Police line streets of Benton Harbor after nights of riots
Residents outraged by deadly police chase
Wednesday, June 18, 2003 Posted: 8:57 PM EDT (0057 GMT)
State and local police make their presence felt Wednesday in Benton Harbor, Michigan.
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Bullets, fire and rage on the streets of Benton Harbor, Michigan. WSBT reporter Jennifer Kuk is on the scene (June 18)
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BENTON HARBOR, Michigan (CNN) -- As many as 300 officers from the Michigan State Police and surrounding jurisdictions moved onto the streets of this economically depressed small town Wednesday, hoping to prevent more violence after two nights of rioting triggered by the death of a black motorcyclist fleeing white officers in a high-speed chase.
The city has declared a state of emergency and imposed a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew for children under the age of 16. Adults going to and from work are not affected by the curfew.
The rain that began Wednesday evening may also discourage people from gathering outside.
Benton Harbor Mayor Charles Yarbrough urged residents to stay home.
"The burning must stop, the rocks must stop, people must stop being hurt," Yarbrough said after Tuesday's violent protests left five homes burned and at least 10 people injured.
Police used tear gas to break up a crowd of about 300 people early Wednesday. Some of the protestors shot at police, and as many as 12 people were arrested, mostly on charges of civil disturbance and vandalism, Yarbrough said.
"It was very violent," Benton Harbor Police Chief Sam Harris said. "We had gunfire. They shot at our trucks, they shot at the captain of police, ran barricades."
The violence followed the death Monday night of a black motorcyclist in a high-speed chase by white police officers from nearby Benton Township. The motorcyclist, 28-year-old Terrance Shurn, of Benton Harbor, was killed when he crashed into a vacant building in a neighborhood near the city's center.
City Manager Joe Patterson said the Michigan State Police are investigating the incident.
Wednesday afternoon, police officers from several different jurisdictions began arriving in Benton Harbor. Some carried riot gear, and several reinforced vans called "peacekeepers" were parked downtown. The bullet-proof vans help protect officers from gunshots, rocks and bottles.
Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm said about 130 state police officers are assisting local law enforcement, but she urged local leaders to come together to restore calm.
This caused more anger among the students, and added more people to the rebellion that would otherwise not have become involved. On May 4th 1970, when rallies surfaced again in the commons area, tear gas was used to disperse the crowd. The conflict between students and the National Guard had begun to expand, and the cursing and rock throwing were increasing the tension in the air. The Guard ordered the students to retreat and as the crowds began to break up, it appeared the Guard was also retreating. Then the shots were heard.
Policing is a very difficult, complex and dynamic field of endeavor that is always evolves as hard lessons teach us what we need to know about what works and what don’t work. There are three different Era’s in America’s policing: The Political Era, The Reform Era, and The Community Problem Solving Era. A lot has changed in the way that policing works over the years in the United States.
According to Kelling, Pate, Dieckman, & Brown (1974), patrol is the “backbone” of police work. This belief is based around the premise that the mere presence of police officers on patrol prohibits criminal activity. Despite increasing budgets and the availability of more officers on the streets, crime rates still rose with the expanding metropolitan populations (Kelling et al., 1974). A one year experiment to determine the effectiveness of routine preventive patrol would be conducted, beginning on the first day of October 1972, and ending on the last day of September 1973.
Even though many of the protesters were severely beaten, they still stood their stance and got the message out. What is a Riot? According to Encyclopedia.gov a riot “is a social occasion involving relatively spontaneous collective violence directed at property, persons, or authority.” There are five main
There has been controversy in the world about police brutality and whether police have used excessive force to apprehend a subject is increasing. Police brutality has been around for a long time, but it just now televised. In the late 19th century, the issue of police brutality was often tied to business owners’ efforts to break up strikes by workers attempting to organize and form labor unions, also on a day known as Bloody Sunday where a group of peaceful protesters were literally beaten to the ground, sprayed with tear gas, and water hose by the police (“Police Brutality”). Even in 2015 in Baltimore Freddie Gray, 25-year-old African-American male, died while in police custody due to injuries in the spine and in some parts of Baltimore the
On September 11, 2001, our country was hit with enormous devastation, just after eight o’clock a.m. the first of the twin towers was struck by a suicide pilot, the second was struck slightly later. The towers fell just after ten o’clock a.m., devastating the entire country, and ruining the lives of many. A plane also hit the Pentagon in Washington D.C., and another in rural Pennsylvania causing just as much grief. The U.S. is still in mourning, but standing tall, more Americans showed their American pride in the following months than ever before. In the months to come the only thing that was on the minds of millions was: Should we go to war? War is necessary for the survival of our country. Going to war with Iraq is a fight against terrorism. Many people believed that going to war with Iraq is unjust. Some believe that there are other ways in looking at the situation.
