Paying the Price !

 There is a significant difference in policing between Australia and America.  Here we have a state police force that is backed by Federal police who investigate issues that overlap state jurisdiction.  In America each individual city has its own internal police force with the commissioner appointed by the mayor.  There is also a state police force that controls the countryside between cities, and then there is the FBI responsible for national crime.

This diversion of police responsibility in America is very closely guided by politics.  Usually the administration in power in each city is either Democrat or Republican and the attitude of the city police reflects that outlook.  As a result, the suppression of blacks and Latinos varies widely and this has led to the " Black lives matter " movement rioting when police kill a coloured citizen and escape any form of retribution.

On May 25, 2000 an event in the city of Minneapolis was drawn to world attention when news cameras recorded the death of  46 year old George Floyd at the hands of arresting police.  This black citizen was forced to the ground in a gutter and a white policeman put his knee on his neck and held it there for more than eight minutes.  The cameras recorded his last words.  An agonising whisper of " I can't breathe " before his life expired.

George Floyd's death has become the poster event for the " Black lives matter " movement.  The demonstration that followed delivered arson and widespread destruction in Minneapolis and now the city council has agreed to pay record reparation to his family for his untimely death.   This settlement will cost the city $34 million American dollars ($ 27 million in Australian currency ) and the city policeman who caused the death will still have to stand trial on a charge of murder.

Minneapolis had the misfortune to be the scene of another killing that made world headlines. Australian woman Justine Damond called police when she heard suspicious sounds that suggested a rape was in progress behind her home.  When she approached the arriving police car, one of the officers shot her dead without reason, and that cost the city $ 20 million in reparation.

These payments come out of the pockets of the citizens of that city. It is highly likely that the citizens of American cities are going to pressure their city administration for police reform. Police arrogance has become overwhelming and it is directed at the country's black and Latino minorities and now there is a price to pay that will be felt by the loss of public funds in compensation charges.

This compensation is probably only a small part of the overall cost of George Floyd's death.   The disruption to commerce for many days and the arson destruction to shops and warehouses is unimaginable.  The public can no longer be indifferent.  It brings the inevitability of higher taxes and public progress that will not eventuate because of lack of money.

If nothing else, these fines for police brutality are likely to bring change to American city streets.  In the end, we are all susceptible to damage to the hip pocket nerve.  Change is inevitable when it starts to cost serious money.