Democratic Primaries

Hassin Bin Sober

(26,343 posts) Sun Jun 23, 2019, 09:43 PM Jun 2019

Under Pete Buttigieg, racial tension has long plagued South Bend's Police Department

Under Pete Buttigieg, racial tension has long plagued South Bend's Police Department

https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/23/politics/pete-buttigieg-south-bend-police-department-officer-involved-shootings/index.html

South Bend, Indiana (CNN)Pete Buttigieg appeared at the South Bend Police Department Wednesday to reassure residents that he has his police department under control after an officer involved shooting left a 54-year-old black man dead early last Sunday morning.

The mayor, who has taken days away from his presidential campaign to respond to the shooting, described the fallout as "very challenging" as he swore in new South Bend Police Department recruits. Buttigieg urged the new officers not to pretend the tension around policing "is unrelated to race and racism" and he implored them to connect with residents in South Bend, including the city's racial minorities.
But a key problem with the city's police department, something that activists have lamented for years, was staring back at the mayor: All six of the new officers coming into the South Bend Police Department are white.
The most recent officer involved shooting -- which has South Bend on edge -- underscores persistent tension between the city's African American community and its police department, which has grown less diverse during Buttigieg's tenure. Accusations of poor leadership have hampered both of the mayor's two hand-picked police chiefs and admissions of violence by officers have cost the city thousands in settlements.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided

19 replies

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Highlight:

Under Pete Buttigieg, racial tension has long plagued South Bend's Police Department (Original Post) Hassin Bin Sober Jun 2019 OP

Do you have anything positive to say about the candidate you chose to support here on DU? George II Jun 2019 #1

bongo er i mean bingo... pangaia Jun 2019 #2

Don't you mean "bazinga!"? George II Jun 2019 #6

taht two pangaia Jun 2019 #8

There was that one time when a thread was posted that TexasTowelie Jun 2019 #4

Hassan is pointing to something that has been an issue for Buttigieg. Blue_true Jun 2019 #10

It's being used as a cudgel to boost Bernie. BannonsLiver Jun 2019 #18

I doubt that Bernie will benefit from Buttigieg losing AA support. Blue_true Jun 2019 #19

I've never seen a one. BannonsLiver Jun 2019 #17

Mayor Pete is doing what a respectable leader ought to do... True Dough Jun 2019 #3

OMG ! OMG ! OMG ! left-of-center2012 Jun 2019 #5

Oh my god he made them racist! Iggo Jun 2019 #7

Yeah, and racial tension plagued your candidate's last WH run Dopers_Greed Jun 2019 #9

Sorry , folks but something is staring us in the face and is being ignored. brush Jun 2019 #11

+1. And why is an asshole like Aaron Knepper still on the force? dalton99a Jun 2019 #12

Whoa! I wasn't aware of all of that. Is that whie officer privilege or what? brush Jun 2019 #14

Facts are not attacks PDittie Jun 2019 #13

And vetting is not attacks. Isn't what we've been hearing for months? Hassin Bin Sober Jun 2019 #16

Give me a break. I'm sure racial tension was there long before he was. nt UniteFightBack Jun 2019 #15

George II

(67,782 posts)

1. Do you have anything positive to say about the candidate you chose to support here on DU?

Reply to Hassin Bin Sober (Original post)

Sun Jun 23, 2019, 09:45 PM

Jun 2019

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden

pangaia

(24,324 posts)

2. bongo er i mean bingo...

Reply to George II (Reply #1)

Sun Jun 23, 2019, 09:47 PM

Jun 2019

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided

George II

(67,782 posts)

6. Don't you mean "bazinga!"?

Reply to pangaia (Reply #2)

Sun Jun 23, 2019, 10:06 PM

Jun 2019

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden

pangaia

(24,324 posts)

8. taht two

Reply to George II (Reply #6)

Sun Jun 23, 2019, 10:29 PM

Jun 2019

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided

TexasTowelie

(112,445 posts)

4. There was that one time when a thread was posted that

Reply to George II (Reply #1)

Sun Jun 23, 2019, 09:57 PM

Jun 2019

included an article that received over 100 replies and was fifth on the list in this forum.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden

Blue_true

(31,261 posts)

10. Hassan is pointing to something that has been an issue for Buttigieg.

Reply to George II (Reply #1)

Mon Jun 24, 2019, 12:52 AM

Jun 2019

He was not in tune with the Black residents of the city, or at least those residents felt that way. I think the police department becoming less diverse under his watch is a really bad look. Even in my predominately White, mostly republican city, we have a diverse police force that reflects the population that is served.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden

BannonsLiver

(16,460 posts)

18. It's being used as a cudgel to boost Bernie.

Reply to Blue_true (Reply #10)

