Paul Craig Roberts, a former editor of the Wall Street Journal and former assistant secretary to the treasury under Ronald Reagan, wrote recently: “Police in the US now rival criminals, and exceed terrorists as the greatest threat to the American public.”
If you don’t believe him, read this article on the criminal justice system in New Orleans.
The US Department of Justice issued a report saying that the New Orleans police department is racist, that it systemically violates civil rights, uses “unnecessary and unreasonable force”, is “largely indifferent to widespread violations of law and policy by its police officers” and routinely covers up officer shootings of civilians. “NOPD’s mishandling of officer-involved shooting investigations, was so blatant and egregious that it appeared intentional in some respects.” Even police dogs are out of control, “We found that NOPD’s canines were uncontrollable to the point where they repeatedly attacked their own handlers.”
The report is mainly about New Orleans, but similar problems plague police departments across the south.
2 Comments
New Orleans consistently ranks the highest, if not in the top 3, of murder rates in the US. The old joke was that if you turned on the news at any given time, 2 more people would have died. The rate has gone down to 52 every 100,000 citizens, from about 71, but that’s still about 200 people every year being killed. For comparison, Oakland (2nd highest) has 46 murders/100,000, down from 49.
It’s interesting to note that having lived in New Orleans for almost all of my life, I think this article exaggerates quite a bit. I’d like to think I’m well informed, from both television and newspapers, and I find it hard to believe that it’s actually this bad.
“[F]ormer editor of the Wall Street Journal and former assistant secretary to the treasury under Ronald Reagan” does not make one an expert on Law Enforcement or terrorism…
Also, while possibly (likely?) true, this statement:
“similar problems plague police departments across the south”
is uncharacteristically devoid of links or any evidence whatsoever to back it up. You’re losing your touch, IK.