St. Louis (USA) city police demonstrate learning from Ferguson incident with social media savvy in handling another unfortunate shooting
After the social unrest that followed the recent Ferguson police shooting incident (for info. on it see my post: Ferguson, USA: Trial by Social Media & Regular Media in this Information Age), the nearby St. Louis city police demonstrated how they had learned social media savvy in their handling of another unfortunate police shooting incident.
Here is a report of the St. Louis, USA incident: "Police release video of fatal Kajieme Powell shooting in St. Louis", http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/21/police-release-video-of-kajieme-powell-shooting-in-st-louis.
I saw the video and it was very clear to me and, I think to most people who have seen/will see the video, that Mr. Powell did not co-operate with police officers even when they had their guns drawn on him. Instead he asked them to shoot him!!! Mr. Powell seems to have lost it and perhaps had a death wish. Now, some, including me, may wonder whether so many shots (12 according to the article) were needed to subdue Mr. Powell. Not only was he subdued but he was killed in the process.
But nobody will have any doubt that Mr. Powell did not co-operate with the police and instead instigated the police to fire on him by asking them to shoot him and moving in an erratic manner. [Whether he brandished a knife or not was not so clear from my viewing of the video.]
So the outrage that erupted in Ferguson could not and did not erupt in St. Louis. The social media trial showed everybody that it was not a case of police firing on an unarmed person who was co-operating with the police.
The last two paragraphs of the above article say it well:
St Louis metropolitan police undertook to release the recordings of the Powell case quickly, hoping to make the circumstances clear and minimise its potential as a further catalyst for rioting and confrontation between crowds and police.
Dotson, the police chief, said: “I don’t think any of us can deny that the tension not only in St Louis but around the county and the world because of the activities in Ferguson over the last 10 or 12 days certainly has led to us making sure that we got this right and answered as many questions as we could as quickly as we can.”
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I think this learning must be picked up by other law enforcement and related agencies worldwide. Transparency using social media is the way to go to avoid conspiracy theories and controversies gain currency among the populace.
The video, Powell Shooting (Cell Phone Camera), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-P54MZVxMU, 6 min. 30 sec, is a graphic one without any editing/masking of the actual shooting. It has a witness (the cell phone camera recorder) speaking at the start of the camera capture of the event in a very amused way which becomes a little worried as there is confrontation between the police and Mr. Powell, and then turns into shock, horror and sadness after Mr. Powell is shot and killed. See the video only if you can handle such stuff - it is not gruesome with blood and all that but you see a real man being shot dead with multiple bullets fired from (I presume) two guns. The police turn up around 1:25. By 1:45 many shots have been fired into Mr. Powell who has rolled onto the sidewalk. BTW when I saw the video just before typing this part of the post, it showed a count of 2,199,638 views.
I don't think the police can be judged to be at fault in this particular incident. They put their lives at risk so that others in society can lead safe & comfortable lives. They surely have the right to protect themselves from potential harm. I think the problem is a bigger societal issue involving community harmony across various socio-economic layers/groups of society.
I pray to Almighty God to shower His Grace on the subtle body (suukshma sharira) of Mr. Powell, and shower His Grace on Mr. Powell's family & friends giving them courage, forbearance and peace to face this tragic loss.
Here is a report of the St. Louis, USA incident: "Police release video of fatal Kajieme Powell shooting in St. Louis", http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/21/police-release-video-of-kajieme-powell-shooting-in-st-louis.
I saw the video and it was very clear to me and, I think to most people who have seen/will see the video, that Mr. Powell did not co-operate with police officers even when they had their guns drawn on him. Instead he asked them to shoot him!!! Mr. Powell seems to have lost it and perhaps had a death wish. Now, some, including me, may wonder whether so many shots (12 according to the article) were needed to subdue Mr. Powell. Not only was he subdued but he was killed in the process.
But nobody will have any doubt that Mr. Powell did not co-operate with the police and instead instigated the police to fire on him by asking them to shoot him and moving in an erratic manner. [Whether he brandished a knife or not was not so clear from my viewing of the video.]
So the outrage that erupted in Ferguson could not and did not erupt in St. Louis. The social media trial showed everybody that it was not a case of police firing on an unarmed person who was co-operating with the police.
The last two paragraphs of the above article say it well:
St Louis metropolitan police undertook to release the recordings of the Powell case quickly, hoping to make the circumstances clear and minimise its potential as a further catalyst for rioting and confrontation between crowds and police.
Dotson, the police chief, said: “I don’t think any of us can deny that the tension not only in St Louis but around the county and the world because of the activities in Ferguson over the last 10 or 12 days certainly has led to us making sure that we got this right and answered as many questions as we could as quickly as we can.”
---- end extract ---
I think this learning must be picked up by other law enforcement and related agencies worldwide. Transparency using social media is the way to go to avoid conspiracy theories and controversies gain currency among the populace.
The video, Powell Shooting (Cell Phone Camera), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-P54MZVxMU, 6 min. 30 sec, is a graphic one without any editing/masking of the actual shooting. It has a witness (the cell phone camera recorder) speaking at the start of the camera capture of the event in a very amused way which becomes a little worried as there is confrontation between the police and Mr. Powell, and then turns into shock, horror and sadness after Mr. Powell is shot and killed. See the video only if you can handle such stuff - it is not gruesome with blood and all that but you see a real man being shot dead with multiple bullets fired from (I presume) two guns. The police turn up around 1:25. By 1:45 many shots have been fired into Mr. Powell who has rolled onto the sidewalk. BTW when I saw the video just before typing this part of the post, it showed a count of 2,199,638 views.
I don't think the police can be judged to be at fault in this particular incident. They put their lives at risk so that others in society can lead safe & comfortable lives. They surely have the right to protect themselves from potential harm. I think the problem is a bigger societal issue involving community harmony across various socio-economic layers/groups of society.
I pray to Almighty God to shower His Grace on the subtle body (suukshma sharira) of Mr. Powell, and shower His Grace on Mr. Powell's family & friends giving them courage, forbearance and peace to face this tragic loss.
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