Derek Chauvin was found to be guilty on all counts for the death of George Floyd. Prior to the verdict, President Biden proved that he is a race baiter with his comment that he was "praying" for the "right verdict." Democrat Congresswoman Maxine Waters also spoke before the verdict, saying that if Chauvin was acquitted, people would need to "get more confrontational." The Judge in the Chauvin case called such comments "abhorrent." There is always the concern that such comments might dissuade the jury from even considering a finding of "not guilty," fearing widespread violence otherwise. But Biden and Waters, like Obama before them, can get away with such comments, because they are Democrats.
So, do we need to defund the police? According to a Fox News poll, conducted from April 18 - 21, 62% oppose a reduction in police funding, with only 33% supporting it. But, some cities have already reduced police funding. Here is how well defunding is working in some cities. According to Fox, year to date, Chicago has seen a 33% increase in homicides and 39% increase in shootings. New York City, an 8% increase in homicides and 64% increase in shootings. (Although the NYPD reports that March, 2020 vs March, 2021, there was a 36% increase in the murder rate.) Los Angeles had a 186% increase in murders, and an 80% increase in shootings. Portland had a 733% increase in murders and a 103% increase in shootings.
Meanwhile, the US House of Representatives passed the "George Floyd Justice in Policing Act" by a vote of 220 to 212, with two Democrats voting with all the Republicans against the measure. The bill bans no knock warrants in drug cases. I understand - we don't want mistakes made resulting in innocent people being killed. But it also bans chokeholds. My friend, a retired police officer, has said that chokeholds can temporarily incapacitate a person resisting arrest, allowing the police to handcuff that person and place them in custody, without the risk of serious injury to either the police or the person being arrested. During their training they practiced chokeholds on each other, without incident.
The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act also puts an end to "qualified immunity." Because of qualified immunity, police officers do not have to worry about paying for their own attorneys every time a citizen may decide to sue them and the city in which they work. They need not worry that their personal assets are on the line. My friend, the retired cop, tells me that an increasing number of street cops are already showing up at crime scenes after the fact. They put up the yellow tape and wait for the detectives to arrive. If we take away their qualified immunity why would they ever want to engage any suspect? Would you risk all of your family's assets every single day in a job where split second life and death decisions may have to be made?
Not surprisingly, cops are quitting. Why would they risk their lives, liberty and pensions and family just for doing their jobs? No, I am not defending bad cops or bad behavior. But in 2020 560 police officers retired from the Chicago PD, an increase of 15% from 2019. 2600 left the NYPD, an increase of 75% from 2019. And, between retirements and leaves of absence, the Minneapolis PD has lost 20% of their force.
No one was celebrating the recent death of 16 year old Ma'khia Bryant in Columbus, Ohio. As police arrived, they saw Bryant holding a knife and appearing to be ready to stab another young woman. One of the officers shot Bryant, who died from her wounds. Both Bryant and the other woman are black. But some commentators, while understandably upset by the death of a such a young person, made ridiculous recommendations. Joy Behar suggested firing a warning shot in the air. Very dangerous - because what goes up also comes down. She suggested using a taser, but tasers do not always work. And she suggested shooting the person in the leg. But police are trained to not fire their weapons unless there is a threat of death or serious injury to themselves or others. And given such a threat, they are taught to fire at center mass, which has the greatest likelihood of hitting the intended target (and not an innocent bystander), and stopping an imminent attack on life.
But the left, along with the left-wing mainstream media, constantly tells us that police are targeting black people. Some have called it an "epidemic." As Jason Riley recently noted in his 4/28/21 column in the WSJ: "According to a Washington Post database, police shot and killed 999 people in 2019, including 424 whites and 252 blacks. Twelve of the black victims were unarmed, versus 26 of the white victims. In a country where annual arrests number more than 10 million, if those black death totals constitute an "epidemic" of police use of lethal force against blacks, then the word has lost all meaning."
No one is happy that nearly 1000 people were shot and killed by the police in 2019. We would all prefer to live in a society where no one breaks the law and certainly where no one commits violent crimes. But there are bad guys out there, and some are very bad guys. The left and the mainstream media do a great disservice when they scare every black person into resisting lawful police commands, because they are afraid of the police. And I will continue to ask - can anyone name a single one of the 50 white people shot and killed by the police in the first quarter of this year? If not, do you understand the role the media plays in only reporting police shootings that involve black victims, and painting a picture of a police war on blacks?
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