Police Shooting in the Bronx

Just coming up 6 months since Sean Bell was shot and killed by the NYPD, we have yet another shooting of an unarmed black man by a police officer. What is more egregious about this particular shooting is NOT that the officer in question is black. After all we know that black men can and will devalue the life of another black man and have done so since before the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade (Maafa). No what is the most problematic thing here was that the officer ran out his house, confronted the would be hit and run driver and effectively decided on his own that the would be hit and run driver ought to be executed.

As we pointed out in our discussion of the Sean Bell case as well as the white boy shot in North Carolina, there is an increasing sense of impunity growing in law enforcement, emboldened by Head of State Bush. Since we know that Fermin Arzu was not armed, we know that the off duty police officer was not threatened with immediate mortal danger. Since Fermin Arzu was shot in the back, we know, beyond doubt that the officer, unlike the claims of the Sean Bell case, could not have been about to be rammed by a moving vehicle. The officer shot at the van at least 5 times. It is pretty clear to me, that given that Fermin Arzu was unarmed and the officer in question was wearing a hoody and claims to have been wearing his badge around his neck (Sean Bell's killers said the same thing). Perhaps it was Arzu who felt threatened. Not to excuse the fact that he mashed up two vehicles, but who's to say that the officer didn't brandish HIS weapon during the apparent argument and Arzu, fearing for his life attempted to get away? We'll never know will we.

And that is the point. It is not the job of the police anywhere to administer deadly force where an officer's life in not in jeopardy. I'm not understanding how this is simply not understood. Furthermore, this situation has a clear alternative resolution. Once the officer came out of his house to confront Fermin Arzu all he had to do was take down the license plate and get a good look at the man. He then could have used his cell phone, assuming he had one, and called in the plate and description and let his uniformed and on-duty coworkers deal with the situation. A clear, non-violent, no dead people way of dealing with the situation. I thought this up and I'm not even in law enforcement. How hard can it be for a trained professional police officer to come to the same resolution?

I said it before and I'm going to say it again, when police shoot and kill people in their own homes because they mistake a play-station controller for a gun there is a problem with tactics. When police kill people who's homes they've barged into by "mistake" and the owner defends her home, there is a problem with tactics. When this stuff happens not only are the officers involved at fault, but there is a serious problem with the leadership who are clearly NOT setting the example that killing civilians in the course of ones duty is NOT acceptable unless under very specific circumstances.

Don't expect to hear the usual Sharpton haters discuss this. NO. expect the usual about how Sharpton, etc. are exploiting Fermin Arzu's death for personal gain. Expect the same lame excuses about how the police put their lives on the lines every day. etc. etc. Expect someone to bring up the idiot in Manhattan that murdered two auxiliary police officers as if it is even relevant to this situation.

God forbid, that here during Allergy season I should have a sneezing fit and run into someone in a clear accident and end up with a hooded officer yelling at me with his gun out and I get my head blown off because I may not understand what he is saying but will try to take my chances by getting away from the man, in the hood, with the gun (not saying that is what went down).

Technorati Tags: Fermin Arzu, Police Tactics, Sean Bell