Police brutality must be punished if we want real justice for Michael Brown
From California to New York, from the streets in Ferguson to those in the south side of Chicago, police brutality continues unabated all across the United States because of brazen impunity – because in this country’s long history of abuse and violence by those obligated to respect and uphold the human rights of our communities, there is still little accountability. There must be change, or else we will ensure that there will be more victims of unnecessary and excessive use of force by police. There must be justice."
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While there are conflicting reports of what happened between 18-year-old Michael Brown and a police officer last Saturday in Missouri, while Americans watch anxiously as yet another community is ripped apart by the killing of a young black man by police, this much remains uncontested: Brown was unarmed when the as-yet unnamed officer shot and killed him. His death followed closely that of a Staten Island father of six, Eric Garner, who was killed last month when an NYPD police officer placed him in an illegal chokehold.
The FBI and US Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division have opened an investigation into Brown’s death parallel to the St Louis County Police Department, even as multiple local law enforcement agencies have turned Ferguson’s nights into something resembling a war zone. The FBI is also actively monitoring the investigation into Garner’s death, and several members of Congress have requested a federal inquiry as tensions remain high in New York.
These are good first steps at monitoring, but they are nowhere near enough to prevent abuses in law enforcement. How do we ensure this never happens again? How do we guarantee that no other mother will hear gunshots a block away, only to run and find her son or daughter laying unarmed at the feet of a police officer? That no father is held down by police until the life is choked out of him?
The US cannot continue to allow those duty-bound to protect its citizens – the FBI, state and local police, anyone – to become that which their community fears most. First, when use of force by the police has resulted in injury or death, a prompt, thorough, independent and truly impartial investigation must be conducted. Additionally, all officers responsible for abuses should be adequately disciplined and, where appropriate, prosecuted. "
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/14/police-brutality-punished-justice-for-michael-brown-ferguson
