Tuesday, May 23: Police Abuse Update
$19 million wasted because police don't know how to do their jobs
Remember the story of Christian Glass? We learned about his story a few months ago, he was the young man stuck in his SUV in the Colorado mountains last year who made the fatal mistake of calling the police for help. Glass was killed as he sat trapped in his vehicle, suffering a mental health emergency before he was murdered by incompetent officers.
The parents of the 22-year-old will receive $19 million from government, state, and local agencies as restitution for losing their son, but there’s no doubt they’d rather just have their child back. The shooting last year drew national attention and prompted calls to reform how authorities respond to people dealing with mental health problems. As part of the settlement, Sally and Simon Glass also negotiated for changes that can hopefully prevent other families from suffering a loss like theirs. Clear Creek County will establish a crisis response team and its sheriff’s office will train and certify all deputies in crisis intervention.
The $19 million will be paid by three different law enforcement agencies and the state, reflecting the large number of inept officers on scene the night Glass was murdered: $10 million will come from Clear Creek County, whose former deputy Andrew Buen, shot and killed Glass; $5 million will come from Georgetown, whose police marshal was on the scene that night; $3 million from the state, who had officers on the scene from Colorado State Patrol and the Division of Gaming; and finally, $1 million from Idaho Springs. It is the largest known single payout for police violence in Colorado’s history.
This next part might sound made up, but I assure you, even my imagination isn’t this sick. As part of the settlement, the state agreed to develop a virtual reality training program reflecting Glass’s death with a focus on de-escalation in high-stress situations. The VR program will be named after Glass, the kid murdered by police. In addition, another state agency will open their bystander training with a video presentation of Simon and Sally Glass explaining the importance of officers’ duty to intervene when they see wrongdoing. This is the price of a human life in the eyes of police.
Side Items
Tim Scott’s Voice Crack: In my wildest dreams I couldn’t imagine a worse way to kick off a presidential run. Tim Scott, the Black republican senator from the state of South Carolina, announced his intentions to run for the highest office in the land yesterday. He was already a long-shot candidate, but his announcement didn’t help. He didn’t descend down a golden escalator or put out a canned TV ad with his official announcement, instead, he held a campaign rally in Charleston, where he gifted us all with the Dean Scream 2.0, but this time it was the voice crack heard round the nation. Scott followed up his embarrassing pubescent voice change with an equally awkward handshake that finished in a flourish with a snap. Someone get this man off the stage before he embarrasses himself any further
Protecting Abusive Officers: This article features an investigation of corruption in New York’s prison system, courtesy of the Marshall Project reviewing thousands of pages of court documents and officer disciplinary data. In summary, cover-ups by prison guards often make it difficult to hold officers accountable for things like using excessive force. The typical playbook of a corrupt correctional officer is as follows: Guards work in groups to conceal their violent assaults on prisoners by lying to investigators and on official reports, and then they file charges against their victims and have them sent to solitary confinement. This is the system of punishment we allow to dominate our society
The End of Me7o: Carmelo Anthony, the basketball legend, announced his retirement from basketball yesterday, stepping away from the league after almost 20 years of professional contributions. He spent time with the Knicks, Nuggets, Blazers, Lakers, and more as he searched for a team that would let him be himself. He’ll go down as one of the greatest scorers in the history of the game, and his Olympic performances will be remembered forever. He provided such classics as the “3 to the dome” celebration, his infamous explicit rebounding mantra, and the existence of “Hoodie Melo”. I’m not sure what comes next for Anthony, but I’m near certain it’ll involve ridiculous hats