Today, the Center for Policing Equity released the following statement on the Kenosha District Attorney’s Decision Not To Charge the Officers Involved In The Shooting of Jacob Blake.
In 2020, an unprecedented coalition mobilized for racial equity and a wholesale reimagining of public safety. Less than a week into 2021, the complete lack of justice for Jacob Blake — a Black man who was shot seven times in August by police officers in Kenosha, WI, leaving him permanently paralyzed — illustrates the chasm remaining between the status quo and the changes that a majority of Americans now support.
Lethal force must be a last resort, not an automatic response to each perceived threat. The failure to hold officers accountable when they deploy their weapons to paralyze a man destroys the public legitimacy of public safety, putting both officers and the people they are sworn to protect at even greater risk.
While today’s decision is sadly not surprising, we cannot allow ourselves to become numb to a lack of accountability or the continued injustice endured by Black Americans. Our thoughts are with Jacob Blake, his family, and communities around the country that continue to assert both their humanity and their right to call for public safety systems worthy of their trust.