Do police distort the facts to cover up their unjustified shooting of unarmed young black men?

I am not suggesting a conspiracy -- just self-protective cover for police officers trying to do a difficult job.   But the solution is not to distort the facts;  it should be to recognize the difficulty of going into a situation where your own life may be at risk, and then to find better ways to train officers to respond appropriately.

[NOTE:  I wrote this before the announcement of the New York grand jury decision on the "chokehold" killing of Eric Garner by a police officer.   We don't yet know the details of their deliberation, but we do know that this grand jury was handled much the same as the Ferguson one -- all the evidence presented to the grand jury, and the police officer was allowed to testify for two hours.   We also know that coroner had called it a homicide.]

The latest example of suspected police reports that distort the truth -- slanted in their favor -- involves the recent shooting of 12 year old Tamir Rice by a Cleveland police officer.   It's a long description of something that transpired in just a few seconds.    Evidence comes from a nearby security surveillance camera that was unknown to the police when they released their report.   It reportedly shows that it was only two seconds from the time the police car pulled up until Tamir was shot.

The case led to a stunning piece of reporting by both Chris Hayes on MSNBC and by Shaun King, a blogger on Daily Kos, who begins with this:

"The equation is increasingly predictable.  An African American is killed by police.  Controlling the narrative, police release their version of events and state that they had no other alternative but to use lethal force.

"Eyewitnesses, recordings, and indisputable facts counter the police narrative and expose glaring inconsistencies in their story. . . .  The officers are not punished for what they did.  The family and community are left in a state of grief—fueled by a lack of closure or justice."

This pattern is repeated over and over, hundreds of times.   Perhaps the most documented one is the transcript of the recent grand jury hearings on the Michael Brown killing that had such glaring errors (more about this in another blog). 

Back to Shaun King's blog on the Cleveland case:

". . . Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy who was shot and killed by Cleveland police is the newest name we must add to the list. Seen on a local security camera loafing around a community park, alone, Tamir makes snowballs, walks around, and plays with a pellet gun. 

"Concerned, a man calls 911 to report Tamir. The call itself was actually very thorough and reported that Tamir appeared to be a young kid and that the gun he was flashing was likely fake. . . .  the caller appears to have very legitimately described what he saw—including Tamir's young age and the likelihood that the pistol was not real. These facts, tragically, were left out when the police dispatch operator radioed the call into local officers. . . .

"Given what they were given, the police should've replied to the dispatch with extreme caution. They had no idea if Tamir was 12 or 21 or if he had an air pistol from Walmart or a loaded 9 mm.  The police responded to the call . . .  and shot him. He died hours later at a local Cleveland hospital."

"Not knowing that a camera recorded the entire incident, the police told what appear to be at least five lies about what happened.
1. Police said that Tamir Rice was seated at a table with other people.
2. Police said that as they pulled up, they saw Tamir Rice grab the gun and put it in his waistband.
3. Police said they got out of the car and told Tamir Rice three times to put his hands up but he refused.
4. Police said that Tamir Rice then reached into his waistband and pulled out the gun, and was then shot and killed by Officer Timothy Loehmann.
5. Timothy Loehmann was described as a rookie.

"MSNBC's Chris Hayes very adeptly narrates us through the video of the shooting to show us that these five essential points aren't true at all.  [I saw Chris' show referred to here and saw the video].

1. Tamir Rice was not seated at a table with other people.
2. Tamir Rice does not appear to grab the gun and put it in his waistband.
3. Police shot and killed Tamir in less than two seconds and could not have told him to put his hands up three times.
4. Tamir Rice absolutely does not pull the air gun out of his waistband and brandish it in any way. This fact is so crucial.
5. Timothy Loehmann was not a rookie, but had been an officer for over two years.

". . . As expected . . . spokespeople are already claiming that the officer had no other choice.  But how can that be true? Virtually every other choice the officer could've made would have been better than the one he chose. Why did the officer lie and say Tamir was with a crew of people? Why did the officer lie and say Tamir brandished the weapon? Why did the officers pull up so closely to Tamir? How are we expected to believe that he was told three times to put his hands up in such a short period of time? [two seconds]  This never should've happened."

This is very disturbing -- and I have not even included the parts of the secondary issue of the pattern as desceribed by Shaun King:   the character assassination of the victim and his family that begins, sometimes with comments from the police themselves, and then amplified by the media ad infinitum.  It happened with Trayvon Martin and the release of his school disciplinary record, with Michael Brown and his stealing cigarillos -- and worse with other shooting victims.    Tamir's parents' difficulties are already being bandied about in the media, as if to say:   of course this is all the fault of victim, so what can you expect the police to do?

This may not be a conspiracy, but it is a nationwide pattern and a serious social problem.   Bravo !!! to President Obama and AG Eric Holder for addressing the problem head on.   Holder has already begun his series of hearings around the country.

Ralph

PS:   Now there is a report that the officer who shot Tamir had been employed as a policeman in another city, where two years ago a report described him as unfit to be a police officer and that it was unlikely that he would ever be.   Following that evaluation, he resigned.   Whether the Cleveland police department knew of this when they hired him, I do not know.