By: Charles E. Campbell, MSW, CEO, Entrepreneur
I think that instead of supplying federal funding for military-style weapons and vehicles, the Obama administration should sign an Executive Order mandating funding that requires: 1) the use of a camera in all police patrol cruisers, 2) the use of Google glasses by all officers, 3) the use of cameras on the barrel of police weapons that are activated and record when the weapon is horizontal or has pressure around the handle, 4) the use of police bullet-proof shields, 5) that all law enforcement officers not fire their weapon unless they are fired upon first, and 6) that all video involving a police shooting be made available online to the public within five days of a shooting involving the death of a suspect or bystander. Federal policies like these can make more of a difference than any protest, march, or political speech. These are the solutions for which strong Black leadership with the moral courage to lead should advocate. Judge them by their behavior or lack thereof to solve our problems.
I was glad to see that President Obama spoke out against the murder of Michael Brown, who was unarmed when he was killed by a White police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. In the past, his lack of concern about what is happening to Black African Americans has emboldened many White law enforcement officers to take the lives of and abuse Black African American men, women, boys, and girls. Under President Obama’s leadership, the number of Black African Americans incarcerated has significantly increased, which is a direct result of his failed trickle-down economic development and “Pay-to-Play” stimulus allocation polices that reward campaign contributors like Solyndra Solar.
Juries have gotten the message that the Black community will not tolerate another unjust verdict as in the Trayvon Martin murder case. Now a similar message must be sent to unlawful, unethical, and dangerous law enforcement officers so that they understand that “It’s no longer open season on Black African Americans in similar counties and cities.”
I agree with most of your blog, except for the idea that a police officer would not be allowed to respond until he has already been fired upon. What about a knife being thrown? Would you wait to have a bullet already headed for you before returning fire? As long as someone is crazy/bold enough to be aiming a gun at a police officer, that would be reasonable to expect him to respond. More cameras would make it harder to have abuse, but I would expect a lot of malfunctioning/lost cameras!