Use of force by police

Better policing has improved life for minorities and saved many lives. But that information, even though it's from government sources, doesn't buy votes. "Two decades of data on police interactions with the public don’t support the idea that something extraordinary is afoot, that the police are becoming “militarized” as President Obama has suggested, or that distrust between police and local communities has produced an enormous spike in conflicts. By contrast, the data show that significant crime declines have been accompanied by a leveling off and then a reduction in confrontations with the police, as reported by Americans of all races."

 http://www.city-journal.org/2014/eon1204sm.html

From the archives of Obama opening his reign by soothing race problems, blaming the police of Cambridge for doing their job--the Louis Gates incident in 2009:

"The actions of the Cambridge Police Department, and in particular, Sgt. Joseph Crowley, were 100 percent correct,'' said Hugh Cameron, president of the Massachusetts Coalition of Police. "He was responding to a report of two men breaking into a home. The police cannot just drive by the house and say, 'Looks like everything is OK.'

"Sgt. Crowley was carrying out his duty as a law enforcement officer protecting the property of Professor Gates, and he was accused of being a racist," Cameron added. "The situation would have been over in five minutes if Professor Gates cooperated with the officer. Unfortunately, the situation we are in now is the environment police work in now." From ABC news which also noted that the residence in question belonged to Harvard, not Gates (I did not fact check ABC).

This is why Eric Garner died. He was selling loose cigarettes in a state where cigs are $12.50+ a pack--Obama added $1 in 2009 and Bloomberg added $1.65.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/05/nyregion/05loosie.html?