Police Chief Issues Formal Apology to “Break a Historical Cycle of Mistrust” in the Police Force

"109.ChestnutGibsonVigil.USC.WDC.28July1998" by Elvert Barnes licensed under CC BY 2.0
109.ChestnutGibsonVigil.USC.WDC.28July1998” by Elvert Barnes licensed under CC BY 2.0

Source: KQED

Terry Cunningham, “head of the largest association of police chiefs in America, issued a formal, public apology for the historical mistreatment of minorities in the US,” and for the long history of oppression that the police force has come to represent.

“In the past, the laws adopted by our society have required police officers to perform many unpalatable tasks, such as ensuring legalized discrimination or even denying the basic rights of citizenship to many of our fellow Americans,” said Cunningham, during the annual meeting for the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

He also discussed the importance of “breaking” the cycle of mistrust in the police force. We cannot blame today’s police officers for “injustices of the past,” Cunningham said.

While many human rights and black movements activists welcomed the apology, others were hesitant because Cunningham did not address recent incidents of cases where innocent black men were targeted and killed.

Read full story at: KQED

Justice & Poverty, News
Justice & Poverty, News