I used to tell my idealistic hippie friends that they should test their idealism by working in law enforcement and see if their tune changes any. I have had a lot of friends that were cops and 99% are good people. Then again as my friend, the late Sergeant Frank Adams used to say, two kinds of people in this world, cops and criminals. When you are a cop the world divides up pretty black and white. Every civilian is a little suspect. I applaud those cops that keep it together.
I bring this up because of the situation in Detroit this week where the seven year old girl Aiyana Jones was killed while lying on her couch. The official police line was that she was killed inadvertently during a police struggle with her grandmother. A wrestling match, a gun goes off. The Police Chief said that a police officer's worst fear had been realized as if it was in some ways equal to the pain felt by her family.
Lo and behold, it turns out that a reality tv show for the show "The First 48" had been videotaping nearbye and a video was taken of the incident. The attorney for the family, Geoffrey Fieger, says that it shows the shot taking place from outside the residence after a flash bang grenade was lobbed into the home.
Obviously, somebody is not coming clean. But why throw a grenade into a house with a child present in the first place?
Fieger announced yesterday he reviewed video footage of the shooting that "shows clearly that the assistant police chief and the officers on the scene are engaging in an intentional cover-up of the events."
"There is no question about what happened because it's in the videotape," Fieger said. "It's not an accident. It's not a mistake. There was no altercation."
"The gun was fired before anyone goes through the door. There are lights all over, like it's a television set. It's worse than that," Fieger said. "It shows this in the video. There's a gentleman by the name of Mr. Robinson who lives in the home. He was out walking his dogs when they arrived. They took him and threw him to the ground and stood on his neck. He said, 'There are children living in the home. There are children in the home.' And just after that they walk up on the porch and throw an incendiary grenade into it. So it's worse than even you know."
Assistant Chief Ralph Godbee said police want the tape.
"If Mr. Fieger has access to anything that would be evidence in this case, he should, as an officer of the court, get it immediately to the Michigan State Police, which will be investigating," Godbee said in an e-mail.
Here is a link to an article with more disturbing allegations regarding the case. A terrible tragedy, but made worse by the cover up. Its easy to just blame it on the minorities. They are mostly criminals, aren't they? There have been several similar police shootings recently in Houston. Former big leaguer Bobby Tolan's son was shot in his driveway in an upscale residential neighborhood for supposedly reaching into his waistband. The cops thought he was in a stolen SUV. How could a young black man have a nice SUV anyway?
I recognize that cops see the worst of society's ills on a daily basis. I can appreciate how hard it is to make accurate split second decisions that can mean life or death for you or others. There is no way to be right all of the time. Having said that, it also seems clear that in many communities, it seems to be a crime to be poor or black or brown.
I have been encouraged by the widespread condemnation by blacks of the new Arizona Immigration Law, especially since they do not seem to have a horse in the race. They know firsthand about the dangers of profiling. It will be interesting to see how the case progresses in Detroit.
