Continued from Sean Bell part 1 ...
My best friend and I were on a business trip. We were going to Delaware for a meeting. My friend, Mike, was driving his mini-van. We both were dressed in business attire; He was more casual I was in a suit. We drove from New York City through New Jersey on the turnpike and so on. We were doing about 70-75 on the turnpike and were in the middle lane, keeping up with the flow of traffic, not exceeding it. 2 State troopers pulled us over, again guns drawn. This time I had to have my hands on the dash. We were given a ticket for speeding, as at least 5 cars passed by at what seemed to be about 70+ and one was doing what looked like 80 or 90. It was the middle of the day on a Tuesday. I was 31 or 32, Mike is one year younger.
I can go on, but I don’t think I need to. It has been my experience that the police can be as potentially deadly as a crackhead. As a matter of fact, I’ve had fewer problems with crackheads than officers. It doesn’t make a difference how I am dressed (suits or jeans – I never dress in the thuggish style), my age, my education, or where I have lived. I’ve had 2 occasions where someone has drawn a gun on me and they were not police officers. I’ve had at least 10 times where police officers have drawn guns on me.
I am hardly unique. Every Black American I know can describe several similar situations throughout their lives. I live with the fear that one day I will be shot by police officers, probably without cause. Events like the ones I mentioned in the onset don’t make me feel any less likely to be killed.
I say all that for a reason. Mr. Sean Bell and his friends were fired at 51 times. One officer fired 31 times another 11 times. The tires of the car were not shot out. Deadly force was used, though it was against official policy. I have seen reports that say that the first officer on the scene identified himself, and did not fire as Mr. Bell tried to drive away – brushing against the officer. As Mr. Bell continued to attempt to get away the officer seems to have become fearful for his life and the results were one dead another shot 23 times and the third shot 11 times.
Was it excessive? Imagine that this was a car full of white males. If that would be excessive then this must be. The bigger question I have always had is why such force needs to be used solely against African American men. Mr. Rodney King had 5 or 6 officers beating him; Mr. Diallo had 41 shots from 4 officers [at least one shot was through his foot after he was laying on the ground dead]. In each case the officers walked away without a single charge. Mr. Louima was violated in a police station with a plunger. Given these facts, my own experiences and those of friends, if I had a chance to get away from a police officer in a touchy situation I’d try to run as well. It’s not about guilt, it’s about survival.
Continued in the final part ...
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