Makkah Lanterns Festival returns for the eighth year as part of Ramadan activities    Saudi Arabia designates methamphetamine-related offenses as major crimes requiring detention Drug users can seek treatment without prosecution under Article 42 of the Narcotics Control Law    Putin sets out conditions for Ukraine ceasefire    Crown Prince receives Yazeed Al-Rajhi after historic Dakar Rally 2025 victory    SR17 million fines slapped on 16 individuals and companies convicted of violating Capital Market Law    Saudi ambassadors take oath before Crown Prince    NCM forecast: Thunderstorms to hit most Saudi regions until Monday    16 endangered species released into AlUla's Protected Areas    Saudi Crown Prince reaffirms support for a political solution to Ukraine crisis in call with Putin Putin praises Saudi Arabia's constructive role and mediation efforts    Saudi Arabia welcomes border agreement between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan    Saleh Al-Shehri's late penalty rescues Al Ittihad against Al Riyadh    British car maker recalls 7,000 SUVs over risk of doors flying open    Saudi Arabia meets goals in localizing chia cultivation    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    Absher carries out over 430 million e-transactions in 2024    Man lives for 100 days with titanium heart in successful new trial    Argentinian court begins trial of seven healthcare professionals over Maradona's death    Al Hilal crushes Pakhtakor to storm into AFC Champions League quarter-finals    Singer Wheesung who wooed Korea with his ballads, found dead at 43    Prince Frederik of Luxembourg dies from rare disease    Real-life shipwreck story wins major book award    King Salman prays for peace and stability for Palestinians in Ramadan message King reaffirms Saudi Arabia's commitment to serving the Two Holy Mosques and pilgrims    Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan 'out of danger' after attack at home in Mumbai    Order vs. Morality: Lessons from New York's 1977 Blackout    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.