Committing a crime always comes with consequences; however, there have been numerous times where cases have been dismissed with “fair” repercussions. Within the past few years the law protectors have become the abusers and protests for Black Lives Matter have become frequent.

One recent event really makes people question law enforcement. African-American teen, Jordan Edwards, 15, was shot and killed by a 37-year-old police officer, Roy Oliver, in Dallas, Texas on April 29. The department that Oliver worked for had been ordered to investigate a high school house party. There had been complaints about underaged drinking and when the police had arrived they heard the sound of gun shots. At the same time of their arrival, a vehicle filled with teenagers, in which Edