Different Perspectives On Recent Protests In New York City, Ferguson And Phoenix

Published: Friday, December 5, 2014 - 4:15pm
Updated: Friday, December 5, 2014 - 4:16pm
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Protesters took to the streets in Phoenix last night to express their frustration over the shooting death earlier this week of Rumain Brisbon. Brisbon was African American and unarmed and he was shot by a white police officer who said he thought Brisbon was reaching for a gun — the object turned out to be a pill bottle. This comes on the heels of protests across the country over decisions not to indict police officers in New York City and Ferguson, Mo., for the killings of unarmed African American men.

Today, we have three perspectives, starting with Tia Oso, the Arizona organizer for Black Alliance for Just Immigration. I asked her what she makes of what’s been happening over the last few weeks.

We hear next from the Phoenix Police Department. In addition to the shooting earlier this week, the agency was involved in a high-profile case in August in which an officer shot and killed a mentally ill woman, while on a call to bring her to a mental health facility. Gerald Richard is Assistant to Phoenix Police Chief Daniel Garcia and works on police-community relations.

So much of what we hear these days about law enforcement activities comes not from a police report, but Facebook, Youtube and Twitter. Lauri Stevens is a social media strategist for law enforcement. She discusses how this is changing the way police are communicating with the people they are sworn to serve.

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