Springsteen had a point in the Diallo affair. That was the tragic mistake of a largely white squad of officers on the track of a black man who had a completely different face — not just features but shape. It’s well known that persons of a race will do a better job of distinguishing faces of that same race than faces of a different race. The PD should have known that and let blacks be the ones responsible for identifying the intended subject in a tense manhunt.
There would be none, zilch, zero point here.
Diallo was a tragedy-but one that happened in the blink of an eye. Cops were driving down the street late one night in a neighborhood where a serial rapist was preying. They saw Diallo walking and stopped the car, wanting to question him-they weren’t close enough to, especially at night, on a poorly-lit street, distinguish the details of his facial features. He, in fact, turned partially away from them, as he reached in his pocket.He did not halt (supposedly they said “Freeze!”-Diallo, an immigrant, probably didn’t know what they meant). When he reached in his pocket, a cop said “Gun!” and they fired.
It’s a chicken or egg argument-”cops are too quick to shoot” but hasn’t that maybe come about because criminals , since the 60s—especially in the ‘hood, are FAR more likely to shoot cops-to start shooting at a routine traffic stop, even.
Also, if the armed serial rapist had not been plying his trade, the cops (from a special street crimes unit)would not have been patrolling and on edge.
At what point does the “community” own up to it’s own actions as a cause?