Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Eric Garners Death

Unfortunately policing is not all about them being heros. There are officers who make mistakes and there are officers who disgrace the badge. In the case of Eric Garner police made a serious mistake which disgraced the badge. Eric was a 43 year old father who was killed in police custody while they stopped him on staten island. He repeatedly expressed that he could not breath but the officers did not listen and he died. He was being arrested for allegedly selling untaxed cigars and this lead to him dieing. In the video shown there were no signs of resist but the police still used serious force. As a person wanting to be a police officer i sometimes try to see their side of stories but in this one i really can not. They killed a man for no reason at all. It was an accident maybe but that is also known as involuntary manslaughter and that is a crime.
According to channel 4 new york the medical examiner determined his death a homicide from the choke hold he was in by police. Garner's family had gone to the district attorney with his death and had requested it to be investigated which lead to the autopsy report. As they were arresting him he was being choked and shoved into the ground. There was no clear reason why he was being arrested but he is a overweight asthmatic. This and being shoved into the ground while being choked lead to his death.
According to channel 4 commissioner Bill Bratton of the NYPD is cooperating fully with the investigation. He has suspended the officers involved without pay. He has also ordered the whole police force to take part in use of force training because the way that garner was arrested was a banned use of force. The NYPD has banned chokeholds to apprehend suspects. Channel four states that the mayor's office and the district attorney's office are all informed about the matter and will be taking action. The mayor stated that he will work “to ensure a fair and justified outcome.” He was also quoted by channel 4 saying “We all have a responsibility to work together to heal the wounds from decades of mistrust and create a culture where the police department and the communities they protect respect each other -- and that’s a responsibility that Commissioner Bratton and I take very seriously,"
Wearing the badge does not make you above the law. Wearing a badge means the complete opposite. When you take the oath of an officer you swear to protect the people of your jurisdiction at all cost. You swear to follow the law and be better than those you watch over. Be an example to them. These officers spit on that oath when they decided to use lethal force in a situation where it was not needed simply because they have a badge and a gun. It is officers like this who make all officers look bad. I am here to tell you that yes there are bad cops out there but if you talk to most about this situation they will tell you that these officers do not deserve to wear the badge after this incident.

Video:
Source:
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Eric-Garner-Chokehold-Police-Custody-Cause-of-Death-Staten-Island-Medical-Examiner-269396151.html

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