The case has been made repeatedly that American cops have no obligation to protect the public, black or white; they are mere tools of the corporate power structure to protect property and extract revenue for states and municipalities.
It is hard to argue against this point of view when we are getting a clearer look at how departments and individual officers operate.
Additionally, a Federal court has ruled that their job is not to protect the public.
Following Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, some students claimed local government officials were at fault for failing to protect students. The students filed suit, naming six defendants, including the Broward school district and the Broward Sheriff’s Office, as well as school deputy Scot Peterson and campus monitor Andrew Medina. However a federal judge ruled that the government agencies ” had no constitutional duty to protect students who were not in custody.”
“Neither the Constitution, nor state law, impose a general duty upon police officers or other governmental officials to protect individual persons from harm — even when they know the harm will occur,” said Darren L. Hutchinson, a professor and associate dean at the University of Florida School of Law. “Police can watch someone attack you, refuse to intervene and not violate the Constitution.”
The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the government has only a duty to protect persons who are “in custody,” he pointed out.
Journalist Ryan McMaken in a piece for (Misesinstitue) wrote; “This latest decision adds to a growing body of case law establishing that government agencies — including police agencies — have no duty to protect citizens in general:
This memo will eventually find its way into the heads of all Americans in time, some earlier than others. In the meantime, some police officers continue to act on their biases as they place their own freedoms in the most shocking instances that they are held accountable to demonstrate that they are corporate security guards. ( mikebeckles)
SAN FRANCISCO
A California police officer has been convicted of assault with a firearm in the 2018 fatal shooting of an unarmed mentally ill man in a wealthy San Francisco suburb. A jury in Contra Costa County agreed Tuesday that Officer Andrew Hall was guilty of the charge in the death of 33-year-old Laudemer Arboleda, an unarmed Filipino man who was slowly driving away from police when Hall shot him nine times. The jury deadlocked on a second count of voluntary manslaughter. The assault conviction shows that jurors believed Hall wrongfully fired his gun as Arboleda tried to evade police officers. The events unfolded after a resident called 911 to report that a man later identified as Arboleda was knocking on doors and lingering outside homes in a Danville cul-de-sac. When officers arrived, they saw Arboleda get into his car and drive away. Arboleda led officers on a nine-minute slow-speed chase through Danville, a wealthy San Francisco suburb. Hall was not involved in the initial pursuit but stopped his vehicle at an intersection to block Arboleda’s car. Police video footage shows Hall stepping in the path of Arboleda’s vehicle and firing a volley of shots into the windshield and passenger-side window.
During a three-week trial, prosecutors and defense attorneys presented competing narratives of the shooting, alternately asking the jury to sympathize with the officer’s need to make split-second decisions and the troubled victim whose only crime was not stopping for police. Prosecutors argued Hall used “excessive, unreasonable and unnecessary” force. Hall’s lawyers said the officer feared for his safety and used body cam footage to show the right front tire of Arboleda’s car was pointed at Hall when the shooting started, indicating it was heading in his direction. The fatal shooting cast a spotlight on what criminal justice activists call a case of delayed justice and its deadly consequences. Felony charges were announced against Hall more than two years after Arboleda was shot. During that period, Hall, who is white, fatally shot Tyrell Wilson, a Black homeless man whose family said was suffering from depression or paranoia.
The Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office, which has a contract to provide police services to Danville, had cleared Hall of misconduct after a nine-month investigation into Arboleda’s shooting. Hall has been on paid administrative leave since the shooting of Wilson, which remains under investigation. (This story originated at Huffpost.com)
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Since they are allowed to investigate themselves, they delay and drag their feet, all while the public, part gullible, part complicit, believes and contends that these years-long investigations are normal and or necessary.
While anyone with any law enforcement background can attest that there are no investigations going on two years after the case was opened; neither does any part of those investigations take nearly as long to conclude. Police are merely taking advantage of the fact that they get to investigate themselves, so they drag their feet and wait for public sentiment to die down, a luxury no other Americans have.
In the meantime, another bloodthirsty corporate protector fatally drew innocent blood again, because the system failed to hold him accountable when they allowed them to investigate themselves, and find he acted within policy.
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Mike Beckles is a former Police Detective, businessman, freelance writer, black achiever honoree, and creator of the blog mikebeckles.com.