Here’s some additional coverage of the SFPD and protests on July 19, 2011 in downtown SF on Powell St. Hundreds of people came to the famous cable car turnaround to protests the recent SFPD shootings that resulted in deaths. Shout out to Rome Diggs and the crew from OLM News… We are also including another video from last night’s townhall meeting where SFPD Police Chief Suhr was shouted down and wound up leaving his own townhall after an hour and a half…
Folks in the Bayview are adamant about two things.. 1-19 year old Kenneth Harding did not shoot at police.. and 2-the cops after shooting him, stood around and let him bleed to death..The area that all this took place is packed with little children who play in a park about 10-15ft from the shooting.. There are lots of elders who frequent the plaza which was across the street about 20 ft away.. All of them saw police point guns at community members preventing them from helping Harding as he lay bleeding… Kids, elders and everyone saw this young man die and the cops point guns at the community..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ead6Z8UxtOQ
Police Chief Greg Suhr was shouted down at last nights' townhall meeting in the Bayview
Do cops not think these shootings have anything to do with their purse strings being cut nation wide? If you follow the fiscal trail, it seems Americans are getting fed up with both crooks AND cops. But keep capping people, coppers. And keep up the obnoxious, totalitarian explanations for it. You guys are shooting and talking your way right out of a job.
Yet another indication that law enforcement may want to change their attitude:
Californians Don’t Want To Pay More For Prisons
Attitudes Shifting On Prison Sentences
POSTED: 7:11 am PDT July 21, 2011
UPDATED: 7:14 am PDT July 21, 2011
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LOS ANGELES — A new poll shows tight-fisted Californians don’t want to spend more for prisons to ease overcrowding.
The Los Angeles Times-University of Southern California Dornsife College poll released Thursday shows a shift in attitudes about tough sentencing rules.
The state is working to comply with court-ordered cuts to the prison population.
More than 60 percent of those polled say they support reducing life sentences for third strike offenders convicted of property crimes.
Nearly 70 percent say they favor early release of some low-level offenders whose crimes did not involve violence.
And about 80 percent say they approve keeping nonviolent offenders in county jails rather that state prisons.
The survey of 1,507 registered California voters from July 6 to July 17 has a sampling error of plus or minus 2.52 percentage points.
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Read more: http://www.kcra.com/news/28620413/detail.html#ixzz1SlBkbtRd
Even though the Bayview residents’ view appears to contradict with the facts based on evidence, it’s obvious there are some deep-rooted feelings over police brutality, most likely brought on by years of oppression. One town hall meeting isn’t going to do it. this incident shows that SFPD needs to come up with a long-term plan to improve community relationships.
I read a couple of other accounts of what transpired and have to say that at least Suhr appears to be making an effort to be accessible. But he was only prepared to talk about the Kenneth Harding shooting, not other incidents which may have happened in the past.
There’s a historical context here which goes back years, from the now-disbanded CRASH unit who used to run wild in that district in the late 80s-early ’90s, to the SFPD officer who was gunned down with an AK-47 a few years back. all of that needs to be addressed in order to move forward.
Where is all the Hip Hop news gone?