“On the anniversary of September 11, my community is being terrorized,” said Jamal Crawford, a member of the Black Community Information Center at a press conference in front of Boston Police headquarters in Roxbury yesterday.
The group held the press conference in order to protest recent alleged police brutalities, specifically the death of Eveline Barros-Sepedo, a 25-year-old woman supposedly shot by police last Sunday morning.
After the car ran a red light, a car chase through Dorchester ensued; the car struck a police officer attempting to stop the vehicle. Police then shot at the car in an effort to end the chase.
The BCIC claims excessive force was used at the conclusion of the chase. Police officer Bob Boyle, who was present at the press conference, expressed regret about the incident but denied the use of excessive force.
“What happened the other night was terrible and the officers involved couldn’t feel worse,” Boyle said after the press conference.
Spokesmen for the BCIC also claimed in the last 22 months, there have been nine accidental shooting deaths of Boston citizens by this city’s police department. In addition, the group claimed eight of the nine victims were African-American.
The Boston Police Department stated that there have actually been eight accidental shooting deaths in that time span.
“We know where the problem is in the police force,” Crawford said, emphasizing that women and African-American police officers have not been accused of the shootings.
Boyle, however, cited previous incidents where black officers have been associated with the police department’s use of excessive force.
“This is not a racial issue,” Boyle stressed.
Turner said, “the commissioner is handcuffed,” in his efforts to resolve the problem and the only solution is to go to the United States Attorney. The BCIC had already taken steps toward contacting the U.S. Attorney’s office, he added.
Mariellen Burns, head of media relations for the Boston Police department, cited numerous reforms already in place before Sunday morning’s shootings. A new grant was received and a new training program will take effect this fall, according to Burns.
The new training program will require officers to train twice a year for situations requiring critical decision making and possible use of deadly force. Previously, Burns said, officers only trained for this type of situation once a year.
Another new rule, drafted prior to the death of Barros-Sepedo, will forbid officers from shooting at cars unless the passengers in the vehicle are shooting at the officers.
“We have to make sure we provide proper training for our officers,” Burns said. “As a department we can only take a look at ourselves to see if we can make something better.”
Crawford doubted the effectiveness of internal department reforms.
“I don’t question the ability to solve the problems, I question the desire,” Crawford said. “I’m a pessimist. We need total reform. I don’t believe in its success at all,” he added after the press conference.
“The police force was never meant to protect the black people,” he said.
Fellow BCIC members, such as speaker Chuck Turner, took a less aggressive stance, acknowledging to accuse all police officers of brutality is “not real. That’s not fair.”
“We’re about bad cops who do bad things,” added another BCIC member, Sadiki Cambon.
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