John Oliver calls for an end to vast majority of police raids on ‘Last Week Tonight’
"Right now, raids are being used far too widely, and are destroying lives both for the individuals who are killed, injured, or traumatized, and all the Black and brown people who have no choice but to internalize the lessons of that trauma."
Only two weeks before the anniversary of Breonna Taylor’s death during a plainclothes police raid on her apartment, John Oliver devoted Sunday’s episode of “Last Week Tonight” to police raids, and called for police departments nationwide to cease using them except in life-or-death situations.
Taylor, an emergency medical worker, was shot multiple times by officers who entered her home on a no-knock warrant while she was in bed. A Kentucky grand jury in September declined to bring charges against Louisville police for the fatal shooting.
Throughout the segment, Oliver outlined how little accountability police face while executing raids, citing countless examples of officers invading the wrong homes, injuring innocent people, or using extreme tactics for minor offenses. According to Oliver, though initially intended for use only during extreme situations, more than 60 percent of raids are related to drug searches. Meanwhile, a New York Times investigation found that from 2010 to 2016, 81 civilians were killed during police raids.
As Oliver has showed repeatedly in other episodes of his show, the police departments’ actions disproportionately impact people of color.
“As we’ve discussed on this show before, the past and present of policing in America is very much tied up with racism,” Oliver said.
The solution, according to Oliver, is for police departments nationwide to curtail their use of police raids significantly.
“I’d argue that there’s a big solution here that’s actually staring us right in the face, and that is: Stop doing drug raids. Just stop it,” Oliver said. “Raids, in general, should only be used as a last resort to save lives that are in immediate danger, because busting into someone’s home is never going to be safe for anyone involved.
“Right now, raids are being used far too widely, and are destroying lives both for the individuals who are killed, injured, or traumatized, and all the Black and brown people who have no choice but to internalize the lessons of that trauma,” Oliver continued. “They deserve the respect and consideration of a police force that’s supposed to protect them.”
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