In Seattle Washington, the police are becoming famous for all the wrong reasons, and even being called socialist by one of its own. First time, there was the the African American jaywalker who tussled with a white officer and ended up getting punched in the face. Then came several more cases of officers using questionable force or excessive force, and in every incident the citizen involved was a racial minority.
There have even been some rather rowdy protests and clashes between the mayor and police union and one officer’s resignation. And now, there’s an officer who has accused the city itself of injecting race into the debate on how cops do their jobs.
Officer Steve Pomper wrote an opinion piece in the local police union’s newspaper newspaper entitled, “Shut up and be a Good Little Socialist.” In it, he rails against Seattle’s race and social justice initiative, which has led to hours of training on racial profiling and sensitivity. Pomper also blasts the city attorney for its decision to cut way back on prosecutions for one particular crime partly because African Americans were disproportionately charged. Pomper calls it socialism.
“When somebody comes in with a policy like that,” Pomper said, “it doesn’t allow us to treat people with equal justice.” Fox News
Driving with a suspended license in the third degree is almost always charged when a person’s license has been suspended for failure to pay a fine. City Attorney Pete Holmes says 44 percent of the people prosecuted were African American. Holmes says that is because blacks and other minorities unlike whites, don’t have the money to pay the fines.
“If we start to learn and understand that one of those institutional causes of racism is actually in the criminal justice system,” Holmes said, “it’s our obligation as prosecutors to address it.” Fox News
To remedy the situation, Holmes is considering a one-day reduction in the minimum sentence for misdemeanor crimes so as to not trigger the deportation of legal immigrants convicted of crimes in the city.
The debate is raging as the Seattle Police Department comes under intense scrutiny for a rash of excessive force cases. One resulted in the death of an American Indian woodcarver who was shot and killed by an officer while carrying a pocket knife. Police ruled the shooting unjustified and the officer has since resigned. The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating.
Officer Pomper says his view of the city’s race and social justice initiative is shared by a vast majority of beat cops. But his boss called his op-ed a “stupid thing to do.” Police Chief John Diaz supports the social justice initiative. “We firmly and wholly support those programs,” Diaz said. “This is something that’s critical to how we run our department and this city.” Fox News
