Pavlov’s Cop

This seems like a most appropriate time to bring this up. Buckle up, kids, cause this is gonna be some shit. Since police shootings are the topic of the moment, does anybody remember Charles Kinney? He’s a mental health therapist in Miami, and on July 18, 2016, He was shot by a police officer while lying on the ground with his hands in the air. After he was shot, Kinney asked “Why did you shoot me?”
The officer’s response: I don’t know.
I. Don’t. Know. Well, kids, I KNOW. Here’s where it gets deep. On January 17, 2015, NBC News Miami ran a story about the surprising training methods used by the North Miami PD. (I’ll post the link in the comments) Apparently, they were using mugshots of African American men as target practice. This was discovered when they left some of them behind at the shooting range, and a local woman found her brother’s picture among the bullet riddled photos. When contacted about this practice, the department actually defended it. The only thing they said they would do differently, is that in future, the officers would be sure to take the pictures with them when they were done. This was a year and a half before Kinney was shot. So, given the department’s attitude about this form of training, it stands to reason that the practice continued into 2016. Which brings me back to the officer who shot Charles Kinney, even though he didn’t know why he did it. Well, I’ll tell you why: BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT HE WAS TRAINED TO DO!!! This is what we mean when we speak about systemic racism. This isn’t just a matter of a few bad apples. This tree has rotted from the root up.