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Friday, April 25, 2008

NOT JUSTICE; JUST US

After listening to the media reports about the Sean Bell murder trial, (or whatever that was), it has become obvious that "it's business as usual" when it comes to unarmed civilian deaths. A police officer will usually get a free pass, unless the situation is really, really outrageous. Not that this incident was not, but the victims did not matter to the judicial system in New York City. When was the last time a NYC police officer involved in the death of a civilian of color was successfully prosecuted and punished? Unfortunately, I cannot recall any. Stereotypical judgments leads to deadly decisions. Let's face it, NYC Cops shoot each other by mistake. Unfortunately, in most of those cases the victim was a person of color. There is a pattern here. If you are a male of color, you need to be very, very careful how you carry yourself in NYC. At best you could wind up lost in the NYC jail system for awhile. The worst was demonstrated in November of 2006 in Queens. Today culminated the tragedy because no one is to be held accountable. Only one officer attempted to apologize to the Bell family. The other two acted as if they were victims. There was definitely an absence of moral character there. The judge just shifted the responsibility of securing justice for the Bell family squarely in the lap of the Civil Court. The strategy of throwing money at the victim's family is a practice that stinks! Money is okay, but it will never bring closure to the family. Now, I must admit that all police officers are not like the three who were acquitted. They claimed they were in fear of their lives. I believe that, but why did it take them fifty (50) shots to realize they were really not in any danger? Well, all of us need to remember when it comes to situations like this, there's no real justice; there's JUST US!

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