Host: Terrance Wise
Where: Seattle University
901 12th Avenue
Seattle, WA 98122
When: Wednesday, Apr. 15, 2015, at 4:30 p.m.
A routine traffic stop that ended with a white officer shooting and killing an unarmed black man has become the latest incident to ignite outrage over police-community relations.
South Carolina police officer Michael Thomas Slager was charged with first-degree murder yesterday for the shooting death of Walter Scott after a cell phone video revealed that Slager, who is white, shot and killed Scott, who is black, as Scott ran away. This directly contradicted previous claims by Slager, who stated that the two struggled and it was only after the victim gained control of the officer’s Taser that Slager resorted to using deadly force.
Officer Slager initially pulled over Walter Scott because he had a broken taillight. The shooting is reminiscent of other recent police incidents in South Carolina, such as last September when a state trooper stopped an unarmed black man for a seat-belt violation at a gas station, then shot and wounded him as he reached back into his vehicle to get his ID at the officer’s request.
These tragic incidents only emphasize the mistrust and deeply rooted challenges that exist between police departments and communities of color. But they also highlight important steps that need to be taken. These include the following:
1. Increase the use of body cameras. There’s no question that Slager’s use of force was not justified against Mr. Scott; instead, the question is, what would have happened had there been no video? The shooter lied about what happened until the video proved him wrong. President Obama’s three-year, $263 million package which includes money to increase police officers’ use of body-worm cameras is an important step.
2. Increase the use of special prosecutors in police misconduct investigations. In a brief on how to improve police-community relations, CAP’s Michele Jawando and Chelsea Parsons write that the perception that “local prosecutors have far too great of an interest to protect and justify the actions of local law enforcement” has “led to the erosion of trust.” We need to look no farther than the failure of grand juries to indict the officers involved in the deaths of Michael Brown or Eric Garner to know that is the case. Independent oversight would be a welcome change in these and other highly charged cases.
3. More federal oversight of police conduct. CAP’s Jawando and Parsons also write that the Department of Justice, despite granting billions of dollars each year to state and local governments for criminal justice, engages in “relatively little proactive activity to shape police practices” in those communities. They should take a more active approach. And there is no better person to lead that charge than Loretta Lynch, the highly-qualified nominee for attorney general who has been waiting for five months to be confirmed while the Senate Republican Leadership refuses to confirm her. It’s embarrassing that 50 years after Selma, Lynch, whose grandfather was a sharecropper and who would make history as the first African American woman to be attorney general, is being held up.
4. Better representation in all levels of government. Also yesterday, voters in Ferguson, Missouri went to the polls in turnout more than double last April’s election and elected two black city council members. Citizens making sure their voices are heard at all levels of government is another critical piece to the process of making sure that elected leaders, law enforcement, and other public servants are representative of the people the serve. That means making sure that the wealthiest and corporations aren’t able to buy politicians, but it also means that voters do their civic duty, too.
There are more steps we should take too. For example, implementing implicit bias training for law enforcement officers and encouraging police departments to take steps to increase diversity in their ranks are important measures to acknowledge differences and work to encourage multicultural perspectives.
BOTTOM LINE: There are proactive steps we must take toward solving the complex challenges of the criminal justice system and police-community relations. The fact that a white police officer has been charged with the murder of an unarmed black man only after a video revealed the officer’s previous lies is another reminder of what’s at stake.
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Last night the U.S. and China announced a major breakthrough on climate change– an agreement that could create important political momentum internationally. The U.S. committed to reducing its carbon emissions by 26% to 28% below its 2005 emissions and China promised to reduce its carbon emissions after 2030, a step it had previously refused to even consider. These commitments are sure to have an impact worldwide as all countries begin to set their new carbon reductions.
The US and China deserve to be recognized for this effort. Let’s applaud them but also let them know we need them to continue taking strong measures to address the threat of climate change. We ALL can help.
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–The Earth Day Network Team
California sea lions have flooded into the Columbia River in record numbers, thanks to a phenomenal abundance of smelt during a season in which food has been scarce for the voracious pinnipeds just about everywhere else.
The pinniped invasion has overwhelmed the East Mooring Basin in Astoria, Oregon, where 2,340 sea lions were counted recently. That shatters last year’s record count of 1,420 sea lions, and represents “a mind-boggling number,” Bryan Wright, a spokesman for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife,” told OPB News.
Sea lions have commandeered virtually every inch of dock space and are piling on top of one another, because there is not enough space to accommodate all of them, when they’re not foraging for smelt and salmon.
The blubbery mammals are said to be causing damage to docks and making it port authorities to rent or lease slips to boaters.
Some have come to the sea lions’ defense, saying they could represent a tourism boon if people will pay to see them.
Normal sea lion counts in the basin, from late March through May, average fewer than 300.
The Astoria invasion occurs at a time when young sea lions, who are not strong enough to travel long distances to find food, are starving in California, filling care facilities to capacity.
Unusually warm water in the Eastern Pacific, from Mexico to Alaska, is blamed for displacing bait fish populations the sea lions rely on for sustenance.
The so-called “warm blob,” caused in large part by a lack of significant winds and the upwelling those winds typically cause, was blamed for last year’s heat-up, with sea surface temperatures during the spring and summer averaging well above normal.
The phenomenon appears to be evident again this year.
The older and stronger sea lions are lured to the lower Columbia River in part by the early stages of the salmon run, but also by millions of smelt that have returned to the river to spawn.
Harbor seals also are foraging on the bounty. The accompanying image showing 6,000-plus seals grouped near the mouth of the river was captured last month by Steve Jeffries, a biologist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The presence of so many sea lions and seals is cause for concern because the developing salmon run could be decimated by so many voracious pinnipeds.
(The Washington agency has a permit to euthanize a certain number of sea lions each year, to protect salmon entering the river mouth at the Washington-Oregon border.)
While many locals are unhappy with the problems being caused by the sea lions inside the basin, a group called the Sea Lion Defense Brigade tells KGW News that perhaps they will turn out to be a valuable tourist attraction.
“People that come to visit these guys are more than willing to spend money on tourism,” Defense Brigade spokeswoman Veronica Montoya said. “On seeing these guys, on visiting these guys.”
Perhaps, but more than likely, the waterfront community probably wishes it could have its docks back.
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