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Statement by Micaela Davis, Criminal Justice & Drug Policy Attorney with the ACLU of Northern California
On October 22, Sacramento County sheriff’s deputies shot and killed Adriene Ludd. Now, over two months later, the Sheriff refuses to release the incident report and the dash-cam footage. So the community is demanding answers. Friends, family, and neighbors of Mr. Ludd deserve the full story on this tragedy. The public also has a right to know what happened in a critical incident like this one.
In the aftermath of a shooting, law enforcement should prioritize transparency and accountability. The Sheriff has the authority to release the documents and the footage that Black Lives Matter is demanding. So far, he is choosing not to.
Law enforcement across the country is over-policing, over-criminalizing, and using excessive force against communities of color, and it has to stop. The deaths of Laquan McDonald, Eric Garner, Aiyana Jones, and far too many others, have brought national attention to the excessive use of force against black people in particular.
Public access to records alone will not fix racial bias or other serious problems in policing. However, it will bring us one step closer. Sacramento residents deserve to know how law enforcement, who act in their name, came to take a life.
