Prometheus 6

Anger and disappointment are understandable now, but New York’s leadership has changed, and community activists need to absorb that fact before they attempt to heat up reaction.

But they still shoot folks down; they still defend the cop reflexively.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly are trying to correct the conditions that led to the Bell shooting, changes that take time and good faith on all sides. Both men have kept a schedule of outreach to minority communities.

The best outreach would be service. If the police's job was to serve the Black communities rather than control them you would have no issues with Black folk. None.

As things stand, in New York City, the biggest threat to the collective Black population is the police department.

No one is paying much attention, but parts of New York City are like a police state for young men, women and children who happen to be black or Hispanic. They are routinely stopped, searched, harassed, intimidated, humiliated and, in many cases, arrested for no good reason.

Most black elected officials have joined their white colleagues and the media in turning a blind eye to this continuing outrage. And many black cops have joined their white colleagues in the systematic mistreatment.

Meanwhile, you know what the leading cause of death is for police officers?

Old age. In fact, one of the biggest threats to police officers is...themselves.

“We’re losing a police officer every 19 or 20 hours of self-inflicted wounds,” said Robert E. Douglas Jr., a former Baltimore police officer and chaplain who runs the National Police Suicide Foundation in Maryland. “It is a big wow. It’s so sad because what you see in Connecticut goes on all the time.”

The more you know about this case, the more difficult it is to justify the outcome. Check out Undercover Mike's testimony.

Oliver said it seemed "like a second or two" before he was out of bullets - and staring into the car at Joseph Guzman, a friend of the groom.

"I looked at my gun. I didn't know it had any bullets or something was wrong," he said. "I see him lifting his arms. I didn't want to die. I reloaded the gun and I continued to fire, and the shots still are going on around me. I didn't know where they are coming from."

Oliver said he also fired at the other man in Bell's car, Trent Benefield.

"I thought he was shooting at my team," he said. "So I kept firing at him. I realized I had no more bullets left."...

Asked whether he would have reloaded for a third time, Oliver said, "I can't answer that."

And best of all

The detective's testimony also appears to be at odds with that of NYPD Lt. Michael Wheeler, who said that when he got to the crime scene, Oliver didn't remember pulling the trigger.

He didn't remember firing on the spot. He was OBVIOUSLY coached, he was OBVIOUSLY back filling his story.

Shots were going on around him, he didn't know where the shots were coming from...but they were coming from HIM.

This was recklessness on its face. And it resulted in the death of Sean Bell. The definition of Manslaughter II. Unless the shooter is a 'tipsy' cop, I guess. After all, context is everything.