Activists Demand Punishment For Retired Cohoes Cop
Last month we talked about Cohoes Police officer, Sean McKown, retiring after making false claims against a group of black youth. Today, he is still under scrutiny and activists are calling for further investigation into the incident.
Back in June Officer McKown called the state police and made a false report of being involved in a gunfight with a group of black youth. The state police investigated his complaint and determined that he was lying.
Eventually, McKown admitted that he was lying and that he had made the whole story up. McKown never received any kind of disciplinary action from the Cohoes Police Department and he was allowed to retire. Disciplinary action could have meant that Mckown’s pension was in jeopardy, so his police department did him a big favor by allowing him to retire
According to The Times Union, activists and community leaders are calling for an investigation into the incident. More than 700 signatures were obtained and submitted to the Essex County District Attorney’s Office. The community leaders and activists are demanding that the District Attorney’s Office investigate the incident further.
District Attorney Kristie Sprague wrote an email to the state police asking for additional investigative steps and the state police agreed.
Matthew Melewski, an attorney representing the signers of the petition, said, “While encouraging, this is still a preliminary step.
Officer McKown has already admitted to endangering the lives of Black youth by falsely reporting an exchange of gunfire and recklessly firing his own service weapon. We expect this to be followed by an indictment and prosecution.”
With the current state of racial tension between police departments and the black community, this type of behavior should never be tolerated. Former Officer McKown should face consequences for his actions just like everyone else.
No one should be placed above the law especially those hired to enforce the law. This case would set an example for officers who decide to break the law, especially when it comes to harming children.
Wrong is wrong, it seems like the powers that be are more concerned with helping the offender. Rather than bringing justice for the children who may very well be traumatized by this event. Luckily no one was injured or even worse killed, but this could've escalated quickly, because an adult in law enforcement decided to lie on children
Events like this provide further proof that racism is institutionalized, and has been for a long time. Although people who uphold these institutions are being called out on a daily basis, justice is rarely served.
Do you think the former officer should be prosecuted or was his forced retirement enough?
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