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Don’t blame your police chief for the disproportionate focus on vehicle infractions. Federal and state governments dole out lucrative grants for participation in enforcement campaigns with catchy names like “Click It or Ticket” and “Obey the Sign or Pay the Fine.” When umbrella agencies incentivize checkpoints and citations, local police tend to follow the money.
Too bad there’s no PR-friendly program with a cutesy rhyme devoted to solving cold-case murders.
The reprioritization premise extends beyond speed traps and seat belt citations. As the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in March 2020, Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby directed prosecutors to dismiss all criminal charges for nonviolent offenses, including drug possession, prostitution, trespassing and having an open alcoholic beverage container in a motor vehicle.
Just 9 Percent of Trump Voters Support the Black Lives Matter Movement
On 4/29/21 at 1:57 PM EDT
Although nearly 50 percent of Americans say they strongly or somewhat support the goals of the Black Lives Matter movement, just 9 percent of voters who backed former President Donald Trump express support for the anti-racism movement, new polling shows.
The Black Lives Matter movement was first launched in 2013 following the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, an unarmed Black teenager, in 2012. Last year, after the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, Black Lives Matter demonstrations spread across the country around the world, as protesters demanded an end to police brutality and systemic racism in the justice system.
Last week, ex-police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. The evidence on the murder charges was weak; the evidence on manslaughter was significantly stronger. Still, the jury took only 10 hours and zero questions to come to its conclusion: guilty on all counts.
In and of itself, the Chauvin case never should have been a national news story. After all, an average of three suspects are shot by police every day in the United States, and thousands of homicides that have nothing whatsoever to do with the police take place in the United States every year. Theoretically, national news stories should be indicative of profound national problems, not man-bites-dog statistical rarities.