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posted by martyb on Saturday July 22 2017, @12:17PM   Printer-friendly
from the turning-of-the-tide? dept.

The New York Times

The Minneapolis police chief, Janee Harteau, resigned on Friday at the mayor’s request, less than a week after one of the city’s officers fatally shot an unarmed Australian woman who had called 911 for help.

Mayor Betsy Hodges said in a statement that “I’ve lost confidence in the chief’s ability to lead us further” and that “it is clear that she has lost the confidence of the people of Minneapolis as well.”
...
At a press conference on Friday night about the chief’s departure, protesters interrupted Ms. Hodges and called on her to resign, as well. “Bye, bye, Betsy,” they chanted when she tried to continue speaking.

The Washington Post

Minneapolis chief of police Janeé Harteau resigned Friday, forced out by the city’s mayor nearly a week after a police officer fatally shot an Australian woman who had called 911.

The case has drawn international scrutiny and criticism, and highlighted the limitations of police-worn body cameras.

Mayor Betsy Hodges, who has previously called the lack of body-camera footage of the shooting “unacceptable,” said in a statement, “I’ve lost confidence in the Chief’s ability to lead us further.”
...
The mayor has been sharply critical of the fact that even though every patrol officer in Minneapolis wears a body camera, neither officer present when Damond was fatally shot late Saturday activated his, preventing authorities from having potentially key footage of what happened.

“We have put too much time, money, and effort into them to have them fail us when we needed them most,” Hodges wrote of the body cameras. “That cannot happen again.”
...
Harteau is at least the fourth chief of a major police department forced out in recent years amid controversy over a deadly police shooting or a fatal encounter with officers.

The fatal shooting has provoked international outrage and continued to resonate in Australia. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called it “a shocking killing” and said Australian officials are seeking closure for her family.

I feel something is wrong if police and city officials need Australians to be shot to start cleaning their act.

---

Background - The Guardian:

Damond, 40, called police after hearing a possible sexual assault taking place in an alley behind her Minneapolis home in what has been described as the safe, middle-class neighbourhood of Fulton.

The police audio begins with the description of a “female screaming behind the building”, believed to be what Damond told the dispatcher in her initial 911 call.

Damond, dressed in her pyjamas, reportedly approached the driver’s side window of the police car when it arrived in the alley and an officer shot across his partner at Damond more than once from the passenger seat.
...
The Washington Post reported Damond is one of at least 524 people fatally shot by police in the US this year and and the fifth in Minnesota.

The Minneapolis-St Paul area is still reeling from the acquittal last month of a police officer who shot dead a man, Philando Castile, during a traffic stop while Castile’s girlfriend livestreamed the horrifying incident.


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  • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Saturday July 22 2017, @05:01PM (4 children)

    by fustakrakich (6150) on Saturday July 22 2017, @05:01PM (#542952) Journal

    And you are looking for terrorists abroad?

    Well, yes. If you follow the money, you will see the logic. But the problem here is still the voters' fault. They have abdicated their responsibility to properly oversee their government, and blindly, lazily, corruptly reelect the worst of the worst that promises to *bring home the bacon*. For all of society's problems, nobody should look beyond the tip of their own nose. Everybody contributes.

    --
    La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by edIII on Saturday July 22 2017, @06:13PM (3 children)

    by edIII (791) on Saturday July 22 2017, @06:13PM (#543008)

    Ohh, fuck that noise. You assume voting makes any difference at all. It doesn't.

    Just where the fuck can I vote for police reforms? That's right, we don't get to vote for them. Just the pieces of shit that control that, and when they get their power, they always forget us. Every. Single. Fucking. Time.

    The problem is a completely non-representative government, not the people themselves. A system so entrenched in corruption that no elected official has a chance of changing it. Especially when the Elites have more votes than us, since Dark Money rules politics now.

    Is Hillary president? Not like the popular vote made much difference, and that directly means that most of the voting public WAS IGNORED. You think all the Black Lives Matter activists don't vote? Of course they do, but they also have to organize and protest because that vote don't mean shit.

    There is only two kinds of voting that matter: Give the politician money. Give the politician a bullet in the head. That's all.

    --
    Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
    • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Saturday July 22 2017, @09:10PM (1 child)

      by fustakrakich (6150) on Saturday July 22 2017, @09:10PM (#543087) Journal

      You assume voting makes any difference at all. It doesn't.

      That is a lame blame passing excuse. People have to make the attempt at least. But while over 98% of them choose to reelect 95% of their corrupt politicians, all their complaints are bullshit.

      You think all the Black Lives Matter activists don't vote? Of course they do, but they also have to organize and protest because that vote don't mean shit.

      Majority rules. Couldn't be simpler. As for Hillary, everybody knew the electoral college rules going in. Her loss speaks much more loudly about her own failures and party corruption than anything else. The hysterical denials accomplish nothing but distract attention. And the *vote against Hillary is a vote for Trump* shtick is very repulsive and costs even more votes.

      The opportunity to completely sweep the House of democrats AND republicans comes every two years. Don't blame the politicians for their voter given victories and lifelong careers.

      --
      La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @12:13AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 23 2017, @12:13AM (#543177)

        In California, the two wings of the corporate party aka, "Democrat and Republican" backed an initiative to disenfranchise all voters in state wide elections who would prefer a candidate that is not part of The Party. I CAN'T vote for who I want, in California. I can't even write in a candidate.

        So, I guess the corporate party was afraid that voting might count. But, they "fixed" that.

        There was a university study that looked at legislation passed from 1981-2002. In every case where the public wanted a different outcome than moneyed interests, moneyed interests won-- every single time.

        http://www.princeton.edu/~mgilens/Gilens%20homepage%20materials/Gilens%20and%20Page/Gilens%20and%20Page%202014-Testing%20Theories%203-7-14.pdf [princeton.edu]

        Sadly, in the corrupt as hell US, voting means shit (except on a few social issues that are used to divide the population).

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @09:32PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 22 2017, @09:32PM (#543100)

      Hillary may have won the popular vote, but that is only because our failed system where people can only vote for a single candidate encourages people to vote for the lesser of two evils, not because most of her voters actually liked her policies. Same with Trump's voters. You have the vast majority of voters voting for evil candidates to stop an even greater evil from winning, so the popular vote doesn't really mean anything anyway. Just getting rid of the electoral college would not solve the most fundamental problems with our voting system.