Walker is a professor emeritus of criminal justice at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Bonn is the former Omaha public safety auditor.
Memo to white Omahans: Wake up! Your child may be next.
The Dec. 20, 2011, incident at Standing Bear Lake, where Omaha police officers fired 25 bullets at three Marian High School students, should sound alarm bells in the night for everyone in this city. The next person shot at or killed by the police may be your teenage daughter. Or your son.
The Standing Bear Lake incident is only one of several in recent years, virtually all of which have involved people of color, particularly African-Americans. Many white Omahans have not worried about these events because they don't think it could happen to someone they know. Unchecked unprofessional police misconduct inevitably spreads to all parts of the community.
In the past 14 months, several incidents illustrate this. Last year, Omaha police officers were caught by Creighton University Hospital surveillance video brutally kicking Robert Wagner, who was already Tasered and down on the ground. Thankfully, Omaha Police Chief Alex Hayes properly fired two of the officers involved.
In December 2010, we believe officers brutally beat Justin Watson during a struggle. He died after several days in Creighton University Hospital. Some will argue that he died of drugs, but we believe the beating was the main cause of his death. Photographs of his body while in Creighton show serious injuries that could not have resulted from a "fall," as alleged by the Omaha police.
Beatings and shootings are only the tip of an iceberg that includes lesser but nonetheless suspect actions by Omaha police officers. We hear many reports of officers smashing or not returning cellphones or digital cameras when people have recorded questionable police actions. Some officers tell people they cannot stand on the sidewalk and observe them at work, a violation of First Amendment rights.
White Omahans have not been much concerned about this pattern of behavior because they don't see it threatening them. But the Standing Bear Lake incident shows that unprofessional and dangerous behavior can easily occur in any part of town and can endanger anyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, social class or level of criminal activity.
The lack of good policies, training and supervision were documented in the 2006 report by then-Omaha Public Safety Auditor Tristan Bonn. Instead of fixing the problems and improving the Police Department, the City of Omaha chose to shoot the messenger by firing the auditor.
Omahans should take note of developments in other cities. A December 2011 Justice Department investigation of the Seattle, Wash., Police Department blasted it for failing to control officers' use of force and warned that it will bring a formal lawsuit if the city does not correct the problems.
Yet, Seattle has a police auditor, unlike Omaha, and has made some efforts to revise its use-of-force policies and improve training. It is far ahead of Omaha on police accountability, but it still does not meet Justice Department standards.
It is time for concerned Omaha citizens to demand police reform. The next shooting might involve your teenager.
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