It’s time to stop excuses for killings by police

Videos document ugly reality that insecure cops can get away with killing black men

It used to be that snuff films (movies in which an actor is actually murdered on screen) were either considered to be urban legends or, if real, were only available through sleazy, underground, secretive connections.

Now, we merely need to turn on the evening news or the internet to see the latest rage in these type of films — police killings of black men and boys.

We can watch over and over again Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old, being murdered two seconds after the police roll up on him playing in the park by himself with a toy gun.

We can see Freddie Gray being thrown to the ground and tossed in the back of the police wagon to have his spine snapped and die.

There is the protracted video of Eric Garner repeatedly gasping “I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe!”

Or grab some popcorn and watch Walter Scott being shot in the back as he runs for his life.

It’s the new pornography of murder on film.

This past July in celebration of Independence Day, an old format was revived: the double feature.

Released that week starring Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, La., and Philando Castile in a suburb of St. Paul, Minn., we watched the films of them dying before our eyes.

Now check out more double feature blockbusters just released: Terence Crutcher can be seen, from many angles, walking away from police with his hands in the air, and the heart-wrenching footage recorded by Keith Lamont Scott’s wife as her husband pleads for his life before he is gunned down.

I do not want to watch. I don’t want to see it anymore. But we must not look away.

We must continue to document what black people and all people of color have known for decades, centuries, in this country. That is, that justice is not always equal.

That, “Yes sir, officer, I’m reaching for the papers you requested, sir” may so unhinge a badge-heavy insecure cop that you’ll be shot to death in front of your loved ones.

I am tired of hearing the police defended for these crimes with the excuse: “The officer felt his, and now her, life was in danger.”

What that really translates to mean is: “The officer, because of his own insecurities, is irrationally terrified of black people and feels he can get away with killing them because that’s what normally happens.”

And when those excuses don’t work, the next line of defense is always: “The majority of the force consists of fine, quality officers, it’s just a few bad apples.”

Or even more outrageously, to my ears: “The police need more training.”

I worked with cops for 10 years. I trained them on discrimination laws and policies for 10 years. I investigated and sanctioned them for violations of those laws.

Some lost their jobs as a result. Some reformed their behavior and continued in their careers. And some continued to violate those laws over those 10 years.

We must be able to admit that police are human, therefore fallible.

Tamir and Freddie are human, as are Eric and Walter and Alton and Philando and Terrence and Keith Lamont along with the others killed by police in this country every year.

The difference between the police as humans and we the people as humans is we are told to trust the police who ultimately hold our lives in their hands.

A trust the police must no longer be allowed to breach so wantonly without being held to account.

Keep filming.