police brutality
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DC Police Now Have to Learn Black History. Will It Curb Brutality?
On Friday morning, on the steps of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel E. Bowser announced that D.C. police officers will be required to take a critical-race-theory program. “We are committed to accountability,” Bowser told reporters, “to strengthen the bonds of trust between MPD and our residents.” As…
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In HBO’s Problem Areas, Wyatt Cenac Explores Policing and Leaves Trump to Everyone Else
When Wyatt Cenac unveiled his new late-night show, Problem Areas, at HBO’s New York City headquarters in midtown Manhattan last week, he wore a knit cardigan. From the front, it looked like a regular-ass knit sweater, the sort of soft, thick clothing appropriate for this year’s excessively chilly spring. It wasn’t until Cenac, after entertaining…
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Police Officer Who Shot and Killed Washington, DC, Motorcyclist Terrence Sterling Is Fighting to Keep His Job
It takes a certain type of gall to kill an unarmed man in a shooting that a police department internal review has already determined to be unjustified and still be determined to fight for your job. But I suppose anything is possible when you’re a white police officer, and so that is exactly what Washington,…
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Sheriff of America’s Deadliest Police Force Caught on Camera Admitting Killing Suspects Is ‘Better Financially’
A recently discovered video of a California sheriff talking to law enforcement officers shows Kern County’s chief lawman explaining that killing citizens is better than wounding or injuring them because it costs less money and makes the family “go away.” Although Kern County had a population of 875,000 people in 2015, its law enforcement officers…
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Neighbor ‘Hesitant About Calling 911 Again’ After Stephon Clark Shooting Death
A Sacramento, Calif., man will probably not be as quick to call 911 in the future, given his knowledge that his call on March 18 led up to the shooting death of Stephon Clark. According to the Sacramento Bee, Dave Reiling was watching TV in his trailer when he heard the crash of glass breaking.…
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#StephonClark: When Reporting the News Becomes Personal
As journalists, we are taught that it is our job to deliver news and information objectively. Opinions are saved for editorials and commentary pieces. We have to look at the story and tell it without bias. Or so we are taught. But what happens when the story becomes personal? What happens when every fiber of…
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Supreme Court Deals Major Blow to Fight Against Police Brutality
In a decision handed down Monday, the Supreme Court made it even more difficult for victims of police violence to bring action against police officers who use excessive force. As the Los Angeles Times reports, the high court ruled in favor of an Arizona police officer who shot a woman outside her home because she…
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Watch: Officers Who Killed Stephon Clark Come From a Department Already Under Scrutiny
Police departments across the nation have long been under scrutiny for officer-involved shootings, particularly of unarmed African Americans, and law enforcement officers in Sacramento, Calif., are no exception. In addition to Stephon Clark, at least 16 people have been killed in encounters with Sacramento-area law enforcement officers since 2016, according to the Sacramento Bee. It…
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Episode 8: Memphis Police Officer Guns Down 16-Year-Old #LarryPayne as Sanitation Strike Continues
Memphis, Tenn., exploded into chaos on March 28, 1968, as militarized police officers—armed with rifles, tear gas, billy clubs and the full authority of the state—terrorized black protesters who were out in full force to support Memphis sanitation strikers. It was amid this violent siege that Memphis Police Officer Leslie Dean Jones stuck a shotgun…
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Officer Blane Salamoni, Alton Sterling’s Killer, Has Been Fired
Blane Salamoni—the Baton Rouge, La., police officer who killed 37-year-old Alton Sterling on July 5, 2016—has been fired, Baton Rouge Police Chief Murphy Paul announced Friday. “These [police officers’] actions were not minor deviations from policy, as they contributed to the outcome that resulted in the death of another human being,” Paul said. Officer Howie…