Overcriminalization Killed Daunte Wright
A police officer pulled the trigger. But Wright shouldn't have been pulled over in the first place.
But one topic that still hasn't received enough attention is the consequences of overcriminalization. Police accountability, training, and transparency are certainly important: If an officer cannot distinguish between a firearm and a taser, we have a problem. But it's also a problem that cops could pull Wright over for this reason in the first place.
Eric Garner, one of the most publicized victims of police brutality, died after former New York City police officer Daniel Pantaleo choked him for the crime of selling loose cigarettes. Other victims aren't as well-known. Like Ramon Lopez, who died after Phoenix police officers chased, tackled, and pinned him on searing hot asphalt because someone had called 911 to report him for loitering in a parking lot, "jumping around," "looking at people's cars," and wearing "ripped pants."
Serious criminal justice reform should include an effort to criminalize fewer things. We need to slash away the laws that make virtually everyone a criminal—and that lead to so many unpleasant, and sometimes deadly, confrontations with law enforcement. Daunte Wright would be alive today had he not dared to hang an air freshener in the wrong spot.