Police Violence
We are moving closer to some measure of justice for the family of Patrick Lyoya. Michigan State Police have finished their investigation and Grand Rapids awaits the decision by Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker on charges against Police Officer Christopher Schurr. Schurr shot Mr. Lyoya in the back of the head after a routine traffic stop on April 4th.
People who have been following the case are raising questions about the capacity of the county prosecutor to be impartial. Many in the community consider him a friend of the police and are asking the State Attorney General to step in to the case.
Meanwhile, it has taken aggressive reporting by local news outlets to get basic information about the case. Thanks to a Freedom of Information request, the media were able to get audio recordings between police and first responders, as well as substantial documentation of what happened after Mr. Lyoya was killed.
The incident reports document that 21 officers were on the scene of the killing. Three witnesses and 15 other individuals were interviewed to describe what they saw. Among the many disturbing things in these documents is the fact that apparently the use of force report claimed that Mr. Lyoya had a weapon. This was reported, even though Schurr’s narrative here was redacted. We also learned that no effort was made to assist Mr. Lyoya until an officer responded to the repeated inquiries of his friend, also in police custody, asking if Mr. Lyoya was okay. Finally, we learned that the passenger, already traumatized, was kept in police custody, taken to headquarters for questioning, and given a Breathalyzer test.
All of this appears to be standard operating procedure. When the police are at fault, they quickly try to claim their victims were somehow the cause of their own deaths. Further, they hold on to information that the public should be able to see to hold them accountable. The fact that it took a freedom of information act to get basic facts is evidence of how little police feel responsible to the public.
Along with the developments in the death of Mr. Lyoya, stories emerged this week from around the country about police excessive use of force. In Philadelphia a police officer who pulled an African American woman out of her SUV after she inadvertently found herself near a protest against police brutality, was arrest and charged with assault. These charges came after a lengthy investigation and after the city had agreed to pay the victim $2 million for the injuries she suffered. In Los Angeles, the Sheriff accused of a cover up of abuse of inmates is now harassing the reporter who brought the case to light. In Connecticut a state trooper who fatally shot a 19-year-old African American man after a car chase has been charged with manslaughter.
These incidents are not isolated. They are part of a persistent national pattern that makes it clear that police are a cause of violence, not a cure for it. Blaming the victim, withholding information and attacking critics is business as usual. Anyone who calls attention to this brutal reality is subject to attack, be they a person peacefully protesting or a reporter attempting to provide public accountability.
The media, reporting on these as isolated, disconnected incidents usually goes to great lengths to tell us that such charges, when forthcoming, are evidence that the “system is working.” But the system that is working is not the one holding police accountable. It is the one that allows police to act with impunity, that year after year after year results in the killings of people of color, especially young, black men. Police today are a legalized lynch mob, reminding people of how little their lives matter.
We in the community need to do much more to create new alternatives to how we keep each other safe and secure. More police are never an answer.