Gleaning Facebook: We Need Comprehensive Police Reform

Sheila and I reminding folks on Turner McCall Boulevard of the
names of some of the recent victims of racism.

I know this is just a minor part of my neighbor Russell's excellent post, but it is a long time firm belief of mine so just a note of emphasis: There should be NO PRIVATE PRISONS EVER!!!! Making it PROFITABLE to lock someone up in a republic is obscene. There are politicians who get campaign donations from prison companies--- [https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/recips.php...] --- VOMIT!!!! The stupidity and immorality of Capital-R-Republican fondness for privatizing basic governmental functions is plain.

 From Russell Cook's Facebook:

Alright y’all. I haven’t been on social media much lately, and certainly haven’t thought that my voice was the one thing missing from a national conversation on race and police violence. However, judging from what’s coming out of the keyboards of some folks I see on here, there might be a use in hearing it from as many people as possible, as often as possible. After all of the upheaval of the past couple of weeks, a police officer in Atlanta saw fit, in the moment, to shoot a man twice in the back as he ran away. Shooting someone in the back is murder, no matter how you try to justify it. They knew who he was. They had his car. They had run his ID and talked to him for half an hour. Whatever happened, he was no mortal danger to the officer or to anyone else, even if he did grab and discharge a non-lethal taser in his struggle to get away.

But police work is dangerous, right? Every car pulled over is a potential cop killer, right? But how many actually are? It’s easy to find out. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, police work is in the top 20 or so for dangerous jobs in the U.S., at 108 fatalities last year. That’s 6 or 7 fatalities per 100,000 officers. But that’s a fraction of the fatalities of another public servant: Sanitation Workers have 35 or so fatalities per 100,000. Read that again. You are three or four times as likely to be killed in the line of duty as a Garbageman than as a Cop. Farmers, Truck Drivers, even Landscapers are much more likely to die in the line of duty than the Police. And roughly half of those on-the-job police deaths come from traffic accidents, not from a bad guy with a gun.

There is a significant danger associated with police work though: Police violence, that is, violence by the police, is a leading cause of death of young American men, and black men are roughly twice as likely as white men to be killed by the police. Over the course of a lifetime, roughly 1 in 1000 black men can expect to be killed by law enforcement. This data comes from the National Academy of Sciences. 1 in 1000 is 100 in 100,000, which is a higher rate of death than the most dangerous occupations, Logging and Commercial Fishing. So, if being a black man in the United States were a chosen occupation, it would be among the most dangerous occupations one could choose, with this danger solely based on your chance of being killed by law enforcement. Think about that. When a policeman shoots to kill, (and they are not trained to shoot in any other way) is that fear reasonable and justified? Oftentimes not, based on the numbers. If you are a black man, do you have reason to fear for your life when the police show up, no matter your situation? Absolutely.

None of this is opinion. This is all fact, easily found in govt. data. So, here's the opinion: does the police force as we know it really protect and serve? If so, what are they protecting? Who are they serving? In my very limited, and mostly benign experience with law enforcement, there seems to be too much emphasis on enforcement, with not enough emphasis on the actual law. The assumption seems to be that if the officer is wrong, it’ll come out in court…months later, after thousands spent on legal fees, assuming you can afford it, and many cannot. That may have something to do with the fact that we have only 5% of the world’s population, but 20% of the world’s prison population. California is doing the right thing by ending for-profit prisons. We need comprehensive police reform to go with it.

Comment

Keith M. Padgett
When I was doing my MS in Florida, we toured GEO Groups headquarters. Just being in that building made me sick to my stomach and so angry. And the dismissive answers they gave to questions just infuriated me. 

Gleaning Facebook: Short Post, Long Comments

“A lot of people are saying that" Satan now has a side-kick? "I’m not involved in that, but a lot of people are bringing it up, absolutely," "you betcha," that's what "people are saying."

Judy Manning

They have also called Obama the "Anti Christ" , beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Terrell Shaw
I support President Obama because he has a clear set of political positions that I support. I challenge any Trump supporter to explain to me what Mr. Trump's political philosophy is beyond spending our national fortune on a ridiculous wall ... oh, I'm sorry, Mexico's national fortune... and shredding the first amendment for non-Christians. And he of course holds dear the book of Two Corinthians in that famous book that "blows it away."
Donald Trump, who inherited a fortune, and who could have put that fortune into the stock market at the time of his inheritance and have many times the fortune he now has, lacks basic cultural literacy. He tries to pander to Christians time and again but has no idea of basics that every person in America who has attended church twice a year or more knows.
"Two Corinthians"??? The Bible "blows it away"??? I despise Ted Cruz. Jeb Bush embraces the very neo-cons and supply-siders who destroyed our foreign reputation and our domestic economy. Marco Rubio memorizes sound bites. Rand Paul drank the libertarian Kool-aid. But at least each of them has a coherent, if misguided, political philosophy.
The man does not finish sentences, Judy. His speeches are gibberish. His stances in this race are contradictory of his history nine times out of ten.
He is, in short, a narcissistic empty suit.
But, if that's who the GOP wants to nominate, that's their concern. I don't have a say. Still I always hope the GOP will put up their strongest potential president. Sometime they win. Then we all must live under the result.

Judy Manning
Terrell Shaw, I am NOT a Trump supporter. I think he brought to the forefront some issues that desperately needed to be addressed but were not be cause of political correctness. I do not however, support or trust Trump and I do not believe he has the finesse to deal with foreign dignitaries that a President needs My objection to Obama is and has always been his racism. I liked what I saw and heard from him and had planned to vote for him when he first ran. .

Judy Manning
that was until the Reverend Jeremiah Wright reared his ugly head and started spewing his hatred for out country and for White people. I have yet to have anyone explain (and I have asked many times), how the Obama family could have attended that mans church for 20 years and not hold the same beliefs as Wright. I found it interesting that once the Reverend's beliefs were made public, Obama immediately distanced himself from him. I don't follow the crowd, I try to watch, listen and learn as much as possible for my self. I will admit that it is often difficult to dissect all the propaganda.

Terrell Shaw
You are not Trump supporter but you sure do take up for him often.
Any black person in America has heard and dealt with friends and relatives and even pastors who succumbed to anger over the racism they face every day of their lives and said foolish things. I deal almost daily with relatives and friends and even pastors I admire, who make asinine statements regarding race, or gun violence, or tax policy, or immigration, or call our President racist. I still love them and I still associate with my misguided friends and still participate in the ministries of my church even though I often strongly disagree with fellow church members and pastors.

Judy Manning
It isn't Trump that I take up for, it is the issues he has gotten people to think about, there is a difference. My friends come in all colors, shapes, sizes and Nationalities including a few from Iran, a lot from Mexico, Guatemala, etc, Politics should not be a dividing point, it should be for discussion and the opportunity to understand the differences in beliefs. My mother was 1/2 Native American and often faced racism, refusal to rent her a house. My grandmother was good enough to do the washing, ironing, sewing, churn butter and make jam & jelly for the people in the cove where she lived but not good enough to be invited to social events. So yes, I understand racism, perhaps not to the extent others do but no one chooses where they are born or who their parents and ancestors are and no one should be punished for what they had no control over.

Judy Manning
Joe Geddings Perhaps my statement above will explain. The fact that I believe Obama to be a racist does not make me one.

Judy Manning
When Obama first came on the scene to run for President, I thought he was great. He was eloquent and had the finesse that Trump greatly lacks. I had planned to vote for him because I felt it would be good for our country. I changed my mind not because of his skin color but because, as I said, I do not believe anyone could attend the Church with Reverend Wright, and be close personal friends with him for 20 years and not hold many of the same views he does.

Terrell Shaw
Judy I have a very close loved one who is a former speech-writer for a GOP president. I love and admire her but cringe at her political beliefs. Another loved one is head of one of the most prominent national right-wing organizations. I love and admire her but cringe at her political beliefs. I go to church every week, and sing in the choir next to a few folks whose political beliefs I find appalling. I worked extremely hard for our "Central Park" next to people whose beliefs are at least as far from my own as Rev. Wright's from you, but despite their sometimes astonishing beliefs, I still consider them friends. Your accusation of racism in our president is , as I said , to me, absurd. And you have stated it repeatedly. That's enough. Take that particular argument elsewhere. We have each made our points to one another on this one. 

Judy Manning
That's fine Sir. I was not trying to ruffle anyone's feathers, just to explain my position and reasons for my beliefs.

Anthony Vinson
And I hear he's the real dill!

Terrell Shaw
In fourth-grade social studies we always taught about the Columbian Exchange. I told the kids that the CE was a "big deal". We surveyed everyone's t-shirts and put stars on a world map to show countries of origin and illustrate how the CE continues to this day. We talked about plants, skills, inventions, diseases. My end of unit test included a short list of terms to define. As a I graded papers one evening my wife was startled as I broke out laughing from my easy chair. One little boy responded to "Columbian Exchange" with a three word quote of my own words likely from his own notes: "A Big Dill."
When I heard the Half-Term Governor of Alaska yesterday, I thought of that little boy.