Sharing some comments from a post about Ferguson for others to read and consider and possibly add your own thoughts to. Kathy has some good things to say: Kathy Liebman: I do sympathize with the fantastic officers whose reputations have been marred by all this. I know many individuals involved with or who live in Ferguson. Having come to know them, I see how they have been misrepresented. There are some truly great people focused on positive change. They have been grossly maligned. The problem in this particular case is not just an individual officer. I actually have pity for this 28 year old young man who served in two police departments that are notorious for profound and constant racial abuses. He was led to feel this is how its done and that he would be protected. He was one of 45 officers that were fired at once because of racial abuses in Jennings. Still, the Ferguson PD chose to hire him. There are videos of a few other officers serving in that community whos attitudes are blatantly inappropriate. Only because of the protests and the media attention were those officers dealt with appropriately. We can only imagine how many people suffered unreported indignities at their hands. I realize there are barely acceptable as well as excellent people and everything in between in every profession. What we are looking at here are behaviors and attitudes that are extremely unacceptable. I have known many absolutely marvelous state and county police officers. My nephew is a first responder in St. Louis. Still, in these smaller municipalities, some of the police departments are inexcusably corrupt and have been protected far, far, far too long! It is a deeply ingrained and systemic problem. They should have been screened and trained differently. Until the protesters rose up demanding change, no one was listening. I dont believe protest is the best approach, but people will only accept disenfranchisement for so long and remain voiceless. It is not reasonable to condemn all police officers because there are pockets where policemen behave like terrorists and commit hate crimes in the name of the law. It is also unreasonable for a prosecutors office to distort the powers of that office to protect officers who abuse their power. I feel the prosecutor did Ofc. Wilson a great disservice by so obviously distorting the functions of his office to protect him from due process. Because of the way the law is written, it is quite likely Ofc. Wilson would not have been convicted. His abusive approach that incited the incident is not, at least yet, considered criminal. By so obviously protecting him from being indicted, the prosecutor sentenced him to a lifetime of public scrutiny and doubt rather than to a fair trial. No lawyer can reasonably defend The manner in which this case was presented to the grand jury. Beyond all this, there is increasing evidence that even very good officers are affected by racial expectations and make fatal mistakes they never intended to. This needs to be understood and training needs to be developed that serves to heal those subconscious biases. The 12 year old killed by police on a playground last week in Ohio is a prime example. He had a toy gun. The officers did not say a word to him, caution him, or even ask him to put it down. They just drove up and shot a perfectly sweet boy. Statistics show that white children are not treated that way. When people make peaceful but clear efforts to make sure this message is heard, they should not be ridiculed or disrespected. Their message should not be twisted to appear inappropriate or disrespectful. If we work toward developing programs that allow us to recognize the humanity in one another, what harm can come of it. Why does anyone want to resist a path toward more respectful, more just, and more peaceful communities? This is what the protestors want. Kathy Liebman I was interviewed by Reuters news service and by a Post Dispatch reporter. Reuters wanted to hear our thoughts and what we thought about meaningful solutions. The Post reporter only wanted us to answer questions that would narrow us into sides. The media often has an agenda that trumps searching for truth. I actually have significant reasons to wonder if at least some of the violence and property damage was not done by rioters or protesters. One thing the news media is ignoring completely is the identify of individuals that are accused of arson or looting. There are reasons they are not presenting the difference between the devoted protesters and the criminals. Other criminals and suspects are identified. I dont know if I can trust the source, but I have also seen a video of fires starting while only uniformed individuals were present. Without identifying individuals, they indict the people of the community without ever trying them. This discredits the protesters and punishes the community that just lost dozens of businesses and hundreds of jobs right before the holidays. There is much more maneuvering than most would ever imagine.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Dec 2014 11:58:23 +0000
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