Today's MOZEN: I Love the Police. Really.

F LoBuono

From time to time, I feel it necessary to "qualify" some of my posts. As you may have noticed, I do not fear controversy and write with conviction. This, certainly, is not a fault. At least I don't view it as such. However, it can sometimes lead people to have misconceptions as to where my actual thinking lies. Although I would hope the real meaning of what I write is contained within the body of my posts, clarification can often help to speed the plow.

I do not hate the police. In fact, I love policemen. My father was one. And, I enjoy and respect the members of my local force - TRUE community policemen. They have helped me FAR more than they have hurt.

But, I do HATE the practice of systematic (and systemic) racism that runs rampant in WAY too many police forces around the Country. And, I detest the BLUE WALL of SILENCE that protects this corrupt system.

Well, that wall may begin to crumble.

Recently (Tuesday, August 9, 2016), the Justice Department (DOJ) published a blistering report that served as a scathing indictment of the Baltimore Police Department. A year-long study commissioned after the death of a young black man, Freddie Gray while he was in police custody, clearly showed a disproportionate use of police power against African-Americans. The report clearly demonstrated racial disparities in both stops and arrests when comparing whites and blacks. As an example, the report used the case of one black man in his mid-50's being stopped 30 TIMES IN LESS THAN FOUR YEARS - without a single charge being levied. Black individuals accounted for over 95% of all individuals stopped (410 total) at least 10 times over the course of the 5.5 years of records the DOJ reviewed.

And, that is not even considered the worst statistic.

The one that is quite telling is this: 91% of all individuals arrested for "discretionary"offenses like "failure to obey" or "trespassing"were black. A shift supervisor even made it easier for his charges to fill out the trespassing arrest reports of people found near housing projects by having them use a single term: BLACK MALE. The report continues with similar, alarming statistics (you can find the entire report on-line).

Really.

And, if you think that this ONLY happens in Baltimore, I have a bridge to sell you! I believe that this type of blatant racism exists in EVERY police force in EVERY major city in America. And, we see evidence of it EVER DAY.

Now, this does not mean that the police, including the Baltimore PD, don't do heroic things on a daily basis. They do. And, they do it from New York to Tucumcari. What is DOES mean is that there IS a problem and we HAVE to fix it - or, there will never be peace on our streets. There are FAR too many bad apples in that basket and they are spoiling the whole lot! The people have stepped up to cry out ENOUGH! It's time the good cops do the same.

This, I hope will be the beginning.