The Crime Report (https://thecrimereport.org/category/policing/)
The Rev. Kyev Tatum, part of a coalition asking the Justice Department to investigate “over-aggressive policing” in Fort Worth’s communities of color, says, “This is historic and it is systemic, and we understand that racism is at the heart of this.”
One expert calls criminal charges in the case of a fatal shooting by a police officer in Fort Worth, Tx., a sign of progress, while another says little has changed nationally in five years.
The opportunity to take some time before undergoing questioning by investigators angers community activists and others seeking reforms of police departments around the country who believe it gives officers time to reshape their story to justify a shooting and avoid getting fired or charged.
“It is easier for the political class to bury” police “than to defend them,” writes former NYPD officer Eugene O’Donnell, in a stinging indictment of the failure of authorities to help cops deal with the stresses and frustrations that are leading some to suicide. “Cops (feel) they are the hunted and disposable,” O’Donnell wrote.
John E. Reid and Associates Inc., a police interrogation training and consulting firm, sued Netflix, writer-director Ava DuVernay, and her distribution company Array over a single disparaging comment made by a character in their “Central Park Five” docudrama “When They See Us.”
When a white Fort Worth police officer who shot and killed a black woman in her house, the victim was holding a gun after she heard noises outside her window. Holding a gun inside a home is legal in Texas.
Seattle plans to hire experts who would study how 20 other cities investigate police officers who are accused of misconduct.
Experts say there’s no one correct way for officers to respond to “wellness calls.” At police academies, recruits spend hours being put through simulations of a variety of calls designed to show them ways to de-escalate situations or prevent unjustified shootings.
Aaron Dean, the former Fort Worth, Tx., police officer who fatally shot Atatiana Jefferson, an African-American woman, in her home, was arrested and charged with murder Monday.
A former Georgia police officer who fatally shot an unarmed, naked man was found not guilty of murder. Jurors did convict Robert “Chip” Olsen of aggravated assault, violation of oath of office and making a false statement.