Policing Black Bodies Still a Lethal Business

by 04/27/2022

Mildred Robertson

So, the police have killed yet another unarmed black man for an administrative infraction. Patrick Lyoya, 26, was killed outside a house in Grand Rapids, Michigan after a traffic stop for driving with a license plate that did not match the vehicle. Video shows Lyoya running from the officer and then struggling with him while an onlooker taped the interaction. We see the actual murder on video shot by that onlooker because the officer’s videocam mysteriously ceased to function.

Of course, there will be discussions about the victim’s behavior. He should not have run. He should not have “allegedly” grabbed the officer’s taser. Both of these statements may well be true, but they do not justify a death penalty. Other narratives suggest the officer shot Lyoya because he was afraid. If an officer is too afraid to carry out his or her duty in a legal manner that does not endanger the public then he or she should not be afforded the shield or the power that accompanies it. Not only did the officer kill Lyoya, but he did so while the victim was face down on the ground. He did so with a shot to the back of Lyoya’s head.

The officer, who as yet is unidentified, could have made better decisions. He could have refrained from placing his hands on Lyoya when he first interacted with him. He could have called for backup when  Lyoya ran. He could have continued to subdue him without lethal force. But his first instinct was a kill shot to the back of the head. That is an officer I would not wish to patrol in my neighborhood. That is an officer with whom I do not wish to come into contact.

I am a 69-year-old black woman. I don’t speed. I don’t carry a weapon. I don’t have drugs in my car. I don’t commit crimes. But when I look in my rear-view mirror and see a police car behind me, it is somewhat unnerving. That should not be the case. There is something wrong when average black folks have to be wary of someone who should actually be there to protect and serve.

Don’t get me wrong. I believe we need GOOD police. I even believe that most of them are. But in policing, it is just like a box of chocolates…you never know what you are going to get. I don’t believe in “defunding” the police. I think that is a misnomer. We need to “repurpose” the police and fund the ancillary services necessary that would allow us NOT to dispatch a gun-totting Rambo to every traffic stop or family squabble.

Policing in America needs to be fixed.  It needs to be fixed now! The debate about what to call it is asinine. Police who have little care for the black and brown bodies they patrol must be ferreted out of the force. Those officers who really do wish to “protect and serve,” should receive adequate training and appropriate funding to do their jobs. Our police forces need to be demilitarized. They should be peacekeepers, not warriors. Until that is accomplished, none of us are safe…not even peaceful, 69-year-old black women.

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