Guy Djoken
After the NAACP Press conference held last Tuesday, November 20 at the C. Burr Artz Public Library downtown, it was gratifying to have Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins present and reaching out to us.
Despite our call for the State and Federal investigations on the use of Tasers by his deputies, we are looking forward to a constructive dialogue that will benefit Frederick County.
During the press conference, several Taser victims shared their ordeal and the individual facts surrounding their circumstances. One of them, accompanied by his mother and his lawyer and still suffering from the effects of the taser was able to present his case directly to us and Sheriff Jenkins.
After the incident during which he was tased, he showed up at the Sheriff's office to file a complaint against the deputy and was further victimized by other officers who ridiculed him. Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins who was not aware of the incident took note and promptly reacted to get more information on the case and promised to get to the bottom of it.
We hope and pray that the outrage expressed by Sheriff Chuck Jenkins during and after the press conference will translate into a real sense of urgency at his office as is required by this sad situation.
Many of us are wondering if a grand standing on this issue following the November 8th tasing incident on school grounds could have prevented the recent death of Jarrel Gray. In any case we are actively working to make sure that this tragedy be the last taser incident in Frederick County resulting in a death of a person.
In our quest to end discrimination and fight for justice for all, it is very important that we work with all elected officials to achieve that goal. Just like Justice Thurgood Marshall stated decades ago, the path to equality for all in our community is intrinsically linked to a rule of law that is effective and color blind.
We are under no illusion that this will be happening soon. With a little bit of courage, hard work and frank dialogue, we may be able to establish the positive kind of working relationship we currently have with Police Chief Dine of the City of Frederick with whom we have been working closely with for the last five years. We know it is possible and we look forward to materializing it.
In the meantime, the NAACP is calling on all those who believe that the tasers should be kept out of Schools to join us during the Frederick County Board of Education Meeting Wednesday, November 28, 2007 at 7:00PM. Mr. Daryl Boffman, member of the Frederick County Board of Education, will be submitting before the Board, a proposal to do just that.
I am hopeful that the whole board will embrace such a proposal and I invite you to join us to be a part of it.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Say No to Tasers in Schools
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2 comments:
I think the discussion of the use of force, either by taser or the traditional gun, must be made in the context of the public program of police containment of the African communnity.
The continueing media slander of the Jerrel Gray is being done to paint a negative picture of him. The area in which he lived has for years been a target of the local police to attack and harass African youth since they began moving there. I've gone out there on numerous occasions in the past to find African youth surrounded by police for no reason other than being black. I'm not surprised that this young man was murdered via the taser or gun. There is a public policy that allows the police to harass, abuse and intimidate African youth in the same manner in which youth are harrased, beaten and murdered in Palestine and Iraq. Referring to the Nov. 8 incident, I wonder if the police that tasered the boy upon arriving back at the station informed his fellow officers that one survived. Did the other police turn up the power on their tasers in preperation for the next time?low officers
For you to say that part of the solution is to work with the police is an indication that you are out of touch with reality. The police have been murdering our people since we've been in this country so they do what they are swhorn to do; it's not a question of a few bad apples or a system gone bad. To advocate for the police to be in the schools but not be allowed to have a gun or taser is absurd. The police need to be out of the schools period. Look at the prison and jail populations. You indicated you have been working with the police; well the last time I visited the local jail I saw a disproportionate number of African people out there. Many of those incarcerated hadn't completed even school. A county with a 12% African population rate and over 50% of those incarcerated are African. The policy of police containment needs to be replaced with a pregram of economic developement.Perhaps if the Jerrel had a decent job that would have afforded him a living wage maybe he would've been at work or preparing to go to work.Where is the public outcry. When Michael Vick supposedly killed some dogs all the liberal world condemned him but let a African person get murdered and not a word is uttered. To say you work with the police, perhaps you are just a guilty as the police.
Not only should taser be out of the schools, the police should be out of the schools.
Okay, take the tasers and police out of the schools. That will leave us with the thugs in control of the schools. What a fine enviroment for learning and growing.
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