yes, it is definitely about time that we start challenging our
out-of-control - or perhaps too-much-in-control police department. i
think the FIVE KILLINGS IN THE PAST YEAR is a further manifestation of a
police department that is not held accountable to our elected civilian
government.
Complete information about these killings has unfortunately not been
publicly available. This is because the police department has
apparently not made any attempt at accurate and full disclosure. Chief
Olson's response to every killing has been pretty much the same as his
response to other abuses such as repression of non-violent protesters
and the racist anti-constitutional CODEFOR programs. His response has
been focused all on public relations and politically maintaining his
position of unaccountability. After each killing, Olson immediately
holds press conferences that defend the police actions and blame the
victim (e.g. he/she was mentally ill, had a criminal record, and of
course was the aggressor) This is an extremely inappropriate and
disturbing and unprofessional approach because the chief could not
possibly be making an informed judgment immediately after the incidents
and before the mandatory formal investigation has been conducted. Chief
Olson's immediate public pronouncements in support of the officers who
have committed killings further help ensure that no fair and impartial
investigation will occur. Since it is law enforcement officers of lower
rank who conduct the investigations, they will inevitably take their
cues from the police chief that it is their job to rationalize the
police actions rather than get to the truth.
While Olson's completely PR-focused approach to all of his department's
action is problematic, it is especially bad in the case of the police
killings. It means that Olson and his department are far more concerned
about public relations and their political position than with the value
of the human life that has been lost. A genuine commitment to the
police being careful about human life would require the police
department to refrain from taking a public position on the killing
until there was a full investigation and analysis of all the
circumatances. It is fair and accurate to conclude that the police
department's response to each killing is a critical reason why the
killings keep happening. Honest investigations and evaluations would
lead to policies, procedures and measures to prevent further police
killings in the future. Olson's emphasis on defending rather than
examining the police actions ensure that their actions will not change.
A couple of specific comments on the last two killings (Abuka Sanders
and James Fye). 1) In both incidents, the victims were unarmed but
nevertheless shot many times. In both incidents, the police claimed
that the victims were using their cars as weapons. Assuming this to be
true (obviously we should not automatically accept that it is true), it
seems that there is a much less extreme response than shooting the
person - the police could easily shoot at the engine and wheels to
disable the car. 2) With respect to the killing by Minneapolis police
officers in St. Paul, the star tribune article states that two of the
officers involved in the killing had 2 years and 7 months experience as
police officers. This seems like too little experience to be involved
in an operation so sensitive as the pivotal undercover officers in a
sting operation. At the very least, the inexperienced officers should
have been paired with very experienced officers.
I am sure that there could be many policy and procedure issues that
could prevent these killings, but, as explained, the police department
has shown no commitment to self-evaluation. The most we have gotten
over the past year is a little lip service in support of the idea that
the police should get more training about dealing with mentally ill
people. What inadequate B.S.!
It is obvious that the police department is rotten at the top. I also
think that we should be pressing city candidates on whether and how they
plan to take a more active role in supervising and changing the police
department.
Jordan Kushner
Ward 8
jon kelland wrote:
> I am not sure why this issue of police parking and the
> abuse of power it implies has not yet been tied into
> the Mpls police dept's FIFTH KILL OF THE YEAR (though
> police might argue that three of those should not
> count since they were mentally handicapped).
>
> What ever happened to that old-fashioned movie-style
> cop/"criminal" interaction where the cop does not
> shoot to kill, but instead shoots to slow down or
> incapacitate (though I would argue that they should
> not be shooting).
>
> There is obviously a very serious problem generating
> steam in Mpls, and it is that the police are not being
> held accountable, much less seriously questioned about
> tactics and intentions.
>
> Funny, but in this latest killing, the police were on
> a drug buy, and no drugs were on the two "drug
> dealers" or in their car, and when the apertment of
> the dead man was searched they found "small amounts of
> marijuana and metamphetamine"...I would suspect that
> if the amount was anything over casual use levels that
> it would have been reported.
>
> We will brush aside police actions at highway 55, hard
> times, sisters camelot, isag, etc...these all are
> serious manifestations of police arrogance and
> unaccountability.
>
> Mpls police have killed 5 people this year.
>
> This is unacceptable, and especially given the
> circumstances of each killing. This is a real and
> horrifying manifestation of the abuse of power which
> rears it's ugly head by a cop parking on the sidewalk,
> from a cop saying "i could give you a ticket for
> that", from a cop driving on the median with his
> brother in the car (just to impress him!!), from a cop
> turning on lights to speed through a red light, from a
> cop...
>
> Cops are not being held accountable in minneapolis and
> this has to change! this should start with the firing
> of chief robert olson and a serious review of all
> officers who have killed a person.
>
> Can we please have a discussion on this list about
> proper police conduct and how we can hold police
> accountable for deviations from proper conduct?
>
> jon kelland
> bryant
>
> -
