PBC News & Comment: Beware, Some Police “Reforms” Are Fake News

As Trump signs executive order flanked by cops, and NYPD disbands aggressive detective unit, healthy skepticism is advisable…--Trump order indirectly bans chokeholds, with exceptions, and Dems slam it
--as The Intercept reports, disbanding NYPD unit “is a shell game” according to critics
--police surveillance expert Albert Cahn, quoted in Intercept report, was a guest on a PBC podcast
--Sen. Tim Scott is optimistic about new bill to end chokeholds
--and CA Attorney General Becerra—who was slow to implement law on disclosure of police personnel files, now wants to decertify bad cops
--PBC proposes that officers must buy their own Errors & Omissions coverage
--reality check: France reverses new ban on chokeholds after gendarmes protest
investigations expanded into 2 apparent lynchings in southern California
--in Albuquerque, man was shot by vigilante at protest over statue of conquistadore
--in Seattle’s occupied CHAZ, no Boogaloos have shown up so far
--the Atlanta cop who killed Rayshard Brooks was reprimanded for use of force in 2016, and has 4 other complaints and 5 vehicle accidents in his file
--on The Daily Show, Trevor Noah gave an honest account of the “messy” incident that led to Brooks’ death
--in the George Floyd killing, a 911 dispatcher was able to monitor the incident on video, notified her superior of possible excessive force
--recently in Virginia, a pastor who owns an apartment building called police after threats from white people, and the sheriff arrested him
--some thought-provoking commentary on the history of police killings by Rob Urie
and a comparison between Black Lives Matter and the Black Panthers from Pepe Escobar
--Buzzfeed investigation reveals that the Black Lives Matter Foundation is not connected to the main Black Lives Matter organization
--turning the tables, Aldous Tyler interviews PBC in new podcast
--Today’s Covid-19 update, edited by Linda Lewis
--Trump overpromises on Covid vaccine, and claims that it will be free for “vulnerable” Americans
--in Tulsa, confirmed cases climb as Trump campaign considers opening second venue to MAGA mob this Saturday
--border tensions erupt between China and India, and between the Koreas
--House majority leader Hoyer has changed his position, now supports statehood for DC
--House Dems subpoena the Mueller prosecutor who resigned after Barr ordered reduced sentence recommendation for Roger Stone
--the ripple effect of yesterday’s SCOTUS ruling on transgender rights undercuts Trump bigly, and 45 says he has read the decision and will accept it
--Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) releases report on CIA hackers who lost control of their hacking tools, leading to Vault 7 release by WikiLeaks
--in vivid example of corrupt campaign system, Dem. Veteran Rep. Eliot Engel is supported by GOP money laundered through pro-Israel group that attacked Bernie Sanders
--California’s rogue utility, PG&E, pleads guilty to 84 counts of manslaughter in fire that leveled Paradise in 2018