But something happened. Either she moved or one or more cops thought she moved, and the police opened fire, shooting at her nearly two dozen times, striking her twelve times. Some witnesses claim the officers seemed jubilant after the shooting, high-fiving each other, and making racially insensitive remarks. After an investigation, the Riverside Police Department fired four officers, presumably, at least in part, because of post-shooting remarks and behavior. The shooting remains under investigation by the U.S. Attorney s office, the California State Attorney General s office, and the County Grand Jury.
Police report higher than average rates of divorce, alcoholism, and stress.
Cops are not choirboys. Pick up any Joseph Wambaugh novel. Cop talk reeks of swagger, denunciations, insensitivity, incivility, and profanity. Cops vocabulary include a demeaning term for every race, religion, ethnicity, and place of origin, as well as for each gender. If Mark were a racist and especially as big a racist as he sounded on the tapes, I would have no trouble telling him he was the scum of the earth.