We need to reimagine policing and public safety NOW! I, like you, am so tired of hearing about another black man shot to death. Why can’ t we fix this? The level of violence in policing is unbearable. Let’s just take the guns away. Figure out how to ensure public safety without shooting people. I witnessed an unarmed man shot by police for no reason last November. It happens for no reason. Police intervened when an argument occurred at a grocery store. The man walked away and was followed by police. He was shot. The police said he lunged at them with a knife. He didn’t, I was there and have the video to prove it. No one in authority wanted to hear about what I witnessed. The man lived thank God so I guess they feel no biggie! What is going on?
Are we even talking about the military to police pipeline? The possibility of PTSD operating in some of these cases? Cops triggered and perceiving threat when none exists?
I don’t pretend to have the answer. Having said that I can tell you that deescalation works. My colleagues and I working in a psychiatric hospital can testify to that. Police seem trained in escalation. Plain and simple. Addressing the problems that lead to police interventions might be a start.
It just makes me so sad. Hard to rant effectively when you just want to cry. Sorry.