Stephan: About 30 years ago I was having dinner with the Deputy Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department. There had been a very controversial killing of a Black man by the police and I asked him how big a problem that really was? He thought a moment, looked at me, and told me that 15% of police "are heroes, everything you could ever ask for an officer to be. After a pause, he continued, "Another 15% are thugs and racists. The rest go with the flow. If they are partnered with a hero, they're heroes too. But if they are partnered with a thug, well you know." I have never forgotten those observations from a man who had started out as a patrolman and risen over the years to Deputy Chief of one of the largest police departments in America.
In this Thursday, May 7, 2020 photo, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Chief Randal Taylor, left, and family of Dreasjon Reed, his father Jamie Reed and sister Jazmine Reed, right, speak during an emotional meeting at a protest on Michigan Road in Indianapolis. The protest was for the fatal Indianapolis police shooting of Reed, who was killed earlier in the week following a police pursuit on the city’s northwest side. Credit: Kelly Wilkinson/The Indianapolis Star via AP
INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis police Chief Randal Taylor solemnly promised thoroughness and transparency as his department investigates the fatal shootings of two black men in the city by officers.
Taylor, an African American and longtime member of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, also made a plea to the community as he faced the first major crisis since becoming chief less than five months ago: Give his office time and he’ll address any mistakes made, but jumping to conclusions won’t help.
Given the department’s contentious history with black residents and numerous police shootings of blacks around the U.S. captured on video in recent years, Taylor’s race and […]
