This is just a disgrace. According to the North Miami Police Union President, the policeman that shot Charles Kinsey was actually aiming for the autistic man that was playing with a toy truck.
Charles Kinsey did his best to explain and deescalate the situation, but this particular cop failed to heed his instructions and almost ended his life. It is not clear how the cop mistook a toy truck for a gun, but the unnamed policeman appears to have been aiming for the autistic man because he thought he was going to hurt Charles Kinsey. However, the fact that the policeman handcuffed Kinsey after shooting, contradicts this claim.
Here we have an example of a citizen complying in every way possible, with the most conciliatory and calm tone, and he still ended up being victimized by police. And according to the North Miami Police Union, the officer on the scene had every intention to shoot someone that day.
This points to a larger issue with police tactics in general and most specifically with citizens who are mentally impaired. The default methodology seems to be to respond with force even when force is unnecessary, and this debacle is a prime example of that.
Videos of cops having cookouts with the community or playing basketball with kids are nice, but those activities won’t change the outcomes to situations like these, only policing policy changes can do that.