Detroit Police Shouldn't Be in Reality TV BusinessAn immediate response to the shooting by police of a 7-year-old girl during a raid on her family's home should be to get the Detroit Police Department out of the entertainment business. The squad that came to the home of Aiyana Jones in search of a murder suspect was tailed by a camera crew from the reality television show "The First 48," a production of the A&E Network. Detroit's homicide squad is frequently featured on the show. The presence of the television crew raises a lot of questions that must have answers. Did the cameras influence the timing of the raid or the procedures used by officers? Did cops throw a stun grenade through the window to make for a more dramatic TV shot? Were they freer with their weapons to give the show more pop? These are questions the department's brass must answer.
Police have enough distractions in Detroit without having to be actors as well. The department is under a federal monitor in part because of lax procedures that left too many innocent civilians dead. Now there's another victim, this one a little girl. Detroit doesn't need its cops mugging for the camera, taking unnecessary risks or using excess force for the benefit of television producers. No one knows if that's what happened in this incident, but the very presence of the camera crew raises the possibility. It's also odd that a city so hypersensitive about its image would voluntarily participate in TV programs that portray Detroit at its worst. This is an easy first fix in response to the tragic death of a child. Bing and Evans should cut the cameras today. REPRINTED FROM THE DETROIT NEWS DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM
|
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
