And I believe congress needs to get involved.
First & foremost this is not an excuse for thuggish or criminal behavior. Nor is it a condemnation of police in general.
In the past I have created threads saying that the black community needs to get control of the culture in their inner cities.
Now it is time to recognize that we have a problem in the police community. It has become terribly obvious that temperament & judgment is an issue that the police departments across our nation are not paying a lot of attention to with regard to their hiring practices. So many police shootings seem to be questionable and it usually boils down to judgment. It makes me wonder if the screening process for selecting candidates is adequate. I also wonder if the pay is too low? So low that it attracts too many of the wrong individuals? It's like we just hire whomever applies as long as they pass a back ground check with little regard to their psychological well being or ability to function under extreme stress.
If you watch the video posted to Facebook after this latest shooting you can hear the sheer terror in the officers voice AFTER he had already killed the individual. He sounded like a child who was scared shitless.
Perhaps some nation wide standards could alleviate some of the problems with bad hires. We give these men and women a great deal of power over our daily lives so why not create some rational standards by which we determine who receives that power?
There is, indeed, a problem with the "police". And, as a black man, I'm going to explain what it is. The problem lies (not all cases) with "attitude". Black people have, for years, shown attitude - rather than complying with officers. I'm no fool. If a Cop approaches me and directs me to lie down - you can bet your ass - I'm going to lie down.
Now - white police officers are far too quick to draw their weapons and fire. That is a FACT.
The video in LA (in my opinion) clearly shows the police murdering this man. The video in Minnesota CLEARLY shows the officer murdering the man.
AS a former federal agent, and, a CCW permit holder, I can say with certainty, this young man was ABSOLUTELY correct in his actions. He told the officer that he as a CCW permit holder and that he was armed. EXACTLY what you are taught to do when interacting with the Police. He did nothing wrong. This police officer fired before thinking.
Hopefully, he is charged with murder. This man SHOULD have been riding a desk - rather than patrolling streets. You are correct in saying that he acted as a "child scared shitless". No business being on the street and, if they still had the Psychology based testing - they might have caught this.
However, you still have to understand the psychology of the situation. Police are far too used to encountering "attitude" when approaching black people. That is wrong and will ONLY change with extensive training.
