional bodies will have to decide whether they want their officers killing innocent civilians or not.
If Obama signs this, he will make a lot of people happy, most of all, the officers who are ill-equipped to handle the power to take a life. I think his report card will be at B+/A-
SIGNAL BOOST: Barack Obama: End the use of police homicide in the absence of due process.
Fibromyangela 