The problem is pervasive and exceeds Individual situations and states at this point. There clearly is a pattern of excessive force that is used by individuals of varying departments across the country. A big part of the problem is the “quality” of candidates departments go for and their lack of validity with their background/screening process. Cops who are power trippin’ with an attitude with no regard for human life should be sniffed out before even becoming hired on. Clearly their hiring process is flawed.

As some of you may know, I’ve undergone hiring/background processes with LEA’s and I can speak first hand to how terrible of a job they do. Their background interviews are a complete joke completed by half-wit former cops who are past their prime. During the background interviews is when they first start “testing” their candidates to see how much they can be pushed. My interview was several hours long after they spent 45 minutes arguing with me that I had to have smoked pot at some point in my life when I told them I never smoked. I had mentioned to them that I would admit if I ever have since I knew it wouldn’t disqualify me as a candidate but that smoking was never appealing to me and that my vices were women and booze. They apparently either didn’t believe my answer or were using the situation to test me. If the latter is the case, save that schit for the academy. After passing the background interview, the oral board interview, scoring in the 99th and 100th percentiles in physical and written tests respectively, having a mile long list of references, a clean background, and having a grandfather as a former captain for the department and 3 uncles as police officers all with squeaky clean records, you’d think I would be a shoe in candidate. Nope. They hired 4 other people.

Anyway, as dogfish would say, play stupid games, win stupid prizes. That saying partly fits here because it sounds like the victim was resisting arrest for quite some time and couldn’t be forced into the back of the car. If you don’t resist arrest, this degree of force will not be used. Especially as a black man... you really don’t resist arrest... and it absolutely isn’t fair but is risking your life to prove a point really worth it?

With that said, still clearly an example of excessive use of force. If the police struggled getting him into the car another strategy should have been employed (more officers, de-escalation, etc). I wonder what they were hoping to achieve through restraint and asphyxiation. That got him into the back of another kind of car and will get them locked in the can. Thoughts and prayers to the victims family and friends... and let this be a fukkkin wake up call to LEA’s across the country.