Family members of loved ones who die in a confrontation with law enforcement deserve the opportunity to express their outrage over the loss. But their fifteen minutes of fame should end when the case reaches a conclusion. That just is not the case.
These families become wildly rich because governmental agencies operate in the politically correct world and out of fear of backlash from the community. Those agencies have paid out millions of dollars for an event which has never been proven to have been wrong.
The family of Samuel Dubose, an African-American shot and killed by a University of Cincinnati Police Officer, are in the local Cincinnati media on an almost daily basis screaming for a third trial of the now former officer even though the first two trials ended with hung juries. The vote on the Murder charge in the second trial was eight for acquittal and seven for acquittal in the secondary charge of Voluntary Manslaughter. Since it takes a unanimous jury to convict, the numbers tell the story. But the Hamilton County, Ohio prosecutor keeps stalling his announcement of whether to re-try Tensing likely because of the public pressure.
Without the financial backing of the Fraternal Order of Police, Tensing would be defended by a Public Defender as the legal fees for the first two trials probably cost $750,000.
In the latest debacle, the family of a man shot and killed by Beavercreek, Ohio Police are decrying the decision of the Justice Department that they are unable to prove the officers violated the man’s civil rights. The man was in a WalMart store carrying a replica of an AR-15 rifle which turned out to be a bb gun. The officers were responding to a male waving a rifle call.
There is nothing that will appease the family who lost a loved one. The facts of the case(s) are lost in the emotion and the media is complicit in promoting their false narrative.
It is time for the quiet masses to stand up and be counted, forgoing the need to be politically correct.
It is obvious after the recent jury decisions regarding police shootings of unarmed black men that jury’s give police officers wide berth when it comes to officer safety and discretion. It is also obvious that whites and blacks have a totally different perspective when watching the same events on video. How we bridge that gap if ever is the 64 million dollar question.
Better tactical training for police officers is one part of the equation but citizens, particularly those in lower social economic neighborhoods, need to be engaged by police officers, in non-confrontational settings. It’s all about relationship building. Having said all of that we will never be able to totally eliminate situations that have been recently confronted.
Just my two cents……..