Calling Them “A License to Kill,” Coalition Opposes Use of New Bullets

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Ron Scott
313.963.8116 o
313.587.6466 c

Calling Them “A License to Kill,” Coalition Opposes Use of New Bullets

2/24/05—Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality Ron Scott responded today to the article written by Ben Schmitt and published in the Detroit Free Press on Wednesday, February 23, 2005: “Cops: Ammo Lacks Punch:”

“Some in the Detroit Police Department are looking for a new, legal license to kill citizens with new, silicone-like filled bullets. These rounds were developed for shooting deer and other big game, not people. We will vehemently and vigorously oppose any attempts to issue them for routine police use.

“This city has seen more than 55 police killings in the last eight years, and the citizens of the City of Detroit have seen a $200 million in lawsuits—almost the same amount as the budget deficit—in the settling of these cases. Many lives have been lost, and many families still grieve.

“The recent upsurge in police shootings requires more than investigation as to whether lethal rounds should be provided. It really requires that we investigate whether we are ‘hitting the mark’ in the reduction of lethal force as mandated by the Federal Consent Decree. Many officers have yet to learn that it is this shooting-obsessed, absentee resident culture which has brought us to this point. The department has some major problems, and a clip full of bullets won’t fix it.

“The Coalition urges the Mayor, the Detroit Police Commission, and the Chief of Police not to succumb to pleas for more armament when in actuality more conflict-reduction is needed. Other cities focus on conflict-reduction, and Detroit needs to do the same as it prepares to ‘face the world’ at the All-Star Game, the Super Bowl, and the Final Four. Detroit doesn’t need to look like Dodge City. We don’t believe that anyone in the city will be safer merely because the police have more fire power.”

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