Police Brutality Caught on Camera and Trevor Noah’s Take on It
On the same day the South African Police arrested four Krugersdorp policemen who were caught on camera fatally shooting a suspect at point-blank range, Trevor Noah talked about the effects of “brutally” filming cops and whether it deters them from doing their jobs properly. According to a SA Police statement on Tuesday, on 19 October two policemen were attending to […]
On the same day the South African Police arrested four Krugersdorp policemen who were caught on camera fatally shooting a suspect at point-blank range, Trevor Noah talked about the effects of “brutally” filming cops and whether it deters them from doing their jobs properly.
According to a SA Police statement on Tuesday, on 19 October two policemen were attending to a “suspicious” Toyota vehicle, with two men in it, parked outside a business in Krugersdorp. They called for back-up and two more policemen arrived.
“The driver of the Toyota sped off, while the other suspect escaped on foot. A car chase ensued and shots were fired. The suspect was shot and killed,” a police spokesman said in the statement.
The video of the shooting of the suspect as he lay on the ground surfaced on the weekend – he has been identified as Khulekani Mpanza – and immediately went viral and was reported around the world. (See below.) The SA Police arrested the three constables and one sergeant on Monday.
Acting National Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General General Khomotso Phahlane said law enforcement officers are there to keep law and order and this should not degenerate to violence.
“This calls for assertive policing as opposed to police brutality. As IPID is already investigating this matter, we intend to cooperate with them fully to unravel the mystery behind this inhumane slaying.”
Trevor Noah, as it happened, talked on “The Daily Show” on Monday night about what effect the filming of police – especially by bystanders with cellphones – was having.
In the United States they are talking about the “Ferguson effect”, namely that the filming of police has led the police to become more wary and to police crime less, which has led to more crime. In recent news reports even the FBI Director James Comey raised this issue.
The “Ferguson effect” refers to the fatal shooting – caught on camera – of a black youth, Michael Brown, by a white policeman in Ferguson, Missouri, in August 2014 that led to widespread protests and destruction of property in the town in the following weeks.
Noah said that several recent studies have debunked the “Ferguson effect”. Most recently, an American Psychological Association study last month found that crime rates have actually decreased in the past two decades. “But these are just facts,” he joked. “They don’t count.”
“It doesn’t matter what the facts are,” he added. “It only matters what the police feel.”
Trevor went on to say: “The majority of police are really good people… But the police are just trying to make a basic point. People are treating them unfairly just because of who they are and how they loook. People following them around with cameras watching everything they do, suspicious that they’re always afraid to break the law, leaving police afraid to even get out of their cars for fear that someone might whip out a phone and brutally film them. Who can imagine how that must feel?…If you listen carefully, all the police are saying is, ‘Phones down, don’t shoot.'”
Watch Video – Trevor Noah on the ‘Ferguson’ Effect
If you cannot view the video about in your country, try here…or watch AJ+’s report here:
Video – Krugersdorp Incident
Extra Footage is seen on this video at 59′:
https://youtu.be/gNU5FlCqL50