April 21, 2014
On March 22, 2014 Alex Nieto was shot and killed by SFPD, citing claims that he appeared to have a firearm that he allegedly drew on officers. It was later disclosed to be a taser he used in his work as a security guard.
Three days later police held a town hall meeting at Leonard Flynn Elementary School regarding the incident. It was disclosed there that he aspired to one day be a probation officer and respected the police.
Let this be an example to young people: be careful who you look up to... they might kill you one day!
But this story is not about Alex. It is instead about the growing problem of the police killing unarmed suspects with zero accountability for their actions. This is not a Latino problem or black problem or even an exclusively people of color problem. Instead it is a growing human rights issue where the police claim of “we/I feared for my life” is not just GETTING old: it’s BEEN old!
These types of situations not only cry for community policing, but also for a federal mandate to equip all peace officers with cameras as part of their uniform with the stipulation that none of the footage gathered can used as evidence against suspects, instead being used exclusively for accountability purposes.
Ironically, last year around the same time of year I wrote a story and did a podcast for PNN that later aired on KPFA entitled “Shoot down the Taser.”
It appears that the SF Board of Supervisors is set to have a hearing to get community feedback on arming police with cameras as part of their uniform. This is one step in the right direction, however, as the saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousands words.” Without community policing and the use of these cameras being limited to police accountability, they may as well just give each officer a sketch book so they can draw their own version of the story!
To this I might add that there needs to be a human rights bill, because in the case of non-documented workers and people with serious health issues, mental or otherwise, the cameras could simply give police a license to kill!