A BLACK CAN DO NO WRONG?

It sure seems hard to prove sometimes. Even a videotape is not enough evidence for an immediate arrest of an out-of-control black?? Or is it just that a policeman can do no wrong? That would be the biggest laugh of all

A returning Iraq war veteran, Senior Airman Elio Carrion, 21, was shot three times by a sheriff's deputy at the conclusion of a high-speed chase in San Bernardino County, Calif., recently. Carrion, who also served as a U.S. Air Force security officer in Iraq, was a passenger in the car.

After Carrion and the car's driver were apprehended, a passer-by videotaped the ensuing scene. The tape showed a deputy pointing a gun at Carrion, who was unarmed and lying prone on the ground. On the tape, we can hear Carrion saying, "I'm on your side." We also hear the deputy directing Carrion to "get up, get up, get up." Next, we see Carrion begin to get up, and then we see the deputy firing three shots at Carrion. Carrion was hit three times, but not fatally.

This description fits events that happen all too often throughout America, in too many urban areas of the country. And usually the local community rises in protest, with charges of racism and police abuse, and calls for state and federal investigations into possible criminal conduct and civil-rights violations. I've always supported efforts to find out the facts and ensure that those few law-enforcement officers who lose control or bring bias to their job are not allowed to get away with such horrific deeds.

But in this case, there is one small detail that somehow has transformed the normal community response. You see, the Iraq war veteran, Carrion, is Latino, and the sheriff's deputy in question, Ivory J. Webb, is black.

The Carrion family is outraged that Webb was not immediately arrested. As for the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, it accorded Webb the same prerogatives that are always accorded officers in these situations — and which I never agree with. Webb was placed on paid administrative leave, and he was given the standard two to three days to relax, collect himself and get his story together for his written report.

The case's newest development is that the officer will face charges of attempted voluntary manslaughter and use of a firearm.

But before that, it was standard operating procedure by law-enforcement officials: Whenever a videotape is involved, department spokesmen immediately assert at news conferences that the officer was acting fully within departmental guidelines and was responding to an immediate threat. Then they warn that what we see on the tape doesn't show the entire picture and cannot be relied on to portray the actual events.

Bull. Officers and deputies involved in shootings either should not have the luxury of paid leave, or else it should be capped at 30 days pending the initial findings of a preliminary review. Second, officers should not get 48 or 72 hours to get their story together, or, when several officers are involved, to coordinate what they say. Statements from immediate memory are what's needed. And, finally, stop kidding us about what's on the videotape. It is what it is. Denying what's on the tape insults all of us and reveals a "wall of obstruction" that we cannot tolerate.

But there's more. In this case, the local African-American leadership has not expressed public outrage and condemnation of the deputy — even though the circumstances are the same as those that have motivated the community to march, protest, and demand investigations in other shootings. We cannot have a double standard in an area so vital to bridging the racial divide in this country.

I've long maintained that it's not just racism that leads to these incidents. It's also improper training and screening. When officers lose control, they are not psychologically suited to be on the force. Period.

If the African-American community wants these actions to stop, it must make no exceptions when expressing outrage over these police shootings — regardless of the skin color of the officer involved. Bullets don't distinguish one skin color from another. In our fight to end these incidents, we must not make any color distinctions, either.

Original column here. News report here



(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today)