The author of this letter is fantastic at proving the point they're not trying to make... I guess? So that's something.
"You can't be everywhere at once," and thanks for many other platitudes and vagueries in your opening. But I can work with it! Police have been shown to lie - repeatedly - about what happened during an incident that lead to the use of lethal force. Platt proposes we have civilian review boards instead of the police investigating... themselves. This is a legitimate and basic request. Because if they've lied about one thing, it's safe to assume they'll lie about something else. They even try to get away with under-reporting the frequency of those incidents. Maybe you have pleasant encounters with police, but I never have. You are correct (again) that the article was littered with evidence of their aspersions and falsehoods, at least you represented both sides here. If you were referring to something else (or something specific maybe?), I couldn't find it in your letter.
But honestly, the longer you defend an indefensible position, the more pathetic you look to normal people who aren't monstrous. Just stop. It's not audacious to ask for police accountability and for people themselves to take front-and-center. Here is a VERY short list of things that deserve death in American policing, with citations to specific cases - all with video and photographic evidence of wrongdoing:
Run (Walter Scott)
Stay and get arrested (Freddie Gray)
Lay down while handcuffed (Oscar Grant)
Fight back (Trayvon Martin)
Mind your business (John Crawford)
Put your hands up (Mike Brown)
Proclaim your innocence (Eric Garner)
Getting married (Sean Bell)
Pants sagging (Ervin Edwards)
Beg for your life (Thaddeus McCarroll)
Be alive and 12 (Tamir rice and Cedric Bartee)
Be outside (Rekia Boyd)
Be at home relaxing (Kathryn Johnston)
Run into your house (Ramarley Graham)
Injured and asking for help (Johnathan Ferrell)
Be in a stairwell (Akai Gurly)
So... "What can people do to avoid being killed when encountering police?" Or more precisely, "What can police do to resist the urge to kill anything that moves?"
We would just like to know. People are being pretty damn calm in my opinion over this whole thing. Seriously. These are people's wives, sisters, mothers, fathers, brothers... all dying needlessly. Police deaths don't figure into the conversation. There are plenty of jobs more dangerous than being a cop, being a farmer or a garbage man is more dangerous than being a cop. Police under heightened fire and threat is a myth, even the numbers at the cop-friendly National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund can tell you that. You should not - as you say - believe grossly inaccurate and misleading news reports that you seen on the television. There is not an abusive position of power and violence in favor of the people. If you insist on driving them to rise up further and take command of that position if we can't have question and demands satisfied otherwise, I support that too!
So the next time you're going to come out with this petulant and cryptic defense of why people should just endure a worsening problem you don't think exists JUST because YOU'VE never been lucky/unlucky enough to survive it... then you should just resist the urge to make yourself and your ilk look like the victims in this situation. Failing to do so might be about the only thing more embarrassing than your ability to reason.
This guy seems more concerned about what some rich asshole thinks than how poor people actually have to live. Man... who's the real scumbag here? Why don't you do something positive to change your city other than kicking back and take joy like a psychopath in the fact that MORE people just got put onto the streets, and became that much more desperate and vulnerable after getting cheated on both ends from our thug police force and a slumlord?
Re: “Court Cracks Down on Skipping Jury Duty”
From the county's website: "Payment to jurors begins on the second and subsequent days. You will not get paid on the first day of service. The minimum amount paid is set by the State Legislature. The county pays $15.00 per day plus .34 cents per mile one-way from home....
Some employers may pay the difference between your jury allowance and your salary. For example, if your salary for the day is $35.00 and the jury fee is $15.00, your employer may pay $20.00. However, this is not required by law."... and nobody does.
Mystery solved! If they want people to show, why don't you pay them NOT $15 a day... who in their right mind is gonna show up for that? It's also pretty pertinent information to exclude from an article about this...