Sigh, big time looting in Philly (just what we need right before the election, if it keeps up, watch NJ go red):

I am seeing comments that "rioting" is also supposedly breaking out in D.C. tonight as well, following protests over the killing of Koran Hylton. though I haven't seen much on it yet:

just saw on rerun on TV, Wallace's father, Walter Wallace Sr. and the family's attorney appeared on CNN. Though clearly not used to talking in public, his father so incredibly eloquently and with great reasoning spoke against the rioting and looting and asked for it to stop, so that this would not be associated with his son's name but also because it is a destruction of their own community which needs those businesses. He also said he had faith in our justice system! He is one cool head. I was very impressed, he could be my dad anytime.

The looting affected over 200 businesses, including ones owned by blacks:

Businesses left reeling after being targeted by looters

• Ayana Jones Philly Tribune Staff Writer, 17 hrs ago, with photos

Jameelah Scurry is left feeling violated after looters stole all the merchandise from her clothing and accessories shop.

The owner of La’vanter Boutique at 1334 W. Venango St. watched in disbelief as security video footage showed looters ransacking her business on Tuesday.

Her boutique joins a score of small businesses and big-box stores that were looted throughout Philadelphia during the unrest sparked by the fatal police shooting of Walter Wallace Jr. on Monday in West Philadelphia.

“When I got to the store it was completely empty,” said Scurry, who marked her second year in business. “I couldn’t believe it. I just bust out crying.”

This marked the second time her boutique was burglarized, with the earlier incident occurring in August. Like other entrepreneurs she was also dealing with the pandemic’s economic impact.

“We were just recovering from all of that, so this was devastating,” Scurry said.

Scurry quit her job to become a business owner. She and her brother sold the family house and invested their personal savings into launching the boutique two years ago.

“There just were a lot of sacrifices and people don’t understand that,” Scurry said. “We’re not successful yet. We’re still struggling entrepreneurs. We’re not a big corporation. We’re not millionaires. We can’t bounce back from certain things.”

People have stepped up to support Scurry’s GoFundMe campaign to assist in rebuilding the business.

“It’s a blessing,” she said of the donations and kind words from community members.

Meanwhile the owners of Hafiz Sisters Beauty Supply at 59 W. Chelten Ave. are trying to figure out their next move after their shop was looted early Wednesday morning.

The security gate at the storefront was dislodged and then looters smashed the front glass window. Petty cash and beauty supplies were taken from the store.

“We are blessed that they didn’t come with shopping bags, like they did other stores and take everything,” said Zainab Hafiz-Moore, a co-owner of beauty supply store.

“We can come back God willing,” she said.

Hafiz-Moore along with her sister, Atiyya Flournoy, and their husbands, Jerrell Flournoy and Troy Moore, opened the shop on Chelten Avenue last year, becoming one of Philadelphia’s few Black-owned beauty supply owners.

“We’re kind of in a stall pattern because we are trying to determine what our next move is and continue doing business under these circumstances,” said Troy Moore, a co-owner of Hafiz Sisters.

“The sad thing about this whole thing is that unfortunately everyone is pressured because of COVID, and they just took some opportunities to do some things maliciously. Unfortunately we have that 10% that always is looking for a reason to do some damage where they can get away with it and this may fall under that umbrella.”

Troy Moore said the looting and vandalism of local commercial corridors and shopping centers will have a ripple impact on the affected communities.

“It affects all of us, especially the seniors that look to have that comfort to walk to their neighborhood shopping centers, as opposed to having to drive (a) distance,” he said.

According to a Philadelphia Department of Commerce spokesperson, more than 200 businesses were burglarized Tuesday night [....]

City Council looks to boost police funding to purchase Tasers

By Michael D’Onofrio, Philly Tribune Staff Writer, Oct 28, 2020, with photo showing press conference

(I find it unfortunate to have to note this but necessary considering the circumstances: The City Council president and his colleagues presenting the conference in the photo are all black.)

