‘I Cannot Put His Name in the Past Tense’

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This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1447272

“get the fuck out of that car!!! or I’ll drag you out”…that’s how it begins and it tells you all you need to know. Those words are harsh if you’re White but dooming if you’re Black. If I was Black I’d stay in the car because if I don’t Ill get exactly what this young man got. What Freddie Grey got.

They know.

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I live in mostly white rural Trump country. Among the most sickening things: After the death of Tyre Nichols all the places that had had Trump flags and electric signs now were saying “We support the Blue” or “Our Police Keep Us Safe”. Basically saying that, even with video proving exactly the opposite, police can do no wrong and us white folks need to stick together with our cops. What a sick reaction to another needless police death.

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18 weeks of training is not enough to turn a juvenile, sadistic “C” student into a responsible law enforcement officer.

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Guaranteed the consensus of those displaying those messages is that Tyre had it coming, despite all reports to the contrary.

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The policing is the proximate part of the problem, but fixing police hiring and training practices will not solve the problem. The problem is systemic, and the solutions have to be systemic, too.

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Wouldn’t proper training be a part of a systemic solution?
Proper vetting might be another?

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Part of the solution, of course.

But police hiring and training is all anyone seems to be discussing and it won’t be nearly sufficient. I’ll note as evidence of this that most of the officers responsible are themselves Black.

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No amount of time is sufficient to train a person psychologically unfit for the job. “GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE CAR!!!” is a person out of control. An angry person that feels a personal need for vengeance. When a Black kid refuses ( and as we can now see for good reason ) the officer takes it as a personal slight and freaks out. loses control and as in this case sometimes kills.

You can’t fix that. You get rid of that and all those that support that.

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You’re right training alone won’t fix the problem.
But training, such as role playing, can identify the undesirable candidates.

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Great description of the majority of people who join the local police department. Training may not be the solution, but the lack of training in the US stands out when compared to many advanced countries.

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I remember the specific victim of a police extra judicial killing-Tamir Rice, when I realized by watching the video that no one can obey conflicting commands. And commands spat out at a person in rapid succession. I understand an adrenaline rush can mess with one’s thinking, but for some reason I don’t think police take this into account.

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“Why do you wish to become a policeman?”

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Amen

Not only are US training hours low, but how many of them are dedicated to the shooting range?

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I totally understand the sentiment, but I don’t think that’s going to work out for you. On the other hand, there was a time when I would have recommended being as polite as possible when pulled over (and yes, I realize hurting cops fee-fees is not a crime), but I’m no longer going to assume a POC running from a cop has done something wrong that warranted the stop.

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It’s so predictable. Middle management and workers are held accountable and the guys at the top skate. Until the mayors and chiefs and captains and sergeants are also fired and charged nothing will change.

Slow to hire and quick to fire.

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We could start by making it a federal felony(five years mandatory) to lie in a police report. As long as a omerta rules in the ranks of police there will be no way of cleaning up.

My parents lost two adult kids – to natural causes. It’s awful.
To lose a kid this way has to be devastating. No character in Greek tragedy could suffer more.

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