CPE Co-founder, President, and COO Dr. Tracie Keesee discussed the recently announced verdicts in the case against officers charged in the 2019 murder of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man who was killed in Aurora, Colorado, as he was walking home from a convenience store. The Colorado jury shared a split verdict, convicting Aurora Officer Randy Roedema of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault and acquitting Officer Jason Rosenblatt on all counts.
Keesee was interviewed by the Associated Press. The article, published in the Associated Press, was reprinted in other news outlets worldwide. According to the U.S. News & World Report:
There seems to be a shift in the willingness of juries to hold police officers accountable for misconduct in recent years, said Tracie Keesee, who co-founded the Center for Policing Equity, which focuses on improving public safety systems for vulnerable communities. However, there also needs to be changes made to how police respond to things such as traffic and pedestrian stops to try to avoid tragedies like McClain's death, she said.
"We shouldn't even be here and the young man should be alive," she said.
Read the complete article on the U.S. News & World Report website.