Mayor Jacob Frey
By Ed Felien
The Mayor, the Police Commissioner, the Chief have to realize they will never regain the trust and respect of the community until they hold police officers accountable for crimes against our community.
In the wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of Terrance Franklin, Mike Padden proved to a jury that Franklin had been murdered by MPD officers while attempting to surrender. The lawsuit ended up costing the City more than a million dollars in damages and lawyer’s fees. What has been the response of the City to that horror? Silence and indifference. The officers who killed Franklin are now training new recruits in acceptable police practices.
We review the facts this month in Southside Pride in “I am Mookie” by Kay Schroven: https://
Former Minneapolis Police Chief and former columnist for Southside Pride, Tony Bouza, disagrees with that interpretation. As a former expert witness on police misconduct, Bouza says in this case he would have sided with the cops: https://southsidepride.
In a not uncommon practice, I disagree with the Chief, https://southsidepride.
In recent conversations, Bouza has agreed that new evidence merits a re-opening of the case by the County Attorney.
Until there is a public accounting of what happened, until the Mayor, the Police Commissioner, and the Chief explain how Franklin was killed, tell us convincingly what happened, the community (and particularly the Black community) will be a cauldron simmering with fear and mistrust.
If you want some appreciation of the effects of this fear and mistrust on the officers of the Louisville Police Department after the police killing of Breonna Taylor, please read “Nobody wants to be the world’s villain” in this past Sunday’s New York Times Magazine: https://www.
Finally, recently some protesters of the City’s decision to demolish The Roof Depot threatened violence against the Mayor and members of the City Council. That is stupid and counter-productive. It works against the community getting control of the site by garnering sympathy for those who want to demolish it. You do that and you’re endangering everyone around you, and you’re endangering ten years of hopes and dreams for a better community. Please respect the leadership in this struggle: Little Earth of United Tribes and the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute.
And, finally, finally,
Mr. Mayor and some City Council Members:
Please stop talking about transparency and openness when you won’t answer our emails or phone calls.
