William Barr: "They have to start showing, more than they do, the respect and support that law enforcement deserves. And if communities don’t give that support and respect, they may find themselves without the police protection they need.”
Baltimore:
Baltimore:
My take (via @Newsy) on import of Barrs words: “When the top law enforcement officer in nation not only fails to acknowledge nat’l crisis of police abuse, violence & overpolicing of communities of color, but attacks those very communities for expressing their concern it matters.”
William Barr has told millions of people that their lived experiences, concerns, pain, and trauma do not matter. It also sends a clear message to the police that they are above accountability and reinforces the status quo of police impunity and violence.
On what “communities” Barr was referring to. Black & Brown communities. The same communities most devastated by mass criminalization & over-policing. Those he refused to acknowledge in his confirmation hearings have been disproportionately harmed the systems he helped to design.
On Barr’s implication that police are overly-scrutinized: As public defenders, what we know is what the people who we serve-predominately Black & Latinx people only living in certain neighborhoods—tell us. They feel imprisoned in their own neighborhoods.
Police are actually among the least scrutinized professions in the country, despite the fact that they bear the most significant power, the power to take away somebody’s liberty and all-too-often life.
As I recently wrote, cops are rarely fired, even for the most egregious misconduct, & taxpayers cover the cost when cities settle lawsuits based on misconduct. Prosecutors continue to rely on cops even when they are found to have lied in sworn testimony.nytimes.com/2019/09/25/opi…
Meanwhile laws like NY Civil Rights Law 50-a block those they arrest, their defenders, journalists, & even prosecutors from ability to access their disciplinary records. Greater accountability & transparency are necessary to end discriminatory policing.nydailynews.com/news/politics/…
In short we warned you: Barr isnt just a defender of authoritarianism, he is the carceral state in human form. Barr designed policies that tripled incarceration over 3 decades & hurt predominantly Black/Latinx communities.
@TracieMGardner & I wrote on it:nbcnews.com/think/opinion/…
@TracieMGardner & I wrote on it:nbcnews.com/think/opinion/…
