BART selects black police group for review

Home » News » Local

Friday, April 24, 2009

Comment

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

BART shooting coverage

November 20th, 2009

Murder trial of BART cop moved to LA

November 19th, 2009

Murder trial of BART cop moved to LA

November 18th, 2009

Judge to say where BART shooting trial to be held

October 26th, 2009

Finding spot for BART officer's trial no easy task

October 21st, 2009

Civil trial date set for BART shooting

October 20th, 2009

Civil trial date set for BART shooting

October 17th, 2009

Judge grants change of venue in BART shooting case

October 16th, 2009

Judge grants change of venue in BART shooting case

October 14th, 2009

Oscar Grant's friends sue over treatment after BART shooting

October 9th, 2009

Day 4 for Mehserle change of venue hearing

NoonOAKLAND — The Bay Area Rapid Transit agency has hired an organization of black law enforcement executives to conduct a review of the department following the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by a white transit officer who grew up in Napa.

The agency’s board of directors Thursday awarded the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives a $128,000 contract to assess BART police’s diversity and the training officers receive about cultural awareness and the use of force, among other things.

The group is also expected to review the agency’s internal investigation and hiring practices.

Twenty-two-year-old Oscar Grant was gunned down by officer Johannes Mehserle as he lay face down on a BART platform on New Year’s Day.

Mehserle — a 2000 graduate of New Technology High School in Napa and a 2006 graduate of the Napa Valley College Police Academy — has pleaded not guilty to murder.

12 comment(s)

Dirty Napkin wrote on Apr 24, 2009 1:02 PM:

" I don't even think I can comment on this. The Dirty is speechless........ "

littlered56 wrote on Apr 24, 2009 1:19 PM:

" It will be called raciest no matter what comes of this. It will be interesting to learn what training the bart police have, or did not have????.
I am troubled by the police officer saying he thought he was reaching for the tazer gun. "

mykdgirl54 wrote on Apr 24, 2009 2:08 PM:

" I think I just choked a piece of my lunch...where to begin?! Let's fight sterotypes by being complacient in them?! Because apparently the Bart transit agency thinks that only black law enforcement officials can understand the alledged black victim and police officers in this case... Bart should be ashamed of themselves in this move. "

kdbk wrote on Apr 24, 2009 2:54 PM:

" No, this is good. Let's have these gentlemen discover once and for all what it is that causes such a massively disproportionate number of young black men to become violent criminals and gang members, compared to young men of other races. This could be very valuable information for our society. But it's just so sad that a tragedy like a good police man losing his job had to bring this about. "

littlered56 wrote on Apr 24, 2009 3:11 PM:

" Perhaps some good can come from this. I hope so. A good policeman would know the differance between his gun and the tazer. A good policeman would have acknowledge a tragic accident upfront to begine with.
I suspect a good police officer whould know before he discharged the weapon.
Oakland has a huge problem with out of controlled violent people who have no respect for the law, we all know that.
I truly hope some good will come from the investagation.
m46JD "

napaoldguy wrote on Apr 24, 2009 3:38 PM:

" This has got to be the biggest load of crapp I have ever heard. Color has nothing to do with it. The person that was causing problems just happen to be black. For those of you who do not know tasers do have a handle like a gun. This is not the first time that somebody has pulled the taser by accident. "

Firewater wrote on Apr 24, 2009 3:56 PM:

" Am I missing something here?
Why all Black, this is really going to be bias?

..wait maybe the ACLU will step in.. "

littlered56 wrote on Apr 24, 2009 4:07 PM:

" It became a matter of race the minute the indentified the shooter as black and the cop as white. Like it or not that is the truth. I for one feel a persons skin color or nationality should not be mentioned. It is irrelivent, or it should be.
I hope this will be the last time a Taser is mistaken for a gun and visa versa. It is tragic this accidental shooting was not stated in the beginning. "

VERUM wrote on Apr 24, 2009 4:26 PM:

" This is only an assessment of BART business, and NOT a trial jury for the Napa raised BART officer named here.

I moved to Napa from The City in '66, and I was totally shocked by the racial insensitivity here. One is naive to think things have radically changed. "

littlered56 wrote on Apr 24, 2009 7:08 PM:

" I have a grandchild of mixed race. I have seen pure hatred towards this beautiful child. I was raised in Napa and I am sadden by the racisum. I am sadden too that it is allowed in this forums. Racisum comes from ones heart and thoughts. It is a choice people make. Nothing really has changed in many situations. This whole situation of this shooting should never have been made into a white cop vs a black man.
There were so many other things in the news today I wish this had been on page 2 or 3. "

jmo wrote on Apr 24, 2009 7:39 PM:

" What were they thinking...oh ya...we all know.
Can't wait for the final report...bet it gets leaked before it is published. "

mofosheee wrote on Apr 24, 2009 7:40 PM:

" now there is an unbiased group "

Join the conversation

*Member ID:
*Password:
Remember login? (requires cookies)
	Forgot Your Password?

Create an account

Comment Guidelines

The goal of the story comments section at NapaValleyRegister.com is to have an open, thought-provoking, civil community forum for all issues.

What gets your comment posted?

• Staying on topic

• Keeping your comment to 300 words or less

• Avoiding name-calling

• Addressing your comments to the message rather than the messenger

What gets your comment deleted?

• Personal attacks

• Derogatory remarks

• Name-calling of any sort

• Going off-topic

• Hate speech

• Racially-insensitive comments

• Implying guilt of a subject in a crime story before there is a court verdict

• Posting e-mail addresses

• Posting comments of a commercial nature

• POSTING WITH ALL CAPITAL LETTERS

• Linking multiple comments together with "to be continued..." to get around the 300 word limit.

The fine print

- Comments are either approved or denied. We do not edit comments.

- You are welcome to modify and resubmit a denied comment.

- Comments may take several hours to be posted.

- Comments posted are those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of NapaValleyRegister.com, its employees or its parent company.

- Do you have information on a story? Please go to our virtual newsroom to send us a news tip.

- If you feel a posted comment has violated our guidelines, please contact online@napanews.com or add a comment indicating you have an issue and our moderators will review the comment in question.

Search: