Whether or not they choose to admit it, there is clearly a breakdown of trust between police and the African American community, and that distrust has spread to the rest of America. We have seen police chiefs refuse to release potentially damning videos to the public (Keith L. Scott, Tamir Rice, Laquan McDonald), tamper with evidence (Laquan McDonald), we’ve seen police plant evidence then collude to cover it up (Walter Scott), we’ve watched as police stood by and said nothing when one of their colleagues performed an illegal chokehold that proved fatal (Eric Garner). We’ve repeatedly watched police render no medical assistance after they’ve mortally injured someone, leaving citizens to die like animals (Michael Brown, Terence Crutcher, Tamir Rice, Kajieme Powell, among many others). Yet police unions continue to be the harshest critics of police reform. Read more here.
From the Archive