Posted on 06/27/2014 4:55:36 AM PDT by Renfield
I am so angry writing this that it is hard to know where to begin. So, let’s start with the facts. The Albuquerque Police Department has killed 26 people since 2010 and wounded 40 more. To put this into perspective, this is twice the per capita rate as New York City and eight times the rate of Chicago. Walter White killed as many people as the Albuquerque police have! This news is disturbing and infuriating at the same time. The people in Albuquerque are not safe, but it isn’t because of regular street thugs–it is because of thugs with badges.
The latest incident is a perfect example of exactly where the minds of law enforcement are in today’s world. A homeless man, James Boyd, was illegally camping (misdemeanor) above the city of Albuquerque. He was approached by officers and told to leave. He was non-compliant and combative. He is also mentally ill, as is apparent when watching the videoed encounter. After hours of negotiating with him, he decided to comply and leave. Then police throw their favorite toy, a flash-bang at him, and release a police dog. He turns his back to police and is shot at that point in the back by the officer furthest away from him. As he lays the ground, he can be heard wheezing as he attempts to breath. The officers then shoot him twice with bean bags, and then release a police dog to bite his leg and then advance and handcuff him.
Boyd died the next day in a local hospital. This isn’t an outlier or a one-off. If it were, it would still be horrible. But, maybe we could give the officers a little room since the suspect did have two small camping knives. But this is a normal occurrence in this southwest town.
With this many officer-involved shootings, surely, someone has been punished, right? Wrong. The city has paid more than $30 million is civil suit judgments. Do you want to guess how many officers have been tried and convicted of excessive force in this city? Exactly zero in the last 30 years. Zero, zilch, nada. Not even one.
Kerry Brandenberg, the city attorney (EDIT: Kari Brandenberg is the district attorney, not the city attorney. I apologize for the error and confusion), has cleared every single officer involved in a shooting during her last 13 years in office. According to Brandenberg, when asked by CNN if the offending officers had been interviewed, “I have to rely on police reports. We are not an investigative agency.” What? If a city attorney is not an investigative agency, then what are they? They sure aren’t prosecuting criminals. I wonder if the city attorney also relies on statements of criminals to decide who to prosecute. I suppose evidence no longer matters.
There is no doubt in my mind why citizens no longer trust law enforcement. Why should we? When an officer is killed, the entire community mourns and the officer is given honors and accolades. But, when a mentally ill man is gunned down, all we get is cover-up. I do not want to sound callous, but an officer’s life is no more valuable than that of the homeless man. Officers in Albuquerque have shown that they are not to be trusted and they are to be feared. There will come a day when citizens will start shooting back, but I imagine that Ms. Brandenberg will have no problem prosecuting those citizens.
The stories of this department are enough to make anyone angry, except the city officials in Albuquerque. The feds are considering putting this department under federal oversight. Considering? What does it take to actually make it happen? How many citizens will these murderers kill before someone says “enough?”
These officers who were involved in the murder of James Boyd need to be put in prison. Not suspended, not just fired, not reprimanded—imprisoned. We live in sad times.
“Albuquerque Police Dept. Kills 26 people in 4 years”
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Jack-Booted thug alert....
This has been happening all over the US. I noticed it starting over 10 years ago. It seems to get worse each year.
It is no surprise, seeing how police are portrayed in the movies that I see on TV.
"If you're big, strong and stupid........"
Which is 26 more people than the law-abiding gun owners (even with all of their “scary” “assault” weapons) have in the past 3 decades.
And THESE are the people the left would rather have all of the guns?
I don’t know the whole story about these killings but perhaps the deceased had it coming. Just saying, as I do not know the actual details.
The police culture in NM has not been covering themselves with civil liberties glory of late. The travesties in Deming are still fresh in the mind.
You assume with no evidence, and if you read the story, no outside investigation, that every shooting is justified. Ok.
There is supposed to be a fundamental difference between an army and a police force. The former is tasked with killing people and breaking things. Latter (in this country) is tasked with arresting people and letting a jury decide if they should be executed. I will admit that it is much simpler for the police to just kill everyone they come in contact with, but last time I checked, that was still against the law - even in NM.
There are a ton of illegals in Albuquerque.
“You assume with no evidence, and if you read the story, no outside investigation, that every shooting is justified. Ok.”
No kidding! And we wonder why the left is so successful. With thought processes like this the left will continue to win. Another Cochran voter no doubt! He/she might want to look up the post yesterday on what’s been going on in Salinas, CA.
I am comparing Albuquerque to NM because they have just about the same amount of people, the metro ABQ area is about 1.2 million all of Maine is about 1.2 million.
There’s an old song, “Pigs.”
“If you’re big, strong and stupid........”
Canned Heat.
And neither does the person who wrote this article. That is an area with a lot of illegal drug/gang activity, but this article is just about slamming police.
They are fighting back the Feds have stepped in but we know that they are as corrupt as the police. It seems to me that they shoot the vulnerable while the criminals are ignored.
“Had it coming” is another way of saying summary execution. The police do not have that authority in this country. They may use deadly force under a very specific set of circumstances to protect themselves and citizens. “Had it coming” is an expression of criminal arrogance and certainly did not apply to the case cited with the hobo in the campsite.
Yes, Albuquerque is lawless but they haven’t been killing the drug dealers and illegals they seem to operate with impunity.
I suppose you believe that these murderers should be getting commendations. Kill five and become an ace.
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