In Balch Springs, Texas, where a police officer recently shot and killed 15-year-old Jordan Edwards as the teenager's car was driving away. The police department had video that showed what happened was inconsistent with the officer's initial statement, thanks to the body-worn camera on the officer. Three days after Jordan was killed, the officer who shot him was fired and now faces murder charges.
In 1930, responsibility for the force was given to the Secret Service. In 1970, the White House Police Force was renamed the Executive Protective Service, and its duties expanded to include foreign diplomatic missions in the Washington, D.C. (Its area of responsibility would soon grow to consist of the entirety of the United States.). 'People say, 'Why do black girls perm their hair? Why do black girls wear weaves?' A lot of the time, that's the only way you can get a job. A lot of the time in entertainment, black people couldn't even get jobs if they came in with an Afro,' she said. Although Palmer readily admits she will still wear her hair relaxed for roles, she looks at.
As the investigation continues, one thing is absolutely clear — video technology is shaping our world, particularly in the context of police oversight.
Technology is neither good nor bad. It's what we make it. Last month, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) expanded its body-worn camera pilot program for patrol officers. As the program sparks healthy debate throughout the City and the country, I believe there is both a challenge and an opportunity in using this new technology — with privacy and justice as shared priorities. Concerns about how data will be collected, held, used and shared are legitimate. Yet body-worn camera footage — just like bystander and surveillance video — can be a tool for police accountability and for supporting officers who behave lawfully.
The NYC Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB), reviews almost 5,000 cases of alleged police misconduct every year. Investigators review many types of evidence, including video recordings from diverse sources like surveillance cameras, cell phones from witnesses and, in rare case, body-worn cameras.
Video footage provides investigators objective details of incidents. The CCRB recently analyzed allegations of misconduct in New York City over the last five years, and it found that these recordings help the CCRB make more determinations in allegations of police misconduct than in those without video. Currently, much of this footage is from civilians and CCTV.
The CCRB considers an allegation determined 'on its merits' if there is sufficient credible evidence to determine what happened. That could mean we 'substantiate' the allegation (it happened and was misconduct), find that it didn't happen or find that it happened, but the officer behaved lawfully. Thanks to video footage, CCRB has been able to substantially increase the cases we resolve. Last year, the CCRB closed 57% of allegations with video evidence on the merits compared to 45% of allegations without video. In 2015, those numbers were 56% and 41%, respectively. In 2014, the agency closed 53% of allegations with video on the merits' compared to 39% without video that year.
Often, a civilian and a police officer will have different accounts of what happened. A video can tip the balance where we have to show that the evidence supports one version over another. This independent verification benefits all parties. Over the last five years, on average, the CCRB was able to substantiate police misconduct with video at twice the rate of misconduct without video — 18.6% compared to 9.3%.
Video may not be definitive in every allegation within every complaint, but it can help significantly. Body-worn cameras provide investigators with another source of evidence so we can better understand an incident and make an appropriate determination.
Civil rights groups are right to stay vigilant about footage being recorded, stored and utilized in a manner that respects the privacy of minors, victims of sexual assault and any person who may be recorded initially as a subject in an incident but isn't ultimately determined to have a role in a crime. Some communities — particularly communities of color — have legitimate concerns about being overly surveilled. And advocates also call attention to questions of access to body-worn camera footage between police officers and defendants. CCRB will monitor this issue and ensure officers aren't abusing access to video to tailor their statements, interviews, and reports to the footage.
The NYPD lacks comprehensive guidance for when an officer activates and deactivates their recording device, and for clear exemptions for use while on patrol. As the pilot continues, the NYPD must develop an inclusive process with stakeholders like the CCRB, civil rights groups, and advocates, to ensure our city has rigorous and well-informed body-worn camera policies.
But video helps curb misconduct by officers and civilians alike. It helps determine what may have happened in police misconduct cases. Because of this, investigators at the CCRB must have direct access to view relevant footage to aid in investigations of misconduct. This is a standard among some police departments, including Washington D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department. If implemented, it would allow the CCRB to hasten investigations, which is good for all involved in allegations of misconduct.
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For your security, we've sent a confirmation email to the address you entered. Click the link to confirm your subscription and begin receiving our newsletters. If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder.It's a symbol that has existed for years: a black and white U.S. flag with a single blue stripe. The thin blue line.
Law enforcement officers and supporters who display the thin blue line flag — on patrol vehicles, uniforms and, in the days of the COVID-19 pandemic, face masks — view it as a show of pride and respect for a dangerous profession that puts officers' lives on the line.
The idea is that police are the force that stands between law and order and chaos, the force that safeguards society against disorder.
Critics, however, believe the symbol creates a sense of division between police and the communities they serve. Some say the concept fails to recognize the community's role in public safety and the importance of community-police relations.
And at a time when people across the country have taken to the streets for weeks to protest police brutality and demand reform, it's a symbol that some see as polarizing.
Last month a newly-formed group known as the Imperial Beach People's Alliance, which aims to educate the community about systemic racism and ensure that everyone feels safe in the South Bay city, submitted a list of demands to local government leaders. On that list: the banning of any thin blue line flags from San Diego County Sheriff's Department uniforms and patrol vehicles.
Marcus Boyd, a leader of the group, which counts with more than 350 members on Facebook, said he associates the symbol with the blue wall of silence, an informal code of not reporting misconduct among law enforcement officers.
