WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Police departments in the United States continue to obstruct reforms that would change policing methods and use of force doctrine, advocacy group Greater Cleveland Cop Block Founder Deo Odolecki told Sputnik.
“They are scrambling to find an excuse not to have to change, plain and simple,” Odolecki said on Wednesday.
Many police departments are reevaluating their use of force guidelines and implementing training in response to a raft of fatal police shootings of unarmed men, which have inflamed racial tensions and prompted calls for reform.
On Monday, Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Chief Charlie Beck said he would mandate that 10,000 of his officers participate in a five hour course in “Preservation of Life Training.”
Odolecki argued the training in Los Angeles is an outcome of a police car video released on Tuesday, which showed three Los Angeles police officers in 2013 fatally gunning down 34-year-old Ricardo Diaz-Zeferino.
Zeferino, who was unarmed, was shot and killed after putting his arms down to his waist, where the officers thought he was reaching for a gun.
Odolecki said the LAPD is embarrassed by the video, which they showed during a $4.7 million settlement with the families of Zeferino and another man who was injured in the shooting.
Some current and former law enforcement officials have argued use-of-force courses will result in a deterioration of law enforcement services and more violent crimes.
