Nation’s largest police group apologizes for cop-related deaths, but Black Lives Matter advocates say words are not enough
The men in blue say black lives matter.
The nation’s largest police organization Monday issued what could be a game-changer in the tense relationship between cops and communities of color — a long-awaited apology.
In a speech at the annual convention of the International Association of Chiefs of Police in San Diego, the group’s president said there were historical injustices for which the law enforcement profession must take responsibility.
“We must forge a path that allows us to move beyond our history and identify common solutions to better protect our communities,” said Terrence Cunningham, president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the chief of police in Wellesley, Mass.
“For our part, the first step in this process is for law enforcement and the IACP to acknowledge and apologize for the actions of the past and the role that our profession has played in society’s historical mistreatment of communities of color.”
The bombshell mea culpa comes amid growing tensions between cops and communities of color across the country in the wake of deaths of unarmed black men and women at the hands of police.
But one victim’s family said the apology was too little, too late.
Constance Malcolm, whose unarmed son, Ramarley Graham, 18, was shot to death by a cop in his Bronx home, said the apology was “empty and enraging.”
“His statement fails to acknowledge or take responsibility for the violence the police continue to inflict on people of color every single day,” Malcolm said. “Until we see officers doing real jail time for murdering and abusing black and brown people and real changes in the way the police treat us, this kind of statement is meaningless.”
