Published in The Record-Review:
"Officers in Minneapolis didn’t start Monday, May 25, 2020, planning to kill a black man. Yet it happened. The Committee on Police Reform and Reinvention was formed to ensure that nothing like that ever happens in Lewisboro. But to prevent it, we have to understand how it happened. The answer is racism — not that the accused officer was a racist, but rather he is part of a racist system that teaches us to treat black and indigenous people differently based on the color of their skin.
Police are public servants whom we give the power to carry weapons and use force if they (or others) are attacked or endangered. In what situations do our officers feel attacked or endangered? Might they feel more endangered by a person of color than a white person? Do we need to wait until a harmful incident happens in Lewisboro before we work to prevent one?"
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