Police response to Young extreme for her alleged crime
of Young's car “stupid.”
His choice of words may have offended some, but the spirit in which Gilbert characterized the officer's behavior should not be summarily dismissed.
Ta’kiya Young was a suspect in a ‘low-level’ crime
Why would the officer unnecessarily put himself in such a potentially dangerous position given this lowstakes circumstance?
Positioning oneself in front of a car in order to detain a low-level shoplifter strikes some as not wellthought-out and ill-advised.
Different levels of crimes warrant different levels of response.
Low-level shoplifters probably should not be handled in the same manner as an active shooter, a murderer, serial killers, or bank robber, etc.
There is a long record of white active shooters, serial killers and mass murders being taken into custody without incident.
Would the officer had reacted the same if Ta’kiya Young were white?
Speaking of race, according to Wourms' letter, “Terry Gilbert almost immediately characterizes the incident as racial: black women, white policemen.”
Well, that is because like some within the African American community, Gilbert wonders how the shooting officer would have reacted had Young been white.
As a founding partner in a firm with offices in Cleveland and Cincinnati, two cities with, historically speaking, records of policing that leave a great deal to be desired, Gilbert has undoubtedly seen his share of incidents of police use of excessive force against Black residents.
Perhaps the officer would have behaved similarly had Young been white but given the history of police interactions with whites vis-à-vis Blacks the role that race may have played in the officer's decision to discharge his firearm weighs heavy on the minds of many people.
Judson L. Jeffries is professor of African American and African studies and a regular contributor to the Columbus Dispatch.