Philadelphia legislators pledged to boost police department funding to ensure every officer is equipped with a Taser following the fatal police shooting of a Black man this week.

On Wednesday, Council President Darrell Clarke committed to immediately transferring as much as $9.5 million for the purchase of the non-lethal weapons, although the exact amount needed to outfit the entire force with Tasers remained unclear.

“If the police say we need some additional money to accelerate the purchase of Tasers, that’s a simple ask,” Clarke said while flanked by a handful of members of City Council outside City Hall.

Clarke said the Council would act if the Kenney administration proposed the funding request.

His comments came three days after the fatal police shooting of Walter Wallace Jr. in the 6100 block of Locust Street in West Philadelphia. Two officers shot Wallace, who was wielding a knife, after a dispute. The shooting was captured on video and widely shared on social media.

Wallace’s family has reportedly said he had a bipolar disorder and they called 911 that day for an ambulance — not a police response.

The fatal police shooting ignited protests, as well as looting and rioting in the city. Philadelphia officials imposed a 9 p.m. curfew on Wednesday as the civil unrest was expected to continue.

Outlaw has said the officers involved in the shooting did not have Tasers, which deliver an electric shock that temporarily stuns the target.

Approximately a third of the police force of 2,301 officers have completed proper training to carry Tasers and are required to carry them on duty, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The city allotted $4.5 million for the police department this year to purchase Tasers, among other things. Police officials aim to have a Taser on every officer’s belt within five years, which is part of a $14 million proposed spending plan during that time for the non-lethal weapons and other things.

Clarke said the 17-member City Council would accelerate that five-year funding plan.

The city faced a $750 million budget deficit going into this fiscal year, which began July 1. Deep budget cuts hit nearly all departments.

Protests in Philadelphia for police reforms following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis pushed city leaders to reduce the police department’s budget, too. But while the police department saw its budget dip $14 million to $727 million, the cuts amounted to diverting the funding to other city departments.

Council members also urged voters to pass ballot questions on the Nov. 3 ballot that would put in place a series of police reforms, but did not introduce any new proposals following the most recent police killing of a Black man.

The ballot questions ask voters whether to:

Create an office of the victim advocate in the city.

Ban the unconstitutional use of stop-and-frisk by police.

Form a new citizen police oversight commission.

[....]

two different black cops' opinions on what happened and on "blue lives matter"

‘You change police culture, you change American culture’: Police officers choose sides on killing of Walter Wallace Jr.

 By Marquise Francis National Reporter & Producer @ Sports.Yahoo.com, Oct. 31

[....] Inadequate mental health intervention has been shown to lead to fatal law enforcement encounters. Adults with severe mental illness account for one in four people killed in police encounters, according to a 2015 report from the Treatment Advocacy Center, a national nonprofit organization based in Arlington, Va. Individuals with untreated mental illness are 16 times more likely to be killed in an encounter with law enforcement than other civilians. Meanwhile, individuals with serious mental illness account for only 3 percent to 5 percent of violent acts, according to the Health and Human Services Department. [....]

In reaction to the video and the fallout from the shooting, Zeek Arkham, a Black police officer in New York state, shared his views on the encounter in a tweet that has since gone viral.

“I’m Black. I’m a cop. I’ve also had hours of de-escalation training,” he tweeted on Tuesday. “With that said: No matter your color, mental status, prior condition, or mood, if you run at me with a knife, I will shoot you. Many times. The end. #Philadelphia #phillyriots #BlueLivesMatter.”

In a follow-up interview with Yahoo News, Arkham, 42, expanded on his point of view.

“When he's swinging the knife around, there's no way to de-escalate something like that,” he said. “If he's already decided he's going to be violent, he's already decided that something's going to happen. I don't know of any way you can talk someone down from that, aside from giving them multiple commands to drop their weapons. ... I believe the cops did everything they could.”

