Following the news about police brutality cases is something that can sour your day quickly and make you think that all police are bad. The reality is that they aren’t, but the cases that make the news highlight how poorly some people have been treated by the police.
Recently, a report from Chicago in November 2018 stated that four officers from Chicago are facing disciplinary actions after covering up a shooting that took place involving a teen.
Are police shootings ever justified?
They can be, if the police are in danger or if others face harm due to a defendant’s actions. However, in this case, there were too many oddities to dismiss the shootings as justified. The officers reportedly lied when they gave the details of what happened the day of the shooting. One officer was found guilty of the 2014 death of the 17-year-old man. He shot the teen 16 times and continued even after the teen had fallen to the ground motionless. The officer claimed that the teen had advanced with a knife, but the evidence didn’t back up the story.
Why didn’t the evidence support the officer’s claims?
Primarily because the evidence seemed to go missing. Three of the officers in this case somehow made it so that their in-car audio was not working on the dashboard cameras in their cruisers. There were five cars at the scene, but only two had video. None caught audio of what occurred.
What good can come out of a police shooting?
While this is a tragic situation for the family of the teen as well as the communities throughout Chicago, there is some good news. The Chicago Police Department did investigate and has suggested that all four of the officers involved in the incident be fired for what happened on that Oct. 20, 2014. There were revelations that officers tried to cover up what happened, so those officers are facing trial as well.
The officers may all agree that the 17-year-old boy attacked the officer, but none of the footage from the scene supports their claims. Add to that the reality that no audio systems worked and a lack of video footage, and you can see why the courts would look so seriously into the officer’s actions.
People should not have to worry about abuse from the police. Instances like this show why standing up for your civil rights is a necessity.