Poor Cincinnati

[BrandonTO416]

First off, I think the proposal for taser guns and non-life threatening weapons is a great idea - and its something more police departments should look into. I think shooting a suspect with a drug or other disabling effect is far better then guns only.

Secondly, Cincinnati is going to have a hard time getting rid of its poor image. I've been to the city several times in the past year especially, it has great potential to rise again as a major urban center. But the voters voted down light rail and then there is this race issue which fails to go away.... So sad for such a promising city.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Midwest/12/07/d...y.ap/index.html

Cincinnati mayor recommends stun guns for police

Request for $1 million follows death of man after struggle

Sunday, December 7, 2003 Posted: 4:16 PM EST (2116 GMT)

CINCINNATI, Ohio (AP) -- Cincinnati's mayor is urging the city to buy stun guns for its police force in response to the death of a man after a struggle with six officers a week ago.

"I am looking for any avenue to avoid another struggle," Mayor Charlie Luken wrote in an e-mail message to City Council members Sunday that asked them to find $1 million in the 2004 budget to pay for the nonlethal weapons.

"While it is unclear whether the incident would have changed if our officers had the latest technology in Tasers, I believe we must equip our police with the very best equipment," Luken wrote.

Nathaniel Jones, 41, died November 30 after the scuffle in a restaurant parking lot. A police cruiser videotape showed the 350-pound man lunging at one officer before he was brought down and struck repeatedly with metal nightsticks.

The coroner ruled Jones' death a homicide but cautioned that the designation did not imply police used excessive force. The direct cause of death was the struggle, the autopsy showed, but Jones also had an enlarged heart and had drugs in his blood.

Jones' family and activist groups have said they will commission independent investigations, adding to probes by police, prosecutors and a citizens' panel. The Justice Department also is gathering information.

About 500 people attended a memorial Saturday for Jones, who was black. His death has focused attention on the racial divide in this city torn by riots in April 2001 after a white police officer shot an unarmed black man who fled arrest.

A new model of the Taser was demonstrated to city officials about five months ago, Luken said at City Hall on Sunday.

"We have been waiting on a federal grant," Luken said. "Because of what happened a week ago, the city manager and I have concluded that we cannot wait."

Malik Shabazz, president of Black Lawyers for Justice and national chairman of the New Black Panther Party, denounced the proposal Sunday, calling it an empty gesture.

"It's too little, too late," Shabazz said. "It's also evidence that they did not have proper procedures in place."

Shabazz spoke at a rally that drew about 100 people in front of police headquarters, then led a march to the poor, predominantly black Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, the epicenter of the 2001 riots.

Police Chief Thomas Streicher told council members Wednesday that he stopped use of the older Tasers because he considered them unreliable. They required an officer to touch a person to activate the stun capability -- not practical in a case where the suspect is lunging and swinging at officers, he said.

The newer models fire small, needlelike projectiles that can shock a person who is up to 25 feet away, Luken said.

The mayor said enough money to buy 1,000 of the new stun guns for the 1,050-officer department could come from not filling 34 middle-management city vacancies expected within the coming year.

[tocoto]

I've never understood the politics of Cincinatti. i'm sure there are plenty of great people there. It's a real nice looking town in photos, but all the news about repression, racism, police brutality. It's been going on for decades. Why?

[BrandonTO416]

Race relations in Cincinnati can't possibly be far worse then in cities such as New Orleans or Memphis even - but really I don't know enough to say. I would really like input from someone who knows more about this issue.

[turlough]

I can't remember but i think all of Charlotte-Meck police officers carries tazer guns now

[sleepy]

Race relations in Cincinnati can't possibly be far worse then in cities such as New Orleans or Memphis even - but really I don't know enough to say. I would really like input from someone who knows more about this issue.

I think New Orleans has real hatred between the races, from both sides, black and white. I would hear the N word all over the place, from all walks of life. I never found that kind of hatred in Memphis, where the races seem to just live separate lives.

I think New Orleans and Memphis are different from Cincinnati in the fact that they are both black majority cities with a black dominated political establishment and black dominated police departments.

[thumper]

Well it is was an unfortunate incident of police brutality (IMO) caught on tape. It should be dealt with as an excessive force issue and not a race issue as the real facts of what happened will get lost in the discussions about race.

A question. If the situation was reversed, white victims and black cops, do you think the media would would also be playing it up as a racially motivated homicide?

[sleepy]

Well it is was an unfortunate incident of police brutality (IMO) caught on tape. It should be dealt with as an excessive force issue and not a race issue as the real facts of what happened will get lost in the discussions about race.

A question. If the situation was reversed, white victims and black cops, do you think the media would would also be playing it up as a racially motivated homicide?

One of the officers involved, I believe, was black.

Regarding your question, first, I wonder what the ratio of black cops beating up whites is, as opposed to the reverse. Second, I don't think the media would take blacks beating up a white as racism, unless it occurred in a city with a history of such beatings or of racial discord between black officers and white civilians. I don't know of any such city.

[BrandonTO416]

In 2003, yes, I actually do think the media would have made it headlines that a black cop killed a white citizen.