Every 12 minutes in the United States, there is one death by suicide.* Each year, 125 -150 police officers die by suicide ― almost triple the number killed by criminals, and double that of traffic crashes. September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, a reminder of the urgent need for open, honest dialogue around mental health issues that can lead…
In the past year, there have been multiple high-profile incidents of white people getting caught threatening to call the cops on people of color for engaging in everyday, normal activities: swimming in a pool; eating lunch; using food stamps; feeding the homeless, to name just a few recent examples. In addition to traumatizing people with unnecessary police encounters, calling 911 when…
July 05, 2018 A Conversation with Sgt. Cheryl Dorsey (Ret.) of the Los Angeles Police Department. Read Part I Here. Monica Westfall: Do you think there’s a gap in use-of-force training that allows officers to plead that they feared for their lives when they face murder charges for use of force – in killing unarmed black men in particular? And what…
Monica Westfall: In one interview, you said that you “try to prepare folks going into the force to know what really goes down.” What do you believe to be the biggest difference in what new recruits encounter in training versus what really goes down? Sgt. Cheryl Dorsey (Ret.): Well, it’s probably not that different from any other occupation, I would…
What should have been a 10-minute officer-initiated Q&A ending with a parking ticket or stern warning quickly escalated to a violent assault and arrest. On Wednesday, the Milwaukee Police Department released bodycam footage of a violent encounter between several of its officers and NBA Milwaukee Bucks player Sterling Brown earlier this year in January. A lone patrol officer was waiting…
An Interview with Black Women Police Whistleblowers Yulanda Williams and Cheryl Dorsey The department is meant to tear a police officer down in the academy and then recreate that officer in the image the police department likes. A subtle form of brainwashing occurs for some.” Cheryl Dorsey, Black and Blue: The Creation of a Manifesto In the national debate about…
LOS ANGELES — A former Los Angeles police officer was not surprised that District Attorney Jackie Lacey decided not to file charges against a former police officer who killed an unarmed black man near the Venice Beach boardwalk in 2015. Retired LAPD Sgt. Cheryl Dorsey said, “When the District Attorney’s Office has a symbiotic relationship with the LAPD, it would…
*On March 9, 2018, Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), Office of Inspector General (OIG) Deputy Inspector General, Investigations Frank Cabibi was forced to resign in lieu of termination. The reason for Frank Cabibi’s sudden, teary-eyed, departure is a closely guarded LAUSD secret. In the era of hashtag #MeToo and based on my personal working relationship with Cabibi; I understand…
Shortly after unarmed Stephon Clark had been shot and killed by Sacramento police officers, Mayor Darrell Steinberg acknowledged that implied racism and bias was a major factor in Clark’s death. Sacramento police officers pumped 20 bullets into the body of Clark because they “thought” Clark had a gun. Factually, he was holding a cellphone in his hand. As a 20-year…
Imagine a police officer snatching a “suspicious” Black man off the street to spend the weekend in jail. The probable cause? Dealing Newport cigarettes. A growing under-the-radar movement to criminalize menthol cigarettes is starting us on a slippery slope toward just such a scenario on a street corner near you. San Francisco was the first city to ban the sale…