Roving patrols, as in New York City's Street Crime Unit, can harken back to an occupying army because they typically don't forge community links. Staffing the patrols with officers from outside communities of color exacerbates this problem. To squads consisting of outsiders and looking for trouble, innocent residents can appear sinister and harmless gestures dangerous. Oddly, the four officers who shot Diallo wore plainclothes and rode in unmarked cars, practices that need rethinking. After all, these officers were not undercover.
Uniforms immediately announce the presence of police officers.
There is some question as to whether Diallo, an immigrant from Guinea, understood that the white men approaching him were police. The Diallo case is an opportunity not just for the NYPD to re-examine its practices, but also for police forces across America to do likewise. Meanwhile, the Justice Department is properly studying whether it can get a crack at the acquitted officers on the grounds of civil rights violations. The New York Civil Liberties Union is talking litigation, arguing that poor training and racial stereotyping led to the shooting. And, of course, Diallo's family deserves to sue.