I'll start by saying that it's about time the Justice Department announced a new crackdown on the various local and state law enforcement agencies to see how they're using federal funds and retired military equipment when "protecting and serving" our communities. I don't think it will take the Attorney General, +Eric Holder, very long to figure out that racism and White supremacy is ripe in several local and state police departments around the nation.
The fact that racism ties into how law enforcement officials do their jobs and who they target to enforce upon. More likely than not, their center of enforcement tends to be around communities of color rather than White people. Don't be so surprised, this is actually very common. It's because of the pre-conceived notion that people of color (particularly Blacks and Spanish-speakers) are all criminals waiting for someone to arrest them. For the Black community in particular, it's especially difficult for them to voice their own innocence due to having a judiciary heavily rigged against them as +PoliticusUSA explains in this article about Michael "Mike" Brown's extrajudicial execution by Darren Wilson and the sham-trial meant to cover the case up. It's not just Mike Brown who's a victim of this White supremacist mentality that's enveloped many of our nation's law enforcement agencies, think of Trayvon Martin back in 2012, when George Zimmerman shot him dead after appointing himself judge, jury and executioner along with cop to enforce the law. This is beyond absurd, that this passes for legal law-enforcement or self-defense to shoot dead unarmed young Black men.
As for Eric Holder's announcement, via +The White House, it focuses on 3 key concepts:
The fact that racism ties into how law enforcement officials do their jobs and who they target to enforce upon. More likely than not, their center of enforcement tends to be around communities of color rather than White people. Don't be so surprised, this is actually very common. It's because of the pre-conceived notion that people of color (particularly Blacks and Spanish-speakers) are all criminals waiting for someone to arrest them. For the Black community in particular, it's especially difficult for them to voice their own innocence due to having a judiciary heavily rigged against them as +PoliticusUSA explains in this article about Michael "Mike" Brown's extrajudicial execution by Darren Wilson and the sham-trial meant to cover the case up. It's not just Mike Brown who's a victim of this White supremacist mentality that's enveloped many of our nation's law enforcement agencies, think of Trayvon Martin back in 2012, when George Zimmerman shot him dead after appointing himself judge, jury and executioner along with cop to enforce the law. This is beyond absurd, that this passes for legal law-enforcement or self-defense to shoot dead unarmed young Black men.
As for Eric Holder's announcement, via +The White House, it focuses on 3 key concepts:
- Creating a taskforce to better understand the problem of racial profiling in law enforcement and putting an end to it with new community-oriented policing (good place to start by getting the community involved with the police in keeping everyone safe).
- Stronger oversight and other reforms as needed to keep a profile of how local and state law enforcement agencies use federal resources to do their jobs, especially when it involves retired military equipment (very commendable as this has been a lacking factor going back to at least the George W. Bush Administration at the very earliest, via the PATRIOT ACT).
- Body cameras mandated to be worn by cops (by far the most sensible solution, as it would help to give an unblinking eye to anything that happens between citizens and law-enforcement officers).
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