August 6, 1999
San Diegans must once again have to come to terms with the pervasive rac-ism amongst some members of the San Diego Police Force. Members of the SDPD, are among the select few that have the legal authority to kill you. This is pretty heavy stuff to deal with. Plain citizens of this city would be immediately charged with murder if caught in the act of killing another human being. Combine the firepower with a cultural or learned behavior that defines certain groups as inferior or less worthy than others and the mix becomes deadly.
Two San Diego Police officers fatally shot, Demetrius Dubose, (24) an African American, on July 24, 1999, FIVE TIMES. He was BLACK. That is all two (2) officers on the scene knew at the time of the shooting. They didn't know who he was. They didn't know his background, if he used drugs or liquor. All they knew was that he was BLACK... a big BLACK man. We now know he was an ex-Pro football player. They didn't know that. All they knew is that he was BLACK!
The two white officers who had the encounter did what any RACIST WHITE OFFICER WITH THE LEGAL POWER TO KILL WOULD DO. They shot him FIVE TIMES AND KILLED HIM!
Chief of Police David Bejarano, a Mexican American, knows better than you or I, or anyone else, that in the department there are some officers who have no business being police officers and he must find ways to remove them before another racist murder occurs.
The Chief also knows, as many of us do, that there are many, many police officers that are a credit to the department, their city, and nation AND he must protect them from being tarnished and destroyed by unfounded accusations that they are racist.
(To call it a racist killing, the officers involved must not have no other knowledge other than the persons race judged by his color.)
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