Killer Cops !

Usually the death of a citizen at he hands of police in America involves the colour of the victims skin.  This time it was the unexplained death of a white woman - who happened to be an Australian shortly due to marry her American fiancée - who had called the police for her own protection.

Justine Damond heard suspicious noises in the ally behind her fiancee's Minneapolis home.  She called police and waited for them to arrive.  A patrol car containing two officers made a silent entry into the alley, hoping to surprise any intruder.  Seeing the police arrival, the woman approached the drivers window to speak to the officers - and was shot by one of the police.

Justine Damond was unarmed - and wearing her pyjamas.  The police applied first aid and called an ambulance, but she died at the scene.  This death was immediately placed into the hands of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) for investigation.  The police officer who fired  the shot was sitting in the passenger seat and fired across the driver and through the open drivers side window.   It quickly became evident that neither police had activated the cameras attached to their uniforms or that the dash camera in the police car recorded this event.

The officer who fired the shot was from a Middle Eastern country from which refugees were flowing to other parts of the world.  He was the sole member of that nationality recruited to that city's police force and he had been involved in previous disciplinary incidents.  He has refused to be interviewed or to make a statement and that appears to be his right under American law.

We are now hearing that just as this police car arrived in the alley the police were startled by what may have been fireworks nearby.  This was reported by the cars driver and supported by the base radio operator.  The fact that the shooter is maintaining  silence means that a proper investigation of this incident is becoming impossible.

Law enforcement is a powerful political lobby in the United States.  It is well known for using that power to shield police from the consequences when deaths have occurred in suspicious circumstances.  In particular, the shooting of blacks who were unarmed and posing no threat to police are often moved to jurisdictions where a police conviction is unlikely.  It is quite possible that this Minnesota killing will never reach a definitive conclusion.

One of the most compelling legislative acts was to compel police to wear personal cameras on their uniforms and have recording equipment viewing the progress of their vehicles.  The fact that any incident would have a factual record was supposed to deliver justice and is negated if those cameras are not switched on.  Perhaps the time has come when the value of modern science makes camera use mandatory.

It is now possible to automatically start the recording device at the start of a shift and remove it for the archives at its conclusion.  It should be a criminal offence to interfere with those police cameras in any way and this would limit the opportunities for police to commit any law breach without a record.  That will probably be opposed by police unions, but it also protects police from false accusations.

That senseless killing in Minnesota illustrates the need for automatic camera activation.