Boyd said he believes the thin blue line breaks trust with the community.
The Sheriff's Department, which does not appear to display the flag on its fleet of vehicles or uniforms, did not respond to requests for comment. Google casino free slots machine.
La Mesa police Lt. Greg Runge, a spokesman for the department, which displays a small version of the flag on its fleet of police vehicles, called it 'a symbol of solidarity and professional pride within a dangerous, difficult profession and a solemn tribute to fallen police officers and their families.'
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San Diego police spokesman Lt. Shawn Takeuchi said 'over the years, the thin blue line has come to represent solidarity for law enforcement and their efforts to protect the communities they serve,' but added that the department does not take a stance on the issue.
The origin of the thin blue line dates back to an 1854 battle during the Crimean War, in which a British infantry regiment, in red uniforms, stood its ground against a Russian cavalry charge. The British formation became known as the Thin Red Line.
It's unclear when the adapted phrase was first used in police circles. In 1992, New York police Commissioner Richard Enright used the expression as part of a public relations effort.
In the 1950s, Los Angeles police Chief Bill Parker picked up the term, mentioning it in speeches and adopting it as the title of a TV show he conceived to promote a polished image of the Los Angeles Police Department, which had been plagued by a history of corruption within the force.
Parker left behind a controversial legacy. Under his leadership, the LAPD faced accusations of police brutality and racism as it transformed into more professionalized and militarized force that engaged in proactive policing — changes Parker viewed as necessary to ensure public safety.
Parker himself made a series of racist comments about Blacks and Latinos during his tenure, including in the midst of the 1965 Watts riots.
In the 1970s and '80s, the phrase was popularized in books and films, including the 1988 documentary, 'The Thin Blue Line,' which tells the story of a man's trial and wrongful conviction in the killing of a police officer in Dallas. In the film, the judge recounts that he was moved during closing arguments when a prosecutor spoke of the concept behind the thin blue line.
The flag itself emerged around 2014 as the Blue Lives Matter movement grew in prominence. The movement was apparently intended as a response to Black Lives Matter and grew out of a series of instances across the nation in which police officers were killed in the line of duty.
Controversy followed when the flag was appropriated by White supremacists and neo-Nazis who flew it among a sea of Confederate flags during a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017. Participants in the 'Unite the Right' rally organized to protest the city's plans to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. The event turned deadly when a man plowed his car into a group of counterprotesters, killing a woman.
More recently, in May of this year, San Francisco police officers responded to a housing protest wearing face masks emblazoned with the thin blue line flag — a display that drew immediate push back. According to news reports, police Chief Bill Scott ordered officers to no longer wear the union-provided masks, citing concerns that they 'may be perceived as divisive or disrespectful.' The department provided officers with neutral face coverings.
Tony Montoya, president of the San Francisco Police Officers Association, blasted leaders who took a stand against the mask for what he said he viewed as giving in to hatred toward police.
Takeuchi, the San Diego police spokesman, said the department doesn't allow the display of thin blue line insignia. But department policy doesn't address the current need for officers to wear face coverings in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jack Schaeffer, president of the San Diego Police Officers Association, said he views the thin blue line as nothing more than a show of pride and support for law enforcement. Rivers casino bonus codes. Blackjack strategy 6 decks.
'It's not meant to be about hate' or create a divide, said Schaeffer, whose cellphone case is decorated with the thin blue line flag. He added that he views the flag as a showing of pride the same way other professionals, such as doctors, take ownership of their work.
One police department in San Diego County that embraces the public display of the thin blue line flag is the La Mesa Police Department, which allows officers to wear the symbol on their uniforms and displays the flag on its fleet of police vehicles, on the rear bumpers.
'The La Mesa Police Department wholeheartedly embraces and supports the wearing and display of other symbols as well,' Runge, the department's spokesman, said, adding that some officers choose to wear pink patches to observe Breast Cancer Awareness Month and that rainbow-colored patches are being designed for officers to honor Pride Month if they choose to do so.
Michael Jenkins, a criminal justice professor at The University of Scranton, said he believes society has generally accepted the thin blue line with little pushback in part because many members of the public have held police in high regard over the years.
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Given the current public conversation surrounding policing, he said he believes it's time to reconsider the thin blue line. 'In the 21st Century, the police that we need is very different,' he said.
He said that while the thin blue line has been adopted as a form of solidarity, at its root is an idea that separates the public and police. Even as law enforcement started to view itself as part of the community under the philosophy of community policing, the thin blue line's influence on the way police officers view themselves generally remained unchanged.
'I think that's where today the danger lies,' Jenkins said, adding that the idea behind the thin blue line leads to a mindset that impacts police officers' day-to-day encounters with the public.
'Some of the situations we're seeing on video are partially a result of police not recognizing that they need to engage with the community,' he said.
Bishop Cornelius Bowser, co-founder of the Community Assistance Support Team, which aims to prevent violence in the streets of San Diego, shared a similar opinion. He worries that the concept of the thin blue line influences police culture and, in turn, affects the way communities are policed, especially Black communities that so often are criminalized, he said.
'When they come (into our communities), they see us as criminals, they see us as threats,' he said. 'They're there as warriors, as an occupying force.'
He said police need to build 'bridges of trust' with the communities they serve. And the key, he said, is changing police culture.
'We don't need lines,' he said. 'What we need is unity.'
