sharingwisdom
12-02-2013, 09:59 AM
It seems that what happened in the Lopez family is happening in other places in the US as well. Last Tuesday, 17-year-old Jesús Huerta was shot and killed while sitting in the back of a police car in Durham, NC. Jesús's friends say he left his Durham, NC home at 2am to escape an argument. <small>.</small>Jesús's sister called the police at their mother's behest. They were worried about Jesus and wanted him home to make sure he was ok....they couldn't have expected that he would die as a result.<small>1 </small>
Right now there are more questions than answers in Jesus's death. Why did the officer arrest Jesus instead of bringing him to his home just two blocks away?<small>2</small> Did the officer properly search and restrain Jesús before putting him in the police car? Who shot Jesús?
Here's what is known: Jesús is the second Latino young man and third man of color to die in the presence of Durham police since July.<small>3,4</small> Police picked Jesús up just minutes after the call, a couple of blocks from his home. But instead of taking him home, the officer sought to arrest him for trespassing — the lowest class of misdemeanor. The officer could have written a citation and brougth Jesus to his family. Instead, he brought Jesus to the Durham Police Department, where the fatal shots rang out. We know that the police chief is being investigated by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for failing to hire and promote officers of color.<small>5</small> And evidence strongly suggests that the Durham Police Department uses racial profiling in traffic stops.<small>6</small>
What happened to Jesús, from the decision to arrest him to his death itself, cannot be taken in isolation from the Durham Police Department's checkered recent history. In August, a DPD officer shot and killed 33-year-old immigrant Jose Adan Cruz Ocampo, who was handing a knife to another police officer handle-first. In July, DPD shot a suicidal African American man. In the last couple of years, DPD officers have been accused of kidnapping and assaulting a Latina transgender woman and using excessive force on an African American woman, leaving her face swollen and bruised.<small id="yui_3_7_2_1_1386005972132_6187">7, 8
</small>
There's evidence that despite the chief's Latino heritage, DPD fosters a culture hostile to people of color. A November report suggested that DPD engages in racial profiling in traffic stops. And the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is investigating a claim by the Deputy Police Chief that African American officers are routinely passed over for promotions.
It's abundantly clear that the Durham Police Department needs systemic reform, before the next Jesus Huerta or Jose Adan Cruz Ocampo is killed. Please join in calling on the Department of Justice to swiftly launch a patterns and practices investigation into the DPD.
https://act.presente.org/sign/durham?akid=910.121528.PAdh2U&rd=1&t=3
<small id="yui_3_7_2_1_1386005972132_6187"></small>
Right now there are more questions than answers in Jesus's death. Why did the officer arrest Jesus instead of bringing him to his home just two blocks away?<small>2</small> Did the officer properly search and restrain Jesús before putting him in the police car? Who shot Jesús?
Here's what is known: Jesús is the second Latino young man and third man of color to die in the presence of Durham police since July.<small>3,4</small> Police picked Jesús up just minutes after the call, a couple of blocks from his home. But instead of taking him home, the officer sought to arrest him for trespassing — the lowest class of misdemeanor. The officer could have written a citation and brougth Jesus to his family. Instead, he brought Jesus to the Durham Police Department, where the fatal shots rang out. We know that the police chief is being investigated by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for failing to hire and promote officers of color.<small>5</small> And evidence strongly suggests that the Durham Police Department uses racial profiling in traffic stops.<small>6</small>
What happened to Jesús, from the decision to arrest him to his death itself, cannot be taken in isolation from the Durham Police Department's checkered recent history. In August, a DPD officer shot and killed 33-year-old immigrant Jose Adan Cruz Ocampo, who was handing a knife to another police officer handle-first. In July, DPD shot a suicidal African American man. In the last couple of years, DPD officers have been accused of kidnapping and assaulting a Latina transgender woman and using excessive force on an African American woman, leaving her face swollen and bruised.<small id="yui_3_7_2_1_1386005972132_6187">7, 8
</small>
There's evidence that despite the chief's Latino heritage, DPD fosters a culture hostile to people of color. A November report suggested that DPD engages in racial profiling in traffic stops. And the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is investigating a claim by the Deputy Police Chief that African American officers are routinely passed over for promotions.
It's abundantly clear that the Durham Police Department needs systemic reform, before the next Jesus Huerta or Jose Adan Cruz Ocampo is killed. Please join in calling on the Department of Justice to swiftly launch a patterns and practices investigation into the DPD.
https://act.presente.org/sign/durham?akid=910.121528.PAdh2U&rd=1&t=3
<small id="yui_3_7_2_1_1386005972132_6187"></small>