While many Twitter users agreed with Arkham, others criticized the idea that nothing else could have been done.

Another Black officer from a police department in Southern California, who agreed to speak to Yahoo News on condition of anonymity, said the video of the encounter showed that the officers put their profession ahead of their humanity, adding, “Too many cops get that mixed up.”

“When I saw the video and I heard about it, it was absolutely disturbing to me,” the veteran officer told Yahoo News. “As cops, we don’t like to Monday night quarterback other cops … [but] what I saw on video was a whole bunch of cops who didn’t know what they were doing and didn’t have a plan. They’re running around the car like it was a merry-go-round. In my 14 years, you don’t go into a situation like this without a plan.”

The officer added that a proper plan would have involved at least a taser, or another form of nonlethal weapon, which the officers in Philadelphia did not have. He also emphasized the need for more mental health services, which are severely underfunded nationwide.

“Monday through Friday, we are the mental health services, the homeless outreach services and more,” the officer said. “It’s a lot.”

Crystal Navarro, the clinical director at Rise Above the Disorder, a non-profit dedicated to making mental health care accessible to everyone, says that, “Fear can be a product of ignorance”.

“About 1 in 5 people in the U.S. struggle with mental illness,” Navarro, 25, told Yahoo News. “Our first responders, especially police officers, need to be trained by mental health professionals to understand those with mental illness, [including education] about different disorders, the symptoms, and how to best approach and treat people with each.”

“Let's say I'm having a panic attack,” Navarro continued. “I might be curled up and swaying, heart racing, my vision is magnified. I can't manage to think straight and I am completely vulnerable with fear and unable to use my words. ... I wouldn't be able to tell them to put the gun down. The next thing I could do is motion or try to stop them myself. Given my inability to speak or think straight, I might unintentionally rush at the person out of desperation. The person holding the gun may have never experienced a panic attack. They might not even know what that is. They just think I'm rushing over to take the gun and attack them and release fire.”

Arkham added that he understands the need to de-escalate tense situations and to increase resources available to the police, including mental health professionals. In his view, however, the central issue for a police officer is making it back home safely. In other words, it’s about “blue lives matter,” he said, in reference to the motto that police advocates have adapted from the Black Lives Matter movement.

“Blue lives matter isn't just about skin color,” said Arkham. “It's about what's in your heart. I've had partners of many different races, backgrounds, religions, creeds and orientations. We make an oath to each other that we're both going home. You watch your partner's back, and he watches yours.”

Arkham said he believes Black lives matter, but he argues that this needs to include all Black lives: Not only those killed by law enforcement, but also those who are living disadvantaged lives, many of whom he says he tries to help.

Burkhalter, the former NYPD detective, sees the “blue lives matter” moniker as a distraction.

“There would be no one saying blue lives matter or all lives matter had not there not been a Black Lives Matter movement,” he said. “So it's somewhat of an antagonistic phrase. Of course blue lives matter. I was a cop for 20 years. The lives of police officers matter. I don't believe that is at issue. And I don't believe that you have a large swath of the public who are going around thinking that the lives of police do not matter. The issue here is the proliferation of killings of Black persons at the hands of law enforcement.”

He added. “The slogan Black Lives Matter, the movement, was meant to bring attention to that particular aspect. There is no deficit of sympathy in this country for police officers who are being harmed — and rightly so.”

The officer from Southern California shared these sentiments.

“I don’t believe in blue lives matter,” the officer said. “Blue lives came after Black Lives Matter. It’s a story of inclusion not exclusion. … To other cops, we’re all just cops. But things are different for me outside of this uniform.”

The officer said that once he leaves work and changes out of his uniform, he’s subject to the same kind of profiling as any other Black man, if he’s stopped by another police officer.

“That’s my problem with blue lives matter,” he said. “When you are off, you don’t have the complexion to get a break. Ultimately, you change police culture, you change American culture.”