Tag: Criminal Justice System

What Killed Michael Brown?

I just finished watching the documentary “What Killed Michael Brown“. I recommend to anyone that has an interest in police and race relations to watch the movie. WKMB is a much different approach than I expected. It was more subtle and elegant in the way it discusses the issues surrounding the death of Michael Brown. I really shouldn’t have been surprised because the movie has the essence of Shelby Steele. The movie also had a 1970’s type vibe to it. It does not feel dated just a different cinematic vibe. It’s unique and cool.

There is limited discussion about the facts and actual killing of Michael Brown. The movie is straight forward in that account of it. Below are links to official reports if interested in more detail. There are several key concepts about the surrounding issues discussed in the move present below.

First is the difference between Poetic Truth vs Objective Truth. Steele said that Poetic Truth carries with it the history that surrounds an incident like racism and bias. The mere fact that Brown was Black and Wilson was White. Where Objective Truth is the truth that is uncovered by the evidence. The cold hard truth. Poetic Truth is the basis of rumors. Poetic Truth traps a person into solving the wrong problems.

Steele also talks about White Guilt and how White people have to prove they are NOT racists. Steele argues that Liberal power equals White Guilt which means Blacks MUST be victims of racism. White Guilt’s corruption needs Blacks to be Black.

The movie points out Eric Holders visit to Ferguson and Holder’s attack on police was against ALL of the history of police actions not just what happened in Ferguson. Holder made the shooting of Michael Brown an indictment of ALL policing and it’s history from slavery to modern day incidents. Think about it. It is a model, Steele points out, that Rev. Al Sharpton uses all the time.

Steele discusses the conditions of Black a neighborhood and the “Snapshot” mentality meaning that the current conditions at the time dictate decisions without thinking that the conditions will improve. Could this also be that they captured conditions at it’s worst? Before a likely improvement, ignoring the inevitable? Steele also explained how public housing steals “equity” from property (value in home ownership).

Pruitt-Igoe Myth (1:13:45) Steele discusses how when he was raised, he didn’t know it at the time, that he was poor. He talks about how the parents in the neighborhood would monitor and correct the kids if they were behaving badly. The kids were respectful to the adults. Then Steele goes on to say how the Pruitt-Igoe housing complex usurped that authority from the neighborhood in a form of government white supremacy and colonialism. I guess the government taking over the role as community leaders by becoming the sole providers in a neighborhood.

Liberalism – dismisses individual responsibility always defining fault as a systemic enemy – like racism. Bob Woodson states in the movie that it is “lethal to exempt people from personal responsibility” which may be the cause of Michael Brown’s actions. Liberalism makes Blacks invisible. This leads to Black people not having individual problems and Racism becoming the EXCLUSIVE problem.

1:33:00 Good Faith vs Bad Faith Movements
Good Faith Movement was the Civil Rights Movement – it wanted inclusion into America
Bad Faith Movement is the BLM movement – it is against the nuclear family, defund the police, and wants out of America

Discussions about the Movie

The Glenn Show – What Killed Michael Brown Podcast discussion with Shelby & Eli Steele. Excellent!
Link to the Glenn Show HERE

Official Reports

FBI Memorandum DOJ Investigation Shooting Michael Brown by Ferguson, Missouri Police Officer Darren Wilson
https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press-releases/attachments/2015/03/04/doj_report_on_shooting_of_michael_brown_1.pdf

Ferguson Complaint
https://www.justice.gov/crt/file/832451/download

Investigation of the Ferguson Police Department – Findings Report
https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/crt/legacy/2015/03/04/ferguson_findings_3-4-15.pdf

Ferguson Consent Decree
https://www.justice.gov/crt/file/883846/download

Ferguson Case Summary
https://www.justice.gov/crt/special-litigation-section-case-summaries/download#ferguson-summ

New National Academies of Sciences reports | Modern Policing

The National Academies of Sciences has recently published 4 reports aimed at guiding international police assistance efforts. The reports were produced by expert committees that reviewed and assessed existing research and evidence. The reports are available at the links below for free download. Policing to Promote the Rule of Law and Protect the Population –…
— Read on gcordner.wordpress.com/2022/12/01/new-national-academies-of-sciences-reports/

Police Accountability Task Force | Chicago 2016

As part of our work, the Task Force heard from many current and former CPD officers who are dedicated public servants, committed to performing their duties lawfully and making Chicago a safer place for all of its residents. Serving as a police officer is a challenging and often dangerous job. The police face an increasingly daunting challenge in crime fighting. Illegal guns flood the streets of the same neighborhoods that are devastated by crime, poverty and unemployment. We as a society cannot expect the police to cure every ill in Chicago’s neighborhoods. Yet we put significant pressure on them to solve and prevent crime, as well as to address the manifestations of a number of other daunting social and economic challenges beyond their charge and capacity to manage, let alone solve. Still, a keen appreciation of and sensitivity to these broader issues is critical to effective law enforcement and positive community-police relations.

The findings and recommendations in this report are not meant to disregard or undervalue the efforts of the many dedicated CPD officers who show up to work every day to serve and protect the community. The challenge is creating a partnership between the police and the community that is premised upon respect and recognizes that our collective fates are very much intertwined. Simply put, a more professional, engaged and respectful police force benefits us all. We cannot and have not shied away

from identifying systemic problems or challenges that undermine the efforts of those officers who are sincerely committed to doing their jobs the right way. To be sure, individual officers must own responsibility for not merely their actions each day, but also the reverberating and sometimes corrosive and lingering effect of those actions on citizens. And ultimately, the responsibility for setting the correct course lies with CPD leadership itself.

igchicago.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/PATF_Final_Report_4_13_16-1.pdf

Podcast then Glenn Show: A discussion between Glenn Loury and Rafael Mangual about Mangual’s Book: “Criminal (In)Justice: What the Push for Decarceration and Depolicing Gets long and Who It Hurts Most”

If you haven’t read Rafael Mangual’s book it’s AWESOME!!  It’s an easy read pertinent to what is going on in policing and criminal justice. If you have never listen to the Glenn show before it is an awesome podcast.

This episode of the gun show highlights much of what is discussed in the book with Glenn Loury, playing devil’s advocate, and Rafael Manuel answering all his questions. I recommend listening to this podcast and then going out and getting the book. 

Glenn Loury (Manhattan Institute, Brown University) and Rafael Mangual (Manhattan Institute, Criminal (In)Justice: What the Push for Decarceration and Depolicing Gets long and Who It Hurts Most)
— Read on bloggingheads.tv/videos/65115

More Guns, Same Amount of Crime? | Manhattan Institute

The past 40 years have seen nothing short of a revolution in Americans’ right to carry a concealed firearm in public. In 1980, the vast majority of states either did not grant concealed weapon permits or offered them only on a “may-issue” basis, meaning that authorities retained discretion…
— Read on www.manhattan-institute.org/analyzing-effect-of-right-to-carry-laws-on-homicide-and-violent-crime

Review and Analysis of the Philadelphia Police Department and Other Related Police Spending – Office of the Controller

There is a quick Guide and the full report available for download on this page.

An analysis of the Philadelphia Police Department’s (PPD) budget and spending that examines how PPD spends its budgeted funds and deploys its available resources.
— Read on controller.phila.gov/philadelphia-audits/ppd-review/

Reducing Deaths in Law Enforcement Custody:  Identifying High-Priority Needs for the Criminal Justice System

Congress enacted the Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2013 (DCRA) to address the lack of reliable information about law enforcement–related deaths and deaths in correctional institutions. The U.S. Department of Justice has conducted several activities designed to respond to the provisions specified in the DCRA legislation, as well as their own federal mandates, toward a comprehensive understanding of the prevalence and characteristics of deaths that occur in law enforcement custody. Despite these efforts, no national data collection program currently describes all deaths that occur in law enforcement custody. These data are critical to support strategies to reduce such deaths; to promote public safety through appropriate responses to reported crimes, calls for service, and police-community encounters; and to build trust with communities.

See more and get a copy of the report HERE

Deeply Rooted: How Racial History Informs Oklahoma’s Death Penalty | Death Penalty Information Center

528, 531 (W.D. Okla. 1949) Oklahoma’s death penalty is at a crossroads. The projected increase in executions in Oklahoma comes while the death penalty is…
— Read on deathpenaltyinfo.org/facts-and-research/dpic-reports/dpic-special-reports/deeply-rooted-how-racial-history-informs-oklahomas-death-penalty