If you have been watching the news or Twitter you might have seen the word “accountability” come across your screen several times. But what is it really? The dictionary version says this: “The fact or condition of being accountable; responsibility.”
Black Lives Matter (BLM) protestors have always been about one thing: hold the police accountable for their crimes. Too many cases have passed where an officer has killed an unarmed civilian, been slapped on the wrist and sent on vacation paid administrative leave.
Lt. Brian Rice from the Freddie Gray tragedy was recently acquitted on July 18, making him the fourth officer out of six to dodge charges concerning Gray’s death. According to the Baltimore Sun, Judge Barry G. Williams felt Rice’s “mistake” wasn’t enough to charge him with the murder. Surely, Gray did not kill himself because his death was ruled a homicide, but why is it that no one seems to be held accountable?
Switching gears, too many police officers are being killed just as senselessly as the unarmed civilians nowadays, yet the difference lies in the aftermath. So far, in the Dallas and Baton Rouge police killings, both suspects have been killed on the spot. While it is not justice because everyone is due their day in court, the message is clear: if you are a cop and you kill, chances are you’ll get off. If you kill a cop, you’re going to end up dead or in jail. This simply shouldn’t be.
Cops have a duty to protect and serve so when they fail to do their job there should be a huge consequence, especially when they wrongfully take a life. Whether it is stripping them of their badges or suspension without pay, something has got to change. If cops keep beating the system simply because they are cops—because let’s be clear, that is what’s happening—who knows how long these senseless murders will go on? Who knows how long the public will continue to trust the judicial process?