Mon Jun 24, 2019, 01:33 PM

Jun 2019

There is no genuine concern about the issue from the OP.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided

Blue_true

(31,261 posts)

19. I doubt that Bernie will benefit from Buttigieg losing AA support.

Reply to BannonsLiver (Reply #18)

Mon Jun 24, 2019, 07:15 PM

Jun 2019

Bernie has his own issues about being tone deaf to or outright ignoring Black citizen issues in Vermont. Biden is the most likely to benefit unless he comes up with another head scratching statement.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden

BannonsLiver

(16,460 posts)

17. I've never seen a one.

Reply to George II (Reply #1)

Mon Jun 24, 2019, 01:31 PM

Jun 2019

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided

True Dough

(17,331 posts)

3. Mayor Pete is doing what a respectable leader ought to do...

Reply to Hassin Bin Sober (Original post)

Sun Jun 23, 2019, 09:56 PM

Jun 2019

“He’s been methodical about addressing what’s happened since Sunday,” Apostle Michael Patton, president of the local NAACP chapter, told me. And one of his staunchest critics, City Councilor Regina Williams-Preston, who lost her primary bid to replace Buttigieg in May, even applauded his decision to step away from the campaign. “I think that was the right thing to do to come back and help us through this tragedy.”

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/06/22/pete-buttigieg-police-shooting-227206

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided

left-of-center2012

(34,195 posts)

5. OMG ! OMG ! OMG !

Reply to Hassin Bin Sober (Original post)

Sun Jun 23, 2019, 10:03 PM

Jun 2019

Now,
can we move on?

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden

Iggo

(47,568 posts)

7. Oh my god he made them racist!

Reply to Hassin Bin Sober (Original post)

Sun Jun 23, 2019, 10:07 PM

Jun 2019

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided

Dopers_Greed

(2,640 posts)

9. Yeah, and racial tension plagued your candidate's last WH run

Reply to Hassin Bin Sober (Original post)

Mon Jun 24, 2019, 12:13 AM

Jun 2019

When he told black activists that "All Lives Matter"

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden

brush

(53,871 posts)

11. Sorry , folks but something is staring us in the face and is being ignored.

Reply to Hassin Bin Sober (Original post)

Mon Jun 24, 2019, 01:10 AM

Jun 2019

Why the hell has the diversity of police officers decreased by fifty percent on his watch and the last six officers just sworn in are all white.?

The odds of all that being just a coincidence is not good. He can't be unaware of that. And now this killing.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden

dalton99a

(81,598 posts)

12. +1. And why is an asshole like Aaron Knepper still on the force?

Reply to brush (Reply #11)

Mon Jun 24, 2019, 01:45 AM

Jun 2019

Knepper's history with controversy began in 2012, when he and two other officers -- according to news reports at the time -- punched, tased and detained DeShawn Franklin, then an 18-year-old high school student, after storming into his parents' home. The case was one of mistaken identity, however, and Franklin turned out to be the wrong person.

Franklin sued over the treatment, but in a ruling that drew national attention, a jury only awarded him $18. In response to the incident, a group of civil rights activists started a petition that asked Buttigieg to fire Knepper and publicly apologize to the Franklin family.

Later that year, Knepper and two other officers, according to local news reports at the time, forced Jonathan Ferguson, a 7-Eleven employee with learning disabilities, to swallow cinnamon on camera in retaliation for a complaint the clerk filed against the officers for declining to go after an alleged drunk driver.

Swallowing the cinnamon caused Ferguson to become ill and vomit for several hours, according to the news reports. Knepper and the other officers later posted the video on YouTube.

Throughout it all, Buttigieg deferred to the police department and Board of Public Safety's decision to keep Knepper, despite a community led "Fire Knepper" campaign.... The mayor noted "a firing-level personnel decision is made by the Board of Public Safety" but that he accepted "responsibility for appointments to the Board of Public Safety and (police) chief." ....

Knepper was one of the responding officers to the fatal shooting this week, raising concerns for activists in South Bend. The controversial officer drove Logan to the hospital in his squad car, a decision the prosecutor investigating the case said was made in order to rush the shooting victim to the hospital. But activists were skeptical, given protocol is for officers to wait for an ambulance.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden

brush

(53,871 posts)

14. Whoa! I wasn't aware of all of that. Is that whie officer privilege or what?

Reply to dalton99a (Reply #12)

Mon Jun 24, 2019, 12:55 PM

Jun 2019

And a rogue officer at that. All that is happening on the mayor's watch and nothing is done? And by all that I included the decline in diversity on the force, the bungled chief firing and the recent swearing in of six new officers, all white.

Not good.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden