Alfred Olango Quotes

Excessive force being used by officers has been an ongoing issue since law enforcement was created. During the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, it has been made aware that minorities were a target for the law enforcement of that time. The 1967 murder cases of “Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner against the sheriffs of Neshoba and Lauderdale County” at that time was huge seeing as everyone involved in the case got off without any charges (Wynter). After years have gone by and the 41st anniversary of their deaths has happened, someone was convicted. All this time, no one would speak up against the police of these counties in fear of being brutally murdered just like the three men that was in their care. The injustice of it did not make sense

One night in April 1998, two New Jersey state troopers pulled over a van containing three black men and one Hispanic man, all in their early twenties and all unarmed. During the stop, the van began to roll backwards. Although the van's driver would later claim that he put the vehicle into reverse by accident, the troopers believed he was attempting to intentionally back over one of them. In response, the troopers—both white males—fired 11 shots at the van, hitting three of the men inside, one of whom was severely wounded. Many African Americans and Latino face racist police officers. Not much they can do about it either besides sit there and take it. The topic of racism in police officers has deep history to consider, and there will always be both supporters and critics who continue to debate this topic.

Paula Austin, addresses police brutality and their relationship with guns. She opens up her discussion by providing us with images of newspaper articles that demonstrate the image of police brutality. She then goes further in depth and illustrates the increase in gun kills demonstrated by the police force. She provides us with statistical data on the increase in deaths caused by police through guns. Moreover, she then draws the connection between police and race. She addresses to us on how African Americans are way more targeted against by police than any other race. She provides us with the most recent example of “ Stephon Clark” an unarmed black man who was killed by police on the notion that he was “armed”. She then examines this event and illustrates the further connection towards guns and

policies that are currently in place to reduce tension between police officers and the minority groups that they serveLaw enforcement officers and the community have been disconnected. Violence and brutality of any kind, particularly at the hands of the police who here to protect and serve our communities. When Ferguson, Missouri exploded after the police shot an unarmed black teenager, the tension between the community and its protectors was laid bare. Ferguson is not the first and certainly not the last community forced to bridge that chasm. In South Carolina a policeman shot an unarmed black male who was stopped for a seat belt violation. The cop asked the male for ID, who then reached under his seat to retrieve his wallet, but was shot in the leg by the cop before he could take out his ID. When the body cam video was reviewed it shows that the trigger happy cop probably was in fear of his life, however it is also obvious that the cop shouldn’t have felt threaten as the behavior of the black male involved nothing unusual. Many would say if the driver was white the cop would have not reacted the way he did.

This case provides the story of the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald (17 years) in Chicago by Police Officer Jason Van Dyke on or about October 21, 2014. McDonald died after having been shot 16 times late on that evening by Van Dyke as he and others responded to a report of a man armed with a knife breaking into vehicles in a truck yard (CQ Research, 2016). McDonald, who had a record of juvenile arrests, allegedly refused the officers’ demands to drop his knife (CQ Research, 2016). After 400 days of the incident, the video from a police vehicle showed that McDonald, who was holding a knife was walking parallel, but away from the officers when he was shot 16 times by Van Dyke (Police Charges, 2015). The public has a right to know as much as possible about the rules governing the police and about investigations into allegations of police misconduct. Transparency holds police accountable and accountability builds trust in Police Department.

Through history it has been shown countless time, the results of poor preparation is the ultimate demise of the people. In 1999, four non-uniformed, New York City Police officers approached a suspect whom they believed was the suspect of a reported rapist. The man was no other than Amadou Diallo, a West African immigrant. The confrontation occurred in low visibility conditions, meaning at night, as Diallo “retreated into the vestibule and reached for an object in his pocket. Believing that Diallo was pulling out a weapon, one officer shouted, ‘Gun!’ and the four officers began to shoot into the vestibule. One officer tripped, and believing their fellow officer had been shot, the other officers emptied 41 bullets into the vestibule, nineteen of which hit Diallo, killing him” (Gerdes, 2004). The direct result of poorly trained police was the death of a foreign national. In this encounter, the officers made poor decisions. The first mistake was approaching a suspect without proper identification. Since it was stated that they were not in uniforms, it can be assumed these officers were either off duty, or did not properly wear their identification tags. In such situations, being a foreign immigrant, even if Diallo reached for a weapon it would have been justified

On a Wednesday evening at 9:05pm in Minnesota, an African American couple was driving in their car with a four-year-old daughter in the back seat. After being pulled aside by Joronimo Yanez, a police officer, for a broken tail light, Philando Castile, the driver, stopped his car. Officer Yanez asked Castile for his license and registration. Castile handed the officer his car license and registration, but also told him he has a weapon in his car, for which he was licensed to carry. Officer Yanez immediate words were “Don’t move!” As Castile put his hands up where the officer could clearly see them, officer Yanez shot him repeatedly four times in the arm to the horror of Castile, his girlfriend, and their four-year-old daughter. Completely stupefied by the event, Castile’s girlfriend, Reynolds, took out her phone and began streaming an online video directly to Facebook showing the immediate aftermath of the incident. In the video, Reynolds narrates the accident’s story and exclaimed, “You shot four bullets into him, sir. He was just getting his license and registration, sir. Please don’t tell me he’s dead.” While recording, her four-years-old asked “Mammy, I’m scarred!” Reynolds answered, “It’s okay, I’m right here with you.” Officer Yanez returned and ordered Reynolds on her knees out of the car. Still being recorded, the other officers on the scene asked officer Yanez of his mindset, checking if he’s ok, completing ignoring the true victim, Castile. Castile was left bleeding

The Chicago Tribune reported that the Chicago Police Department extended their condolences to Jones’ friends and family. However, the question of why did this happen at all is being questioned. Neither victim deserved to be killed, and according to LeGrier’s father, the officer who fired his weapon, either white or hispanic with dark hair, knew he had messed up. He said that the officer yelled that the younger LeGrier was lunging at

A young man’s brutal death at the hands of the police is found justified in a court of law due to his “suspicious” appearance: a black hoodie and his hands in his pocket. An elderly woman is fatally shot in her home for her relation to a suspected criminal. A married man with two toddlers is choked to death after a minor traffic stop by an officer who later claimed that his unarmed victim was wielding a gun. These people all have a few commonalities: the color of their skin, their presumed guilt at first sight, and their ultimate unjustified death administered by the law force. These are not uncommon occurrences. Due to the staggeringly disproportionate rate of African-Americans killed by the police, and the underlying rampant racial profiling, police brutality towards blacks in America must be called to light.

On Tuesday, the 27th of September 2016, Alfred Okwera Olango was fatally shot in El Cajon, California after his sister made a 911 call saying he was mentally ill and acting erratically. When police showed up to the scene, Olengo refused many of their commands and according to police “rapidly drew an object from his front pants pocket, placed both hands together and extended them rapidly toward the officer, taking up what appeared to be a shooting stance”. This, like many other recent police shootings of African Americans, led to large protests. On Tuesday and then again on Wednesday the El Cajon streets near the site of the shooting were filled with hundreds of mostly peaceful protesters carrying posters and chanting. Officers fully suited

Excessive force and police brutality have become common terms for anyone keeping up with today’s current events. In 2014, the media covered numerous cases of excessive force that resulted in the deaths of several people of color (Nelson & Staff, 2014). The most widely covered cases by the media in 2014 were of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old black male shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri; and Eric Garner, a 43-year-old black male in Staten Island, New York who was put into a choke by police officer Daniel Pantaleo until he lost consciousness and stopped breathing (Nelson & Staff, 2014). These cases brought attention to the seriousness of police brutality and the curiosity of how often it occurs (Brown, 2015).

Terence Crutcher, an unarmed corporative 40-year-old black man was gunned down by officer Betty Shelby in Tulsa, Oklahoma (Blau, 2016, p.1). Shelby had stopped Crutcher while he was waiting on the side of the road for assistance after his SUV broke down (Blau, 2016, p.1). Numerous police video feeds show that Crutcher had his hands in the air as officers approached his car (Blau, 2016, p.1). He was “followed closely by Shelby and three other officers” as he walked towards his car (Blau, 2016, p.1). Shelby shot him and he fell to the ground (Blau, 2016, p.1). She attempted to argue that she feared he was reaching for a gun, however this argument is highly illogical as Crutcher’s windows were rolled up, making it “unlikely he was

After the deadly shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonalds occurred on October 20, 2015 in Chicago, IL, the police department was in question of its police brutality, biased ways and its inequality when approaching people that live in low income areas, especially those of color. Laquan McDonalds was shot 16 times and killed by officer Jason Van Dyke that night. The department tried to cover up the whole scene as well as the facts of what had happened that night. It was said that Laquan McDonald was only shot ones when in fact the autopsy showed he was shot 16 times (Black, 2015).

While reading through the CNN news website I came across a tragic news story about a young teenager named Jesse James Romeo who was being shot at and killed by an officer after shooting at another officer earlier this week in LA. The suspicion of a gang related vandalism led up to Jesse’s horrible death. As LA officers were investigating the vandalism call, they encountered 2 suspects who fled the scene after being caught. One of the suspects was identified as Jesse J. Romero and was pronounced dead. LAPD Deputy Chief Robert Arcos stated that a nearby witness said that they saw the suspect with a handgun and shooting the weapon “in the direction of the pursing officers”. The mother of Jesse however is stating that her son was never a delinquent

In the article, “Police, Protesters Clash In St. Louis After Police Shooting,” police a young black teen by the name of Michael Brown was gunned down by an off-duty officer. The officer said the teen had fired off several rounds from a stolen 9mm Ruger, but the family of the gunned down teenager denies he was armed. The department of police notes the officer fire 17 consecutive rounds before his gun had jammed. I believe this assault by the officer was institutionalized by the fact that most black teens are seen as potentially dangerous criminals in the white man’s criminal