re: #340 Justanotherhuman

Evidently, this is a correction, or not.

And it doesn’t matter anyway. His kids will never have the chance to get any of it now.

Court records show police shooting victim Walter Scott did have outstanding bench warrant and owed $18,000 in child support, apparently contradicting AP report - @NBCNews

nbcnews.com

You know what I find more interesting - whether the officer had other excessive force incidents, and how the department handles those excessive force incidents involving him and others, and whether there is adequate oversight to make sure that officers are acting appropriately.

While the PD has been more forthright in this case, and have already taken steps to protect itself from further lawsuits (namely firing the officer involved, being more open with media to inquiries, etc.), the Department’s actions deserve far more scrutiny than a man whose only offense for reason of the MV stop was a busted tail light. That Scott ran should not have been a death sentence.

But that remains a problem with police nationally. They jump the gun on using deadly force, and their handling of mentally ill people is especially bad.

Blacks are disproportionately involved in excessive force incidents, especially deadly force incidents.

Mentally ill are also disproportionately involved in excessive force incidents, especially deadly force incidents.

If you’re black and suffer from mental illness, these kinds of incidents have a particularly deadly outcome.

This all has to change, and it will take more than simply firing or prosecuting officers who shoot and kill. It means new and improved training, changing law and policy on use of deadly force, and all with an eye towards not only officer safety (which until now trumps all else), but towards public safety and minimizing use of deadly force.