Ten years ago today, two NYPD officers were shot and killed while sitting in their patrol car in Brooklyn.
It was a shocking act of violence that came on the heels of citywide protests over police brutality in the wake of Eric Garner’s death. Garner had been placed in an prohibited chokehold by an NYPD officer who was never charged with a crime.
The 2014 killings of officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu as they sat in their patrol car marked a turning point in New York City’s relationship with law enforcement. Law enforcement experts said the tragedy caused police to put new safety measures in place for officers, and public sentiment about criminal justice reform has swung back and forth over time. Families of the men killed said there is more work to do to improve police-community relations.
— Read on gothamist.com/news/10-years-after-the-targeted-killing-of-2-nypd-officers-policing-in-ny-has-changed
Tag: Police Operations
US appeals court reverses ruling that Arizona police used excessive force against anti-Trump protesters – JURIST – News
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found that qualified immunity applied to the police interactions because the protestors did not cite a case that “‘clearly establish[ed]’ that Defendants’ use of force … was objectively unreasonable.” The appeals court explained that qualified immunity is granted to government officials “unless (1) they violated a federal statutory or constitutional right, and (2) the unlawfulness of their conduct was ‘clearly established at the time.’”
Protestor Ira Yedlin was part of a crowd aggressively pushing a fence separating the Free Speech Zone from another security zone distancing the anti-Trump protestors from the rally. The police fired pepper balls that struck and bruised Yedlin. The court found that the police did not use excessive force because the breach would have been “an immediate and substantial threat to the safety of the officers, nearby members of the public, and potentially [Trump’s] motorcade.”
— Read on www.jurist.org/news/2024/12/us-appeals-court-reverses-ruling-that-arizona-police-used-excessive-force-against-anti-trump-protesters/
NJ Office of the State Comptroller – Use and Abuse of Officer Discretion in Declining to Enforce Motor Vehicle Violations
New Jersey Office of the State Comptroller
— Read on www.nj.gov/comptroller/reports/2024/approved/20241218.shtml
The Wild Kingdom – The Set podcast
One interesting segment is at 16:45 minutes the first appearance of Professor David Kennedy. He explains well what the drug scene look like at the time. Kennedy describes how the neighborhood was and it is an excellent example for the need for Broken Windows Policing.
The whole podcast is interesting.
Access the podcast HERE
Interview with Michelle Phelps – The Majority Report
This is the first time I listened to a podcast from “The Majority Report”. The interview was with Michelle S. Phelps, professor of sociology at the University of Minnesota, to discuss her recent book The Minneapolis Reckoning: Race, Violence, and the Politics of Policing in America. The interview begins at the 20:15 minute mark and can be access HERE. The interview ends at the 48:00 minute mark.
The podcast topic is what happened with policing in Minneapolis, MN. and police reforms more generally.
To be clear the Minneapolis Mayor and legislature (or any municipal executive and legislative branch) can end policing at anytime they want. This is unless police are part of the municipalities (or State) constitution, charter, or some other legislative prohibiting the dissolution the police department. The bottom line is that if the Mayor and Legislators have the votes they can put a end to policing in their municipality. This is true across America. Phelps said that many of the legislatures wanted to defund/dissolve the Minneapolis PD. Knowing that the Minneapolis government could have moved forward and cancelled police funding or more radically dissolved the police.
Why didn’t the Minneapolis government eliminate the police? Phelps said that Minneapolis has a large base of community activism which is highly coordinated. The “activism majority” leaned towards defunding or eliminating the police. It should have been easy for the Minneapolis government to defund or eliminate the police. Phelps said that people that vote most often were against the idea to reduce or eliminate the police and this influenced government officials.
What happened is that the rhetoric about the issue of defunding or dismantling the police eventually the turned into reality. Therefore the Minneapolis government had to stop being controversial or edgy and had to do what was the best for Minneapolis, which is keep the police and maintain funding.
There is no other municipal agency or other organization that can replace the police to fulfill it’s mission. Schools, Mental Health Services, Department of transportation, etc. none of these organizations can replace the police. Phelps said that police are only useful for being present at scene of a potential crime (deterrence) or to make arrests (but arrests are bad). Phelps forgot that police are authorized to use of force (most of the time the threat of force) which is necessary to make persons acting outside of societal norms to comply. There is no other organization better equipped, trained, or with authority than the police.
Illinois law requires transparency when police kill people. Many cases stay in the dark – IPM Newsroom
Illinois promised answers after fatal officer-involved shootings and other deaths at the hands of law enforcement. But some prosecutors stay silent.
— Read on ipmnewsroom.org/illinois-law-requires-transparency-police-killings/
US police use force on 300,000 people a year, with numbers rising since George Floyd | The Guardian
Police in the US use force on at least 300,000 people each year, injuring an estimated 100,000 of them, according to a groundbreaking data analysis on law enforcement encounters.
Mapping Police Violence, a non-profit research group that tracks killings by US police, launched a new database, policedata.org, on Wednesday cataloging non-fatal incidents of police use of force, including stun guns, chemical sprays, K9 dog attacks, neck restraints, beanbags and baton strikes.
— Read on amp.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/28/police-use-of-force-violence-data-analysis
Police Data – A Database on Police Use of Force
The largest police use of force database in America. Built by the Mapping Police Violence organization. Get the facts. Make the case for change.
— Read on policedata.org/
Louisville Metro Police Department – Consent Decree with the DOJ
Access the agreement here:
Worcester Police Reform Strategy: Attack the DOJ
Very interesting take on the DOJ consent decree investigations.
Worth a read.
Worcester responds to the DOJ report on the police department in the worst possible way, indicating it will remain in denial that there is a problem.
— Read on thisweekinworcester.com/worcester-attacks-doj-report-police/
Also check out this report on an analysis of DOJ Police department investigations.
Future of Policing 