Elon Musk publicizes names of government employees he wants to cut    Al-Jasser: Riyadh Metro to accommodate one million passengers daily    Al-Jasser: 122,000 jobs generated in transport sector in a year    Riyadh Metro to begin phased operations from December 1    Israel to appeal against ICC warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant    US to start immediately on fresh push for Gaza ceasefire    Trump nominates Keith Kellogg as special envoy for Ukraine and Russia    Israelis survey damage and mull return to north as ceasefire begins    Saudi Arabia participates in OIC anti-corruption agencies' meeting in Qatar    Al Rajhi: Saudi Arabia sets revised unemployment target of 5% by 2030 "300,000 citizens employed in qualitative professions"    Al Hilal advances to AFC Champions League knockout stage despite 1-1 draw with Al Sadd    Saudi Arabia unveils updates on Expo 2030 Riyadh master plan at 175th BIE General Assembly Riyadh Expo Development Company established to oversee strategic planning, operations, and legacy development    Saudi FM attends Quadripartite meeting on Sudan in Italy    Best-selling novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford dies    Cristiano Ronaldo's double powers Al Nassr to 3-1 win over Al Gharafa in AFC Champions League    Al Ahli edges Al Ain 2-1, bolsters perfect start in AFC Champions League Elite    Most decorated Australian Olympian McKeon retires    Adele doesn't know when she'll perform again after tearful Vegas goodbye    'Pregnant' for 15 months: Inside the 'miracle' pregnancy scam    Do cigarettes belong in a museum?    Order vs. Morality: Lessons from New York's 1977 Blackout    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Filipino pilgrim's incredible evolution from an enemy of Islam to its staunch advocate    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Racial bias in US law enforcement?
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 11 - 07 - 2016

Twenty five years after innercity Los Angeles exploded in violence over the beating of Rodney King, an unarmed black man by four white police officers, America is again witnessing a heated debate on race, especially the racial disparities in law enforcement. Related to this is the question whether the election of an African American as president has helped heal the racial wounds in American society.
What makes headlines right now are the shooting of twelve police officers and the killing of five by a gunman in downtown Dallas Thursday night, but the underlying cause is the same: The man who did this said he was revenging the two police-related deaths of black men — Philando Castile, 32, in Minnesota and Alton Sterling, 37, in Louisiana this week. The demonstration in Dallas was one of several held in cities across America.
The officers were working at a Black Lives Matter protest.
The shootings in Louisiana and Minnesota follow a long string of deaths of black people at the hands of the police — in Staten Island; Cleveland; Baltimore; Ferguson, Missouri; and North Charleston, South Carolina, among others.
A graphic video recorded by Diamond Reynolds, Castile's girl friend, showed the young man who had been shot several times, slumping toward her. As she recorded, her 4-year-old daughter sat in the back seat and an officer stood just outside the driver's side window, still aiming his gun at the mortally wounded man at point-blank range. Castile died at 9.37 p.m. in a hospital emergency room, about 20 minutes after he was shot. Alton Sterling was killed by police on Tuesday in an incident that was also recorded on video by a bystander.
Castile was the 123rd black person to be shot by police in 2016, based on a tally from the Washington Post. A proliferation of videos documenting the murders of unarmed black men and women — by the very people charged with their safety — has given rise to a whole movement defined by three words and a hashtag: #BlackLivesMatter.
Nobody knows just how many people are killed by the police nationwide. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) keeps an official tally of law-enforcement officers killed in the line of duty — an average of 69 per year since 1980 — but there is no comparable accounting of lives taken by officers. In the year since an officer fatally shot Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., on Aug. 9, 2014, 1,000 or more people have died at the hands of law-enforcement officers acting in the line of duty. What provokes outrage is the disproportionate presence of African Americans, people with mental illnesses, and young men among the dead.
In the 25 years since the riots, Los Angeles has taken many steps to improve relations between police and minority communities. Other US cities need to emulate them.
There should be, as President Barack Obama said on an earlier occasion, efforts to review the training of police officers across the country and root out racial bias in policing. He also called for a review of self-defense laws such as those in Florida, that may encourage fatal confrontations when one side in a dispute is armed. His third proposal was to consider new ways to make young African American men feel that they're a full part of US society.
The big problem, according to some police officers, is that they are constantly encouraged to arrest and ticket as many people as possible to look like they're doing their jobs. As a result, they target the most vulnerable communities. That a court has shut down the New York City Police Department's "stop-and-frisk" policy because it disproportionally targeted minority communities proves their point.
Most important, the US criminal justice system has to ensure that those who kill innocent people, either because they are trigger-happy or racially motivated, get the punishment they deserve.


Clic here to read the story from its source.