Officers Go Unpunished in Sean Bell Slaying: What's Next?

Black Vs. Blue

Mr. New Material
Mr. New Material, Yahoo! Contributor Network
May 7, 2008 "Share your voice on Yahoo! websites. Start Here."
When is police brutality going to end against African Americans? With the recent "not guilty" verdict in regards to the officers that shot and killed Sean Bell, the black community is in an uproar. Not only the state of New York, where Bell was killed, but communities all over the globe are more than angry. For those that aren't aware of this situation, Sean Bell was an African American male, from New York, who attended a nightclub with his friends, and before the end of the night he was fatally shot and killed by officers. Officers reported that they overheard one of Bell's friends implying about a weapon and ordered Bell and others to freeze before getting into their car. At that point in time Bell hit the accelerator and cops preceded to fire at his vehicle 50 times, resulting in the death of Bell and injuring others. Did I mention that he was unarmed? This is just another one of many cases in which police abuse their power. Not only did an innocent man die, but the officers were cleared of all the charges. 3 of the 5 officers were charged with everything ranging from manslaughter to reckless endangerment and none of the charges managed to stick in court. So where do we go from here? Many people have tried to make it into a black vs. white thing but truth be told is that 3 of the officers involved with the shooting were African American. The term Black vs. Blue makes more sense if you ask me. Police once again were able to get away with murdering an innocent person. This incident can be compared to the 1999 killing of Amadou Bailo, in which he too was found to be unarmed but still was shot and killed by New York Police officers.

An incident like this continues to make no sense to me, why must innocent people suffer at the hands of those that were meant to protect us, regardless of color? The practices of the NYPD and LAPD have been questioned over and over for decades. Steaming all the way back since before the Rodney King incident, cops have been apart of the country's problems, instead of the solution. Although I don't reside in New York, many people in California have begun to protest since the verdict of the officers. Multiple artists of every genre have also expressed their distaste by recording protest songs and honoring Sean Bell with art. A lot of people insist that there are "good police" out there but it has yet to be proven to me. In my 26 years on this earth, I've yet to meet a "good cop." Being from the Bay Area California, we're known to have some of the most crooked cops in the nation, notably the SFPD (San Francisco) and OPD (Oakland). Deceased rapper Tupac spoke on how the OPD beat him for hours at a time because they thought he gave them a fake alias as oppose to his real name.

Reports state that after the verdict, "dozens of cops" were removed from the streets due to a rumored "police head hunting" committee in New York communities such as Brooklyn and the Bronx. Apparently a snitch told the "jakes" about the plan which is why they were able to respond so fast. I'm not one to condone the killing of police officers, but karma is a "B@*%h" and what goes around comes around! Police often inquire as to why people in urban communities fail to "speak up" or "come forward" when there's a crime, incidents like this are the reason why. Actions like this are the reason why people of urban communities stick to the "No Snitchin'" campaign meaning "No tattle-telling". How was it possible for NFL star Mike Vick to get convicted of killing dogs, but New York City cops got off in the killing of an innocent black man? Guess this really is a sign the end of the world is approaching, animals lives are valued more than that of a black man!

Published by Mr. New Material

CEO of Fiya Dro Records as well as Manager for Perfectly Pretty Models. Born and raised in the "YaY Area" California! I'm a Keep It Real Specialist, Ima tell you how it really is no matter how you feel about...  View profile

13 Comments

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  • Allante Mitchell7/1/2008

    Great article! This is a sad situation

  • Josephine Walters6/30/2008

    I agree and I somewhat disagree with your view of police officers. Yes, there are more than a few "crooked" and no good cops out here... But there are some good guys who are out here to SERVE & PROTECT. I know from working in law enforcement that some cops you don't want to feed with a long-handled spoon so to speak. But many of them get into the profession because they honestly want to do good and make a difference. And I do feel you on those cops getting off in the Bell case, and also the Diallo case, where these mens' lives were taken senselessly. It wasn't right, and SOMETHING should've been done about it. Great write-up!

  • Edrea Davis6/25/2008

    This was a great article. Very good points.

  • Jessica Rowe6/16/2008

    great read, thankyou

  • QUICHE6/3/2008

    Very poweful and well written article.

  • Justice Lives Not5/26/2008

    I think that the officers acted out of haste and fear. Knee-jerk reactions often end in tragedy! I sincerely don't think he was an evil racist who was looking for an excuse to rub out another black guy, myself (especially since some of those involved were also black). But the real point of disgust is how all the officers got off the hook without even a reprimand. It is a reprehensible slap in the face to all the dedicated officers who selflessly lay down their lives to protect others, like the heroic NYC cops of 9/11.

  • Yona Williams5/18/2008

    Thanks for the article. This incident is such a senseless and mind-blowing mockery of the justice system. I can't even imagine the emotions that the Bell family and community are going through.

  • mimpi5/9/2008

    Great reporting!

  • Rebecca Rosenburg5/9/2008

    Very good article! I remember when this happened- I was shocked and outraged. It is not only black citizens who are targeted by police. In Portland, OR it is not unusual to hear on the news about another mentally ill man shot by police. There have been deaf people shot for not obeying police orders, mentally ill people shot because they didn't obey police orders or were acting strangely, and of course black people shot for behaving suspiciously. And we wonder why Rev. Wright speaks up.

  • Dr. Jamie Y. Marable5/8/2008

    This does speak volumes about where we are currently at as a society. Very tragic indeed.

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