Chief Jackson should be reprimanded – or fired — to allowing it. He only took action against his officers because the Justice Department forced his hand. And that’s why Jackson’s long-delayed apology to the Brown family seems hollow and phony.
And here’s another very disturbing racially-charged development on Jackson’s watch: Lopez also urged Jackson to ensure that his officers wear their name tags in keeping with department policy. Black residents noticed that Ferguson police officers were patrolling without name tags — or with their names covered by black tape.
Really? It smacks of a criminal conspiracy in the making.
“Allowing officers to remain anonymous when they interact with the public contributes to mistrust and undermines accountability,” Lopez wrote to Jackson. “The failure to wear name plates conveys a message to community members that, through anonymity, officers may seek to act with impunity.”
It also says to me that these police officers in Ferguson have absolutely no respect for the people they serve and they are showing complete disdain for the entire black community. For police officers to cover their name tags with black tape is tantamount to wearing a white hood: They can do their worst to black residents and not be identified.
That’s not law enforcement – it’s unapologetic vigilantly behavior and it should be illegal.
These cops are guilty of insubordination and they have no business on the Ferguson police force. If they don’t want residents to know who they are, then they should get out of law enforcement immediately.
And it’s not too late for Police Chief Tom Jackson to do the right thing: He should place his name plate, gun, and badge on his desk, offer his letter of resignation, and follow the other racially-misguided cops out of the building.
What do you think?
COMMENTARY: Ferguson Cops Should Be Fired for Wearing ‘Wilson’ Bracelets, Covering Name Tags with Black Tape was originally published on blackamericaweb.com
