LAS CRUCES SHOWS ITSELF SMALL

On Monday, 27 June, Akron, Ohio, police shot an unarmed Black man, Jayland Walker, who was fleeing from them after a traffic stop for a minor violation.  Officers fired about 90 shots and hit the man about 60 times.  (They claimed that Walker had fired at them from his car and reported finding a gun in it—likely, a lie and a throw-down.). Today, Akron announced that officers—estimated to be eight in number—had been put on leave.  More news, much of it outrageous, is expected later today.

 

According to USA Today (2 July),

 

The Akron Police Department is expected to provide details of the shooting, including body camera footage, at the Sunday news conference alongside the city’s mayor. The footage will also be released at that time.

 

Akron Police Chief Steve Mylett told the Akron Beacon Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network, that the department will release all body camera footage of the shooting rather than just the three videos required by law. He added that the footage will be shown to Walker's family before it's released to the public.

 

Let’s do a simple comparison.

 

1.    Akron is a city of over 200,000; Las Cruces, over 100,000.

 

2.    Akron officers acted in response to a minor traffic violation; Las Cruces officer acted on a request for medical assistance.

 

3.    Akron Police Chief Mylett says that the police department “will release all body camera footage,” more than the law requires, and within a week of the incident; Las Cruces Police Chief Dominguez kept quiet, initiated a PR edited version of abridged footage, and released it over a week after the incident of an LCPD officer killing Sra. Amelia Baca.  (The complete footage became available weeks later in response to my IPRA request.)

 

4.    Akron’s Mayor will attend the news conference at which details about the incident will be presented by the Police Chief; Las Cruces’s Mayor has been either MIA or AWOL, and he and the Police Chief have held no public news conference.  (Mayor Pro Tem Kasandra Gandara did not fill in for the Mayor; no member of City Council has said a word about the incident.)

 

5.    Akron witnessed major protests of the killing; Las Cruces witnessed virtually nothing.

 

Let’s draw a simple conclusion.  Akron is big time; Las Cruces is chicken shit.