The funeral for Officer William H. Torbit Jr. is now over and we await word from City Hall on the details of how an outside review of the case will unfold. Torbit was in plainclothes when he was shot and killed Jan. 9 by four fellow officers who mistook him for a gunman. Torbit was shot while fatally shooting another man during a fight.
The incident has sent shock waves through the Baltimore Police Department -- the mayor called it a "tragedy that shook us to our deepest core" -- and homicide detectives and prosecutors are still pouring over the details. City officials say the outside review is designed to examine the practices and procedures of the police department.
On Sunday, we reported about a national study done by a Harvard University professor looking at police-on-police shootings across the country. Many recent cases involved black undercover or plainclothes detectives as victims (Read the full report here).
On Wednesday, we got an e-mail from the National Black Police Association, which stated in part: "The recent shooting of Baltimore Police Officer Torbit reminds us of the constant dangers we face as law enforcement. Even Black law enforcement professionals in plain clothes or off-duty are in danger when doing the job they have been sworn to do."
(Photo is from Wednesday's funeral for Torbit at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen and was taken by The Sun's Karl Merton Ferron)
ere is the full statement from the group, which will surely add to the debate and discussion about plainclothes officers:
The recent shooting of Baltimore Police Officer Torbit reminds us of the constant dangers we face as law enforcement. Even Black law enforcement professionals in plain clothes or off-duty are in danger when doing the job they have been sworn to do.
New York has a history, dating back to the 1940s; Black officers in plain clothes or off-duty have been shot at, shot, or killed by their white counterparts and never in the reverse. The shooting of Police Officer Omar Edwards, Detective Christopher Ridley of Westchester, along with the incident last year involving NYPD Police Chief Ziegler -- the highest ranking black official in the NYPD, who had weapons drawn on him by white NYPD officers while he was parked in a NYPD unmarked car with NYPD badge and ID around his neck, reminds us of the challenges we face as citizens of color and for Black law enforcement officers.
Now this cancer has spread to other cities like Baltimore because law enforcement officials have not truly addressed the issue. We do know the full circumstance surrounding the shooting of Police officer Torbit. One thing for sure, we a seeing an increase in black law enforcement being shot, shot at , or killed by thier counterparts.
Black law enforcement professionals must be extra cautious when they react to situations when they are off duty or as plain clothes officers. It is unfortunate that the only time we are truly recognized as law enforcement is when they wear the blue uniform. Until perceptions of Black males are changed in the institutional structure of policing, the Black law enforcement community and the Black community at large will remain at a disadvantage and in danger.
Who protects the Black Law Enforcement while we protect and serve our communities? Its time for state politicians and community leaders to finally have the testicular fortitude to address this ongoing issue with Revolutionary Change in policy and procedure in the culture of Law Enforcement on a local state and national level.
Damon K. Jones
North East Region President
National Black Police Association