What A Day - When Police Pay

Episode Date: September 16, 2020

The city of Louisville, Kentucky has come to a $12 million settlement deal with the family of Breonna Taylor, who was shot and killed by police officers in her apartment six months ago. The agreement also includes several police reforms. We explain.Over 5 million acres have now been burned across the West. We discuss the poor air quality caused by the smoke, how it's measured, and the effects it can have on our health.And in headlines: the key witness in an ongoing investigation of sexual assault by guards at an ICE detention center has been deported by ICE, Trump’s health spokesperson fearmongers on Facebook Live, and some updates on mail-in voting.Show Links:"Breonna Taylor's Life Was Changing, Then Police Came To Her Door" https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/30/us/breonna-taylor-police-killing.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article

it's wednesday september 16th i'm akilah hughes and i'm gideon resnick and this is what a day the podcast equivalent of a small wooded area you can visit without coughing or burning yeah tin trees perhaps a babbling brook no fires that's kind of what we're going for here yeah i'm podcasting but i'm also napping on a log. Oh my God, rustic. On today's show, a look at how smoke from the fires is impacting air quality and how to protect yourself, then some headlines. But first, the latest. The city of Louisville, Kentucky has come to a $12 million settlement deal with the family of Breonna Taylor, the 26-year-old black woman who was shot and killed by white police officers in her own apartment six months ago. The police killings sparked protests in the city and across the country as part of a massive movement against police brutality and systemic racism.

So let's get into the details of the settlement. Yeah, so first of all, the $12 million is the largest the city has ever paid out, according to the Courier-Journal, and it stems from a wrongful death lawsuit brought by Taylor's mother, Tamika Palmer. In addition to the money, and perhaps more importantly, the agreement also includes a bunch of police reforms, including mandatory reviews of all search warrants by commanding officers, mandatory EMS presence at sites of search warrants, and an early warning system that's meant to flag officers with disciplinary issues in advance. This comes after the city passed Breonna's law earlier this summer that bans the use of no-knock warrants. And other cities and states have also passed similar laws this year. Right, and that's the kind of warrant that was used to enter Breonna Taylor's apartment without warning on the night of her killing. That's right, and in this case, the police also got five warrants which they said were for a drug operation involving Taylor's ex-boyfriend. But they didn't seem to grasp, after all all their police work that they were no longer dating at

the time. And on the night of the raid, her current boyfriend, who was a licensed gun owner, was with Taylor. And at the last minute, police reportedly changed their no-knock warrant to a knock and announce, which required the officers to identify themselves. Allegedly, the announce part wasn't done clearly, and Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, opened fire because he was concerned that Taylor's ex-boyfriend was coming into the apartment. There's a really good New York Times investigation about everything that led up to that night that we can link to in our show notes.

All right, and getting into the other policy changes in the settlement, how do they apply? Yeah, so on the early warning system, there had been multiple complaints of excessive use of force by one of the officers on the scene of Taylor's killing. That's Detective Brett Hankison. So far, he's the only officer of the three that were there that night to be fired. And on the ambulance front, reportedly an ambulance

was initially sent to Taylor's apartment while they were executing the warrant, but it ended up getting sent elsewhere. And the lawsuit filed by her family contends that she was alive for six minutes after the shooting and didn't get medical care because the ambulance wasn't on the scene. And on that review of warrants by commanding officers, the Times reports that a similar requirement was instituted in Lexington, Kentucky, which some experts have said led to a big drop in these kinds of dangerous raids.

But these are all kinds of reforms that require accountability from within, and that is something that police have been notoriously terrible at. Yeah, cannot be overstated. And we should note that some advocates and experts have been notoriously terrible at. Yeah, cannot be overstated. And we should note that some advocates and experts have been skeptical of these reforms, with some saying the goal should be less police confrontation overall, especially with nonviolent situations

like drug cases. But back to the settlement money. It's the most in Louisville history. So let's talk about how it compares to other cases involving law enforcement and where the money actually comes from. Yeah, so this money obviously does not bring Breonna Taylor back point blank, but it is a big number and the settlement happened relatively quickly, which can't really be detached from the strength of protests looking for some sort of accountability and major celebrities and athletes keeping it in the conversation. It's more than double what New York City paid out to the family of Eric Garner, who was killed by police in 2014. It's more than the previous record in Louisville also, which was $8.5 million and given to a man who was wrongfully imprisoned for nine years after

it was discovered that a detective coerced a confession from him. But there are a handful of other publicly disclosed settlements that were bigger than this across the country. And in terms of where this money actually comes from, it is often from us, the taxpayers. So for instance, according to reporting from Bloomberg, Minneapolis paid more than $25 million for police misconduct between 2003 and 2019, which came out of an insurance policy which departments and agencies fund via taxpayer money. In New York City in 2019, there were reportedly payments of over $175 million in civil judgments and police-related suits, which are also, you guessed it, taxpayer-funded. And it's not just there. In 2014, the Wall Street Journal reported that the 10 cities with the largest police departments paid almost $250

million in various police misconduct cases. It's outrageous that that's what our money goes to. But beyond the settlement, there's also demand for the officers to actually get charged. It's been six months and there's still nothing on that. That's right. And Taylor's mother mentioned that at the press conference yesterday. As significant as today is, it's only the beginning of getting full justice for Breonna. We must not lose focus on what the real job is. And with that being said, it's time to move forward with the criminal charges because she deserves that and much more. Her beautiful spirit and personality is working through all of us on the ground.

So please continue to say her name, Breonna Taylor. Yeah, so this civil settlement is not part of that particular equation. Kentucky's Attorney General Daniel Cameron is still handling that criminal investigation, and the Justice Department has an investigation as well. And so the Courier-General reports that a grand jury may hear the criminal case this week, but we don't know for sure yet. And they'll decide if charges should be brought against these officers. We'll be following that, of course, but let's get into the dangerous fires that are happening in the West. So top line, they're still ongoing, and now over 5 million acres have been burned. We've talked about fires in California, Oregon, and Washington, but there are also fires further inland in Idaho, Colorado, and elsewhere, not to mention the smoke.

That's right. So let's talk about the smoke specifically. All right, so we've all seen pictures of smoky skies in the West, and that's where the air quality issues are most acute. More on that in a sec. But the smoke is also blowing thousands of miles away over the Midwest and reaching as far as New York. You might see some haze, but it hasn't significantly impacted air quality in those regions, which are still categorized as good. But parts of Canada are still being impacted. Back to the West Coast, though. The entire state of Oregon is under a smoke advisory until Thursday, which means that children, elderly people and those with health conditions should

stay inside until then. Donald Trump talks about the suburbs being under threat from low income housing and protesters. But the real threat to the suburbs seems to be wildfires, hurricanes, flooding and other extreme weather, which is something that Joe Biden talked about earlier this week. The areas around Portland and Seattle had the worst air quality in the entire world yesterday. And for parts of the country, people are nearing a month of unhealthy air. It's just terrible. And it's something you've been experiencing in Los Angeles and looking up air quality ratings every day to try to keep track of it. So let's get into how those ratings actually work and what they mean. Yeah, if you can't tell, my voice is a little funky today. I have asthma. And so when your lungs start closing up, it's really not great.

So I usually find the air quality on my weather app, but airnow.gov is also a really great resource. So the U.S. uses a scale called the Air Quality Index, or AQI, that was established by the Clean Air Act in the 1970s. It assigns a number based on how many particles of pollution or smoke are in the air. An AQI of less than 50 is considered healthy, and anything over 100 starts to get unhealthy, particularly for sensitive groups. Over 300 is considered hazardous. In Oregon, the AQI has been over 300 some days, while in LA, it's definitely smoky. It's around 150. In New York City yesterday, it was four. So that gives you a sense of how wide-ranging the numbers are and what that means for our health. It's really scary.

And what are some of the conditions that are exacerbated by the poor air quality? All right. So to be clear, everyone is affected by fire, smoke to some extent. But those with pre-existing conditions like asthma, COPD, or lung disease are specifically at risk, as are the elderly. Those groups will also feel negative effects from smoke at much lower concentrations than people without pre-existing conditions. And that's because for many people, their body's response is similar to an autoimmune response. So airways that are sensitive will constrict. It makes sense. So this summer, a University of British Columbia study showed that within an hour of fire smoke descending upon the Vancouver area during recent wildfire seasons, the number of emergency calls

for asthma, chronic lung disease, and cardiac events increased by 10%. The study found that within 24 hours, greater numbers of people were calling for help with diabetic issues. And a study out of Stanford University found that there was a 23% increase in patients with cerebrovascular incidents like strokes. But the COVID of it all is also complicating things. For health workers and first responders, dealing with both the pandemic and this fire season comes with major challenges. Evacuees and firefighters forced to live in shared housing may face additional COVID-19 exposure. The pandemic has already stretched the resources available from local government agencies thin, so there's more reliance on outside agencies to help. But even just practically, traveling during the pandemic is a challenge. Businesses and services that used to offer overflow shelter to evacuees in these kinds of events, like libraries and stadiums, are largely closed, so it's creating

its own crisis of displacement. As the situation progresses, we will keep you posted, but that's the latest for now. It's Wednesday, WOD Squad. And for today's Tim Check, we're talking about the British rock group Oasis again. The band's lead singer, Noel Gallagher, recently appeared on a podcast and addressed the topic of mask requirements in the UK, which he described as bollocks. Noel also said of the masks, quote, I choose not to wear one. And if I get the virus, it's on me. This stands in contrast to Noel's brother and longtime sworn enemy, Liam Gallagher, who has taken a much more science supported stance.

So, Gideon, are you taking public health advice from 90s Britpop bands or not? Absolutely not. And I don't think that either of these guys are being totally serious with us. I think that this is a bit of a stunt that the two of them are doing to have a continued fight and remind us that Oasis exists and that the Gallaghers like to get mad at each other. Wow. I mean, I remember that Oasis exists. You know, the songs are hits, but I, you know, I tend to agree. It seems like this is just part of their brand is fighting about things. And this was the thing that people were talking about.

So they decided to get in on it. Yeah. I mean, the fundamental question to me is, does the song Wonderwall exist with no karaoke in the world? Or is it, is it still, is it still around? We don't know. You know, these are are really really good questions thank you i am thinking through all the issues here but same question for you akilah are you

trusting these gallaghers are you taking public health advice from these guys i'm gonna wear a mask no matter who tells me not to so like noel can try but uh i'm good i'm like for sure fine i'm gonna do the mask i'm literally hacking my way through this entire episode. So I think that I'm going to take better care of my lungs than anyone else's. Yeah, I think that's a good way to look at it. And I think, you know, in terms of Britpop bands, maybe it's on us to revive a better version of Oasis, you know, without two brothers that are always yelling at each other in weird accents. You're not wrong. Well, just like that, we have checked our temps. Remember that after all, you are our Wonderwall. Stay safe, and we'll be back with another temp check tomorrow.

Let's wrap up with some headlines. Headlines. investigation of sexual assault by guards at that facility has now been deported to Mexico by ICE. So deporting a key witness in an investigation is not typically what people do when they are innocent. The woman alleged that guards systematically assaulted her and other detainees in areas of the facility that were not visible to security cameras. And those claims were made public in a report from the Texas Tribune and ProPublica last month. Since then, at least two other women at the facility have also come forward with similar claims, and the inspector general of DHS launched an investigation. Following that news, the women reported intimidating and aggressive behavior

from the guards at the facility. The case is just the latest of thousands of abuse and sexual assault complaints related to government-run detention centers. The top spokesperson of Trump's health department, Michael Caputo, has apologized to HHS staff for conspiracy mongering he did online that may have reflected poorly on the administration. His words. Obviously it did. Caputo made headlines after recording a Facebook Live over the weekend where he suggested that scientists at the CDC were working against the administration and, quote, do not want America to get well until after the election. Caputo also predicted that Trump would win the election, but Biden wouldn't concede, leading to left-wing hit squads that gun owners should prepare for by buying ammo. Separate from Caputo's edgy streams, he drew attention last week after reporting revealed that he and other Trump appointees had tried to distort

information coming from the CDC. Caputo oversaw efforts to fit CDC reports to Trump's very sunny view of the pandemic or just stop them altogether. Yesterday, Caputo oversaw efforts to fit CDC reports to Trump's very sunny view of the pandemic or just stop them altogether. Yesterday, Caputo reportedly told HHS staff he might be leaving his position soon, which seems pretty wise. And he also told them to listen to the Grateful Dead, which is way better advice than people got on his terrifying live stream. That is absolutely the truth. Two hopeful updates on mail-in voting and by extension, the future of our fragile planet. In Pennsylvania, officials said yesterday that counties can't reject ballots just because an election official thinks the signature doesn't match the one on the voter's file. And that guidance led voter advocacy groups to drop a federal lawsuit, and it should alleviate

some concerns of voters who were worried that tens of thousands of mail-in ballots would be discarded. Then in Wisconsin, the state Supreme Court decided on Monday to keep the Green Party's candidate off the ballot because of an issue with his paperwork. If they'd made the opposite ruling, it would have led to a huge scramble to reprint new mail-in ballots and get them to voters before federal deadlines. Instead, the ballots that were printed and in some cases already sent to voters can be used. Kanye West is still fighting in court to get on the Wisconsin ballot after attempting a move that he predicted years ago in his album from 2005, Late Registration. I mean, I kind of just wish he would college drop out of the race. Well, we finally have the answer to a question many have been asking since this first second of the pandemic.

What's going to happen to bobsledding? The International Bobsled and Skeleton Federation said next February's championships will no longer be held in Lake Placid, New York because of coronavirus concerns. Instead, it looks like they'll be moved to Altenburg, Germany, where case numbers are lower. The sport of skeleton, if you need a refresher, I do, is where the athlete shoots down an icy slope head first. That puts the body in a perfect position to suck up COVID. So this move seems like a pretty good idea. Canada also lost the World Loose Championships last week for similar reasons, meaning all three sports in the Cool Runnings category will have their championships outside North America.

I'm ready to spend the next five months figuring out how to smuggle myself onto international flights so I can go watch my favorite sports. Those are the headlines. Quick heads up before we go. Voter registration deadlines are coming up soon. Between now and September 30th, Vote Save America is helping the group register to vote, get registration materials to people in swing states before their deadlines. For every $2 raised, they can reach one new voter.

$2. It's a steal. So donate now if you can at VoteSaveAmerica.com slash every last vote. And thank you in advance. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, listen to The Grateful Dead, and watch Cool Runnings and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just the rules and regulations for skeleton racing like me, what a day is also a nightly newsletter.

Check it out and subscribe at cricket.com slash subscribe. I'm Akilah Hughes. I'm Gideon Resnick. And just move on Kanye West. I mean, the Kardashians aren't making us keep up with them anymore. Why do we got to keep up with you? What a Day is a Crooked Media production. It's recorded and mixed by Charlotte Landis.

Sonia Tun is our assistant producer. Our head writer is John Milstein and our senior producer is Katie Long. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka.