The murders of Corporal Richard S. Findley and the prime suspect in the case Ronnie L. White have opened some old wounds here in the D.C. area. The Prince George’s County Police department has long had a history of excessive force in its policing, culminating in a 2004 memorandum of understanding between the County and the U.S. Department of Justice requiring the County to revise itsuse of force policies. Anecdotal evidence also suggests racial bias is pervasive in the Department, such that it has even been pointed out by Amnesty International. This is why the first thing my mother told me when I got my driver’s license was “whatever you do, don’t get pulled over there.”
Now my heart goes out to Corporal Findley and his family. I can’t imagine the pain they must be going through. I would love nothing more than to see Mr. White - assuming he was found guilty - get the book thrown at him. At the same time, I can’t imagine what his family must be going through, coming to grips with the fact that their son a) may have killed a cop, and b) was strangled to death while in police custody. Continue reading ‘Do We Ask Too Much From Cops?’
