Last year, my state beat its own record in killing civilians via use of force (officers fatally shot 13 people in '16, the most since Minnesota began keeping records 38 years ago. The previous high was 12 deaths, in both 2010 and 2015). Several even made national headlines and outrage from their misapplied force, increasing record for wrongful death, covered up or intentionally delayed information and general social scrutiny at the uptick in civilian deaths.
I grew up in Saint Paul, Minnesota and I work and have lived in Minneapolis for most of my adult life. We were thought of as a pretty decent community. The epitome of seasonal weather, affordable living and resources for students and families, a known hub of multiculturalism with chart making amounts of different ethnicities forming tight, welcoming communities for each other. We're supposed to be known for silly accents, foods on sticks, cows and Minnesota Nice. I cannot in good faith invite people to my state and tell them they're guaranteed to find nice. Police brutality isn't what I want to be acknowledged for, but its a growing concern.
Jamar Clark in Minneapolis. Philando Castile in Falcon Heights. And now Justine Damond — in Minneapolis, again. So are we going to beat the body count, again?
There have been some less than scrupulous behaviors by law enforcement and they've stolen futures from people I should be calling neighbor. The disgusting imbalance of power has turned people with dreams of taking their families on vacation and building a life they're proud of into chalklines and hashtags.
This is what we mean when we say "no justice, no peace, fuck the police". This is what we mean when we say we'd trust a tightknit neighborhood over potenial murder. This is why people are screaming that we need to reevaluate the jobs we've given our police. Why should anyone in a righ-risk, weapons related scenario be given minor psychological training and be literally told their lives are legally worth more? Is there a good reason to fill people with fear and megalomania besides a fascist-like build up of authority? If you want to protect and serve, start by not making somebody who is deemed a civil servant worth more than me on paper and in practice. Don't steal the equality and equity of treatment from the Declaration and treat me like my life has value. Its unfair to ask so much of them on a stress basis and its unfair to subject civilians to potentially mentally unstable and/or rogue officers who become judge, jury and executioner.
Not sure dismantling the department would result in safer streets. But after seeing stuff like the dashcam footage from Castile's killing, and hearing about more and more local instances of police sending bullets flying in inappropriate circumstances, I do believe there's a massive problem throughout law enforcement culture - and think that disarming most officers until they can prove their ability to remain calm under serious pressure would make more sense than giving everyone a gun, telling them to always be afraid, and also telling them to shoot at whatever makes them feel threatened.
Hey, thank you for your reply.
I agree. When I say "dismantle", its relative to the entire system being flawed in just about every facet. Police training is bad, police reprimands / punishments are a joke, police apologies don't exist, use of excessive force is getting out of control, police being legally worth more is an actual insult, the police unions which seem to exist solely to extend a frat-like safety over rogue law enforcement.
I genuinely believe that to reform it as it is would effectively require an entirely new system. Even cops who haven't done bad things inherently support and perpetuate the toxic ones that have by nature of how its run. That's honestly unfair, a human with the desire to protect and serve others and commit a moral pledge should not have to do so by being a mixed bag or comrade of hateful behaviors.
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