Justice denied (or hopefully only delayed)

                Ok, ok, we've seen the news articles, we've heard the killer's  911 call,  we've heard the cell phone calls to the girlfriend, we've heard the agony of the bereaved parents, and we've seen the face of vigilantism in Sanford, Florida. What is in some ways more troubling is the massive lack of professionalism and appropriate action by the man in charge of law enforcement in Sanford Florida, the Chief of Police.   Let's  try something really hard - putting yourself in his shoes; not now, but earlier.

                You're the chief law enforcement officer in a town  (and I'll phrase this delicately)  not exactly famous for its harmonious race relation record. I lived in Orlando, and was aware that there had been ongoing issues in Sanford.  You're also the Chief in a town of about 50,000 people. Without knowing for sure, I'll bet there aren't daily homicides in Sanford, therefore any shooting death should be significant enough to warrant notifying the Chief any time of day or night. Add to the fact that it is the shooting death of an unarmed 17 year old by a neighborhood watch captain (self appointed) patrolling with a gun. Pile on that the shooter had called  911 and had been told that he wasn't to follow the kid, Top it off with the shooter having made disparaging comments to the 911 operator regarding the kids in general and this one who happened to be Black.  Any of these should have thrown up a red flag causing immediate notification of the Chief. Collectively, they ought to have required the Chief's immediate  personal presence and the assignment of the department's best homicide  detective. A call to FDLE also might have been in order. What did we get?  A narcotics officer, who listened to the shooter and apparently bought his story of self defense, releasing the shooter.  The Chief's thought process during all this must have been truly wondrous. Not only was the initial investigator a narcotics officer, he was one with several racially related complaints in his jacket. I have instructed many young men in the use of deadly force (guarding Submarines with Nuclear missiles on board) . Skittles was never a valid reason to shoot,  neither was race or age.

                Florida's "stand your ground law" gets some credit for this disaster as well. It was probably what emboldened this already identified loose cannon (see his previous 911 calls, and the fact that he ignored the operator in this incident) to think he could shoot one of "them" and get away with it,  which, to date, he has.  The stand your ground law is great if everyone has the presence of mind and the discipline of a policeman. Most don't.  When all this is laid to rest, along with Trayvon Martin, if the current Chief of Police in Sanford is still so employed , and Zimmerman is still not in jail, justice will not only have been blind, but deaf,   dumb and mentally handicapped as well.  I cannot in my wildest stretch of imagination conceive of  a similar result if the chief had been, for example, Val Demings  or another Chief of similar common sense and awareness of the potential significance of this case.