The family sued in U.S. District Court in Detroit and has an account of the facts that differs from that of police. Assistant Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee claims that Jones was shot in the neck after the gun discharged when Jones' grandmother struggled with officers. But an independent autopsy found that Jones was shot in the top of her head while sleeping.
The suit is seeking in excess of $75,000 in damages.
"The defendants knew or should have known that by acting in concert with the Detroit Police and filming live...it would lead to tragedies such as the one in this case," as stated in the lawsuit.
The shooting death of Aiyana Jones was a national tragedy of monumental proportions. The Detroit Police Department, which has endured massive budget cuts in a city with significant financial problems, may have likely cut some corners and made mistakes in the death of this young girl. After the end of the lawsuit, the financial problems may be even worse than they already are right now.
Officials in the city of Detroit heightened hostilities by not responding to the incident in a timely manner. At the time that Aiyana was shot, both the mayor and police chief were nowhere to be found. The idea that officers may have worked to actually cover up the shooting is both unsurprising and quite disturbing.
My father was in law enforcement for 25 years. Based on my perceptions of what happens on the job (I am not an officer, so I can only speculate from speaking to quite a few officers over the years), it is quite likely that some of the officers may have been encouraged to be "Hollywood cops," going above and beyond the call of duty in order to look good for the camera. But when human lives are at stake, there is no room for show business. A&E should never have been there in the first place.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action Resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.