Tuesday, July 29, 2014

What We See In The Eric Garner Video, And What We Don't : Code Switch : NPR

What We See In The Eric Garner Video, And What We Don't : Code Switch : NPR: The rough grooves of the Eric Garner story probably feel familiar to lots of folks by now: an unarmed black man dies after an encounter with the police, agitating old tensions between residents and the officers who patrol their neighborhoods.

The Garner case is already rippling out into broader political conversations, like the value of the "broken windows" strategy which targets low-level offenses that have made arrests climb in the city even as crime is near record lows. (Garner was initially approached by the police because he was suspected of selling untaxed cigarettes on the street.)

From Joseph Goldstein's New York Times story:

"I think we need to look at whether we still need these arrests," said Eric L. Adams, the Brooklyn borough president and a former captain of the New York Police Department.

"This is a good moment," he said, "to re-evaluate what comes after 'broken windows,' now that the windows are no longer broken."