Dear Police Chief:
Stephon Clark of Sacramento, California. He is the most recent victim in the reality
that police departments across these United States of America have not called
time out, or ordered a “stand down” to rethink how the police are taught to deal
with black men during a police stop or police chase. As a black man myself that tells me that
there is a chance that I too might become the victim of being shot and killed
by a police officer. In addition as the recent
incident at a Starbucks shows, black men can be called out for just sitting in a
public place awaiting a meeting.
Question. Has your
office reviewed your use of force policy with your police officers? If not, why not? Are you okay that under current policies the death
of another unarmed black male may happen under your police force during a
police stop or chase?
Let’s pause. I
understand that being a police officer is a difficult job and requires on the
spot decisions. We are all thankful for
those situations where the police actually protect and serve the public. But, that does not mean police officers are
allowed to make mistakes and kill people based on biased fear. No one wants to hear about the death of a
police officer in the performance of their duty.
We also do not want to hear about another
unarmed black male being killed due to the biased “fear” of an officer. If an officer fears for their life when in the
presence of a black man, they may be in the wrong occupation. Being a police officer does not mean you have
the right to shoot first does it?
Incidents continue where police use the excuse of being in
fear of their lives to warrant killing black men during confrontations. It is as if Police Chiefs and Mayors of cities
throughout the United States are okay with these incidents of black men being
murdered by police under the umbrella of “fearing for your life.” Just as students in school are tired of being
victims of shooters, we as black men are tired of being victims of police who
perform their job in a fearful “shoot first” manner.
The talk about implicit bias existing within police
departments has apparently not lead to a review of how police are hired and
trained. Use of force procedures throughout
the United States have not been reviewed and how to engage black men not
reviewed. It’s still the same “shoot at
any opportunity to end a situation” especially if the situation involves a
black male. It appears as if the death
of the black man is irrelevant as long as the police survive the confrontation
alive. In the case of Stephon Clark, shooting
at a black man 20 times (several times in the back) for having a cell phone in his
hand is on what page of your police training guide?
You fear the wrong people.
Have you not noticed that it is white teenage males who are killing
people in schools? Your police officers
probably drive by these same white teenage males everyday without a worry or fear.
Why?
Because they don’t fit the “fear” stereotype that has become
institutionalized against black males.
As the person in charge of your police department I have
several questions for you. Have you
gathered your fellow police officers together and reviewed the use of force procedures
to specifically follow when engaging a black male? You may say why do so for a specific
group? Because police are consistently
and methodically murdering persons in this same group time and time again. Do you screen future and current police
officers for their ability to engage a black male without killing them? If you have not done so you will, if you
haven’t already, be in a situation where you will be responding to the death of
an unarmed black male by one of your officers.
As students in schools have recently said, enough is
enough. Well that applies to black men
also. We as black men apparently are
lower on the ladder of importance in these United States of America. We want a change. A change that allows us to have a better
chance of staying alive after an ecounter with a police officer.
We believe that there are many good policemen and women
among your force. We also believe that
there are many police who should not be on the police force. The time has come to retrain and weed out the
worst of those on the force. Doing so
will save the lives of black men and keep families from being torn apart when a
black man is killed.
Dialogue is better than conflict, do you not agree? What are you doing to ensure the situation
improves?
