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Washington D.C.’s new commitment to police reform is moving swiftly toward a space of transparency. Officials have released footage of several police-involved deaths over the weekend with the intention to bringing justice to the forefront.
Recordings of Marqueese Alston, Jeffrey Price, and D’Quan Young, three victims who all killed in 2018 during their encounters with the Metropolitan Police Department, are now available to the public.
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According to ABC News, Washington, D.C.’s city council voted to reform its police department two months ago.
The police reform bill contained 15 points of action that includes, “the release of body-worn camera footage after any officer-involved death or serious use of force … [and] requires release of footage from past shootings, and bans officers from reviewing it prior to drafting crime reports.”
The departments will have up until 72 hours to release any footage of police-involved incidents that result in a civilian’s death.
The reform even pushes for the release of any footage of police-involved civilian deaths that happened before the bill was introduced, such is the case of the three videos from July 31.
Mayor Muriel Bowser, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice Kevin Donahue and Police Chief Peter Newsham announced the first three videos, involving Black men from the city, ABC News reported.
(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
The men all had different stories that resulted in the same tragic end.
Alston, 22, was chased down the alley by uniformed officers. Alston allegedly drew his gun and fired at the police. The police return fire and killed him on June 12.
Kenithia Alston, his mother, sued the MPD for wrongful death, saying the department, “publicly denigrated and dehumanized Marqueese, and it has refused to publicly release camera footage of the shooting or any evidence from what it claims is an internal investigation.”
Price, 22, crashed his dirt bike onto a police car and he was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
Price’s family also sued for wrongful death. They believe that there were three MPD officers involved in creating a vehicle barricade to block Price’s path. They say that this caused him to enter an intersection without the sirens. His family describes Price’s situations as an “‘unavoidable, deliberate and intentional’ collision.”
Last of the three is 24-year-old D’Quan Young. He allegedly pulled a gun on an unidentified off-duty MPD officer at an event near the Brentwood Recreation Center. The officer allegedly shot him five, two times in the torso and three times in the leg, after Young shot at the officer.
Because the officer was not on-duty and not wearing a camera, released footage came from the recreation center’s cameras.
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The MPD have been wearing body cameras since 2016.
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