UC Irvine Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, a man who has never had to arrest anybody, has written a rather odd op-ed in the Orange County Register about his perceived need for civilian oversight of the police. His template is the recent history of the LAPD which he applies to Ferguson before the facts are in as to the Michael Brown shooting..
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/-632835--.html
Without debating the pros and cons of civilian review of police, we have not yet determined whether the death of Michael Brown was a justified or unjustified shooting or not. In addition, Chemerinsky says nothing about the rioting and looting that accompanied the peaceful protests in Ferguson and had to be dealt with. He says nothing about the New Black Panther Party coming to Ferguson and its leader Malik Zulu Shabazz leading people in a chant calling for police officer Darren Wilson's death.
No. Instead Ferguson reminds us all of the need for civilian oversight. For all I (or Chemerinsky) know, all of St Louis County law enforcement may already have civilian oversight.
But Chemerinsky's op-ed is not about Ferguson in spite of the misleading title; it is about the history of LAPD and how it came to have civilian oversight. Perhaps, Chemerinsky should await the results of the investigation into the Brown shooting before saying that it reinforces the need for civilian oversight of police. If it turns out that Officer Wilson was indeed justified in killing Brown, then how does that prove that civilian oversight of police is necessary everywhere?
A rather careless article, Counselor.
"You're killing me, Erwin."
I also read this Chemerinsky article and scratched my head wondering what was the point. Maybe the point is to get approval from his Left-wing chums. There is a need for Community Oriented Policing (COPS) which has been successful in diverse neighborhoods. As for civilian oversight, it matters who is doing the oversight. Will it be Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Elijah Cummings, or Maxine Waters, all who have already condemned the Fergusion officer before the evidence is in.
ReplyDeleteCurrently, we have threats of ISIS, home grown Jihadists, organized cartels and gangs that are very well armed. We did not have thee threats back in the day of L.A. riots. But the confused and perhaps ill-informed Chemerinsky fails to understand these threats that require a very well equipped police force. I bet big that if Chemerinsky was out in the field, away from his ivory tower, confronting a vicious Cartel, he would want an AR rifle, body armor, a kevlar helmet, elbow and knee protection, eye protection and SWAT backup.
Squid