Saturday, October 25, 2003
Changing Processes
My reason for distinguishing between evil processes and evil people (see posting below on Childs's murder) was to better focus on the issue of responsibility. The police officer in charge should be fired but that would only accomplish so much. The goal is to better train the police force and to transform it into an agency that is working for all people.
This brings to mind the story of the elephant and the three blind men. The three blind men are trying to identify a beast (actually an elephant) and the first blind man touches the elephant's leg and says that the elephant is a large pillar. The second blind man goes to the trunk and declares the elephant to be a large tube of some sort. Well, the third blind man sticks his hand in the elephant's ass and all he knows is that it's full of sh**. The police department system is "the beast" and it is up to the police along with the community to determine what it should be and how it should function.
Another reason for looking at evil processes instead of evil people is that firing the police officer is actually the easy way out. I say the entire police force has to change and part of this change is becoming more community centric. After the civil insurgence (some people call them riots) in Los Angeles after the Rodney King beating, the police force had to make some changes and part of it did. In parts of South Central Los Angeles, the police has been restructured so that police officers are assigned to particular areas of town and trained on how to function as a community friend, not an enemy to be feared. When I saw this with my own two eyes, I was shocked. The people of Denver need such a change and should demand it.
-LOBO
This brings to mind the story of the elephant and the three blind men. The three blind men are trying to identify a beast (actually an elephant) and the first blind man touches the elephant's leg and says that the elephant is a large pillar. The second blind man goes to the trunk and declares the elephant to be a large tube of some sort. Well, the third blind man sticks his hand in the elephant's ass and all he knows is that it's full of sh**. The police department system is "the beast" and it is up to the police along with the community to determine what it should be and how it should function.
Another reason for looking at evil processes instead of evil people is that firing the police officer is actually the easy way out. I say the entire police force has to change and part of this change is becoming more community centric. After the civil insurgence (some people call them riots) in Los Angeles after the Rodney King beating, the police force had to make some changes and part of it did. In parts of South Central Los Angeles, the police has been restructured so that police officers are assigned to particular areas of town and trained on how to function as a community friend, not an enemy to be feared. When I saw this with my own two eyes, I was shocked. The people of Denver need such a change and should demand it.
-LOBO
Friday, October 24, 2003
Tired of Police Taking Target Practice
Reflecting on the Childs shooting...
How many times can members of a police force shoot innocent victims and get away with it? The decision not to punish the police officer who gunned down Childs is proof that the Denver police force is out of control.
"He was just doing his job," you may say, and that is exactly the point. Police officers in Denver are trained to use lethal force in cases where it is not needed. This is a lack of training and a lack of leadership. Someone once said (probably E. Deming) that there are no evil people, only evil processes. If that is true then the entire police force is to blame because it is systematically producing poorly trained officers and innocent people are dying.
We're not stupid, we know what is going on. The people who were killed were defenseless and people of color. There, I said it. The police officers killed them because they could. Because their minds allowed them to constuct an image of individuals who were dangerous.
I know the Childs case was presented as a "tough call" because the victim was holding a knife but I'm sure the police department gets calls like that often. I've made a call like that before with a mentally ill family member and the last thing you ever think is that someone is going to come in and gun down your loved one. You call the police or the fire department because you need help and you feel that you can't do it on your own. That's why the mother made the call and that is what she expected, help.
The people of Denver need to make the police force accountable for this atrocity. It must stand up and make it's voice heard so that no other innocent people are killed.
-LOBO
How many times can members of a police force shoot innocent victims and get away with it? The decision not to punish the police officer who gunned down Childs is proof that the Denver police force is out of control.
"He was just doing his job," you may say, and that is exactly the point. Police officers in Denver are trained to use lethal force in cases where it is not needed. This is a lack of training and a lack of leadership. Someone once said (probably E. Deming) that there are no evil people, only evil processes. If that is true then the entire police force is to blame because it is systematically producing poorly trained officers and innocent people are dying.
We're not stupid, we know what is going on. The people who were killed were defenseless and people of color. There, I said it. The police officers killed them because they could. Because their minds allowed them to constuct an image of individuals who were dangerous.
I know the Childs case was presented as a "tough call" because the victim was holding a knife but I'm sure the police department gets calls like that often. I've made a call like that before with a mentally ill family member and the last thing you ever think is that someone is going to come in and gun down your loved one. You call the police or the fire department because you need help and you feel that you can't do it on your own. That's why the mother made the call and that is what she expected, help.
The people of Denver need to make the police force accountable for this atrocity. It must stand up and make it's voice heard so that no other innocent people are killed.
-LOBO
