By Fred L. Jones, Jr.
Eagle Staff Writer
On the heels of Officer Betty Shelby’s acquittal of the #TerenceCrutcher killing, many people in Tulsa north and surrounding communities are thinking, “what’s next, what can I do to help, now?’
It’s quite simple, urge Mayor Bynum and Chief Chuck Jordan to do right by the Crutcher family.
You can be a participant in this by contacting both men via the city of Tulsa (phone call or email), and let them know, you as a citizen of Tulsa, and want to see the Crutcher estate rewarded full for their long suffering in this legal process. There are also several reforms to Tulsa Police Department (TPD) procedures that have been presented from the Crutcher family, which should be logistically and immediately put into effect. They both need to meet with the Crutcher family as soon as possible.
Meanwhile Betty Shelby returns to work at TPD. It has not been disclosed what type of duty she will return to. Police Chief Chuck Jordan said in an email statement on Friday, May 19 that she “will not work in a patrol capacity.” Shelby has been on non-paid leave since last September.
Listed below are the #TerrenceCrutcher Family and We the People Oklahoma’s proposals for law enforcement officers to be implemented in Tulsa.
- Police shootings uniformly should be subjected to independent investigations and prosecutions. (Such a reform would help remove doubt about prejudice in favor of police officers in those processes).
- Police should receive mandatory training in implicit bias, dealing with mentally disabled and intoxicated people, and de-escalation methods.
- Police should have annual mental health screenings and individual liability insurance policies.
- Police dash cams should be activated during every stop, and body cams, when distributed, should be active during potential deadly force situations.
- Within the limits of safety, police officers should be required to immediately provide first aid to people shot by officers.
- All police and sheriff’s policies should be put online and be accessible to the public.
- Officers involved in shootings should receive drug and psychiatric screenings.
Police records should be transparent, including revised reports