Mckay, Dan, and Jeff Proctor. “APD Shootings: No Easy Answers - Data Show Assaults on Officers, Incidents Don’t Always Track.” Albuquerque Journal (NM) 19 Apr. 2011 : A1. Print.
On Friday morning, October 2, 2015, Two teens invaded a home in Des Moines around 4:30 am. People living in the home say someone busted down the front door and ransacked the home. One person received minor injuries. The Des Moines police officers took two males into custody, one of them is 17 years old. They’re still looking for one more person in connection with the incident (WHO-HD). This invasion was able to happen due to the lack of curfew law in the city of Des Moines. Although, curfews are applied in several Iowa cities including Bettendorf, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Iowa City, Sioux City, Waterloo, and Indianola. Likewise, the city of Des Moines should apply the curfew law from 10 pm to 5 am for teenagers who are 17 years old and under.
Police shootings occur all over the world but are a huge problem within the United States. We continue to hear more and more about them. These shootings are making headlines. Front page news it seems almost weekly. All the shootings go one of two ways.
Police violence remains a dire human right violation, especially in the United States. Over the last decade, police have applied force and aggression in ways that leave people wondering if they are discharging their duties. Recently, law enforcement seems to have taken a different turn characterized by aggression and violence when dealing with the public. Cases of unjustified shootings, physical assault, fatal chokings and violent treatment have contributed to the ongoing problem of police brutality in the America. Worse still is the fact that a greater proportion of these cases go unreported and undetected. This has partially encouraged violent police officers to continue applying force when dealing with the public. This new law enforcement
October 2002 was the beginning of what seemed like the longest three weeks in the Washington Metropolitan Area. No one wanted to believe that what was happening would change the lives of thousands. What appeared to be a random killing spree by an enraged lunatic, turned out to be part of a massive plan that claimed the lives of ten innocent people in DC, Maryland, and Virginia. When these shootings first began, they were believed to be linked to a white van or truck. It was later discovered that these shootings were being carried out by a man named John Allen Muhammad, and his teenage accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo, in a blue 1990 Chevrolet Caprice sedan.
What does the United States have to gain from a war with Iraq? Supporters of a war with Iraq say it will help prevent the risk of an attack by a weapons of mass destruction developed by Iraq. Critics of a military action that say nothing will be gained, and the U.S. just wants to obtain the oil that Iraq controls. They claim that casualties will be too costly for America to afford. Nonetheless, America should act while others will not for fear of disturbing global peace. Iraq poses a “clear and present danger” to the security of the United States and the security of countries around the world.
This includes riot shields, tear gas, and rubber bullets. If necessary, police officers have access to military weapons.
The protest was one of many held the night of July 7th. On July 7, 2016, Micah Johnson shot at a group of police officers, killing five and injuring nine other officers. Two citizens was also injured during the shooting. Johnson was an Army vet who was angry about police shootings dealing with black men. The shooting occurred at the end of the Black Lives Matter protest, around 8:58 pm. Johnson parked his SUV on Lamar Street, in front of the entrance to a college. Lying low, Johnson began shooting at groups of police officers and protestors on Main Street. During the initial gunfight three officers were killed and three others were injured along with a few
A seven-year study conducted by USA Today analyzing the FBI’s justifiable homicide database revealed that 96 percent of all cases involve Black people dying at the hands of white police officers, who are rarely indicted, let alone brought to trial.” (Kaplan 2014). “Some have called the Black Lives Matter a hate group whose rhetoric is partially responsible for the recent shooting of a sheriff in Texas”. Police cars were destroyed, and several police were injured.