Ending Qualified Immunity for Cops Is a Matter of Life and Death

Last week, Bartlesville, Oklahoma, police releasedvideo from a nighttime SWAT on the home of a man suspected of selling marijuana —yes, marijuana—during which officers fatally shot his mother, 72-year-old Geraldine Townsend, after she fired a BB gun at the officers. As he is being cuffed and dragged from the house, Mike Townsend can be heard pleading with the officers to let him see his dying mother, but they refuse.In December, Wichita, Kansas, police received what turned out to be a prank call regarding a non-existent hostage situation at the home of Andrew Finch. When the 28-year-old father of two went outside to investigate the flashing emergency lights, SWAT officers yelled at him to “Show your hands” and “Walk this way.” Seconds later, one of the officers shot and killed him. Andrew Finch was unarmed.That same month, a six-year-old San Antonio boy was killed by deputies who were shooting at a suspected car thief, also unarmed, on the front porch of the boy ’s mobile home. Two weeks before that, former Mesa County, Arizona, deputy Philip Brailsford was acquitted of murder for shooting an unarmed man, Daniel Shaver, as he begged for his life in the hallway of a motel. And back in July, Justine Damond was shot and killed by a Minneapolis police officer after she called 911 to report a possible sexual assault in the alley behind her house. Damond too was unarmed.Lack of systematic record-keeping makes it difficult to quantify the scope of the problem with prec...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs