I have started comments about this, edited them, deleted them, re-wrote, deleted, edited, and so on, several times.  In some ways, there is so much to comment on and at the same time, what can one really add?

Now, there is one comment I do want to elaborate on - many of these police misconduct beatings, killings, and mistreatment have little to do with race - instead, it is about power.  It is about those that have it and those that are powerless.  It is about having power over those that are perceived as less than those wielding the power (note, I do not suggest "authority" because that word contains within in it, justification - authority equals an ability to wield that power justly and of course, these beatings and killings are not justified).

It is about the perceptions of those with the power and their perceptions of the people that fall under the thumb of those with this power.  To those with this power that use it in manners such as this, those beneath their power are perceived as with little societal worth. 

In ways, it is that simple - to these that choose to abuse, it does not matter if the person is white, black, brown, gay, hetero or any of the other types of persons that one can describe - it all comes down to how those with power define those that are policed.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not suggesting that attributes of difference of other people are not factors to these people that wield such power in horrific ways because they can exist and they do.

But what I am suggesting is when a corrupt person with power looks at one he or she feels is beneath him or her, then the ability to mistreat is not too far off on the horizon.