Hi,

Below is the Facebook comment I posted the other day. Some heated, interesting comments and discussions. What are your thoughts on how to solve this problem?

https://www.facebook.com/AndreaDSchneider/posts/10208315289734497

Police shootings… As a Criminal Defense attorney I have read hundreds of police reports over the last 23 years, have interviewed, cross examined, chatted with police officers professionally and personally. Most have been good people doing a hard job. Believe it or not some may lie and/or not recollect things properly. They are human. With that said, they are authority and we should respect authority.

Police shootings, this is a sensitive topic in this country at this time and should be handled with care. Thoughts? Positive suggestions for moving these problems in the right direction are appreciated.

Unfortunately, we have moved into a society where it seems more acceptable to disrespect authority such as parents, teachers and even police officers. This should be common sense, when a police officer tells you to get down on the ground, put your hands up where they can be seen, or anything within reason, you should do just that. Of course it should not matter if you are white, black, tan, or even orange. Do as the officer says. And certainly, compliance expectations need to be considered for the mentally ill..

No one should be harassed or even worse killed because of the color of their skin or their race, religion, sexuality… All lives matter. I recently did some family research and learned that 30 of my grandmother’s relatives – mother, father, brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews (Including an 11 year old boy named Shmuel, I have an 11 year old son and oddly enough my mother started calling my son Shmuely about 6 months ago. Before I knew about Shmuel.) were murdered in the Holocaust not because of their skin color but for being Jewish. Thankfully our world has improved in so many ways since the 1930/40s. But, it is not perfect.

We live in the Greatest country in the world. And yes, I believe America is already great. Can we make it greater, yes we can. It is not a perfect country. But, we do have laws and courts to handle injustices.

About 10 years ago I was stopped for speeding. Going 36 MPH in a 35 MPH zone. The Officer was a nasty jerk to me. My mother who was 73 at the time got out of the car to see what was going on. He nastily ordered her back into her vehicle. I was boiling at the way he treated us and the ticket he wrote me. Did we disobey him. No. Did I want to, yes.

I did what our system allows for. I challenged his ticket, defended myself in court in a trial. He came to court as the pompous jerk he was/is and I cross examined his butt and won the case.

I understand and agree that people of color often get treated unfairly and are harassed. I have many black male friends who have told me about being harassed. One was a good friend and attorney, Al (he died about 15 years ago). A big, jolly guy who could certainly look intimidating no matter his color. He told me about some of the times he was harassed and felt it was merely because of his color.

One time he was in downtown San Diego at about 2 a.m. just standing on a street corner. The police harassed him, they verbally got in a disagreement, Al physically complied and was arrested. Charges were later dropped. He may have filed a lawsuit for the harassment. Did he want to comply with the jerk of an officer that arrested him. No, he did not but, he did.

My daughter has met Cory Booker, Senator from New Jersey and Stanford grad, because of their Stanford connection. She bought his book and I have been reading it. Odd that the part I got to last night, the same day as the El Cajon shooting 10 minutes from my house, is about “law, order, and accountability”. His book is called United. I would recommend it.

Earlier in the book Cory discusses how his parents told him and his brother that they might get harassed by police or authority because they are black but, to always be polite and comply and do their best to stay out of harms way. Cory personally witnessed shootings and death. No one should have to see these things.

If you get stopped or even harassed, comply and fight it out later in Court…. AS my Dad used to say you don’t want to be “dead right”. This is a sensitive topic in this country at this time and should be handled with care. Thoughts? Positive suggestions for moving these problems in the right direction are appreciated.

Here is the FB post on Police Shootings-interesting, argumentative, informative, solution oriented comments… https://www.facebook.com/AndreaDSchneider/posts/10208315289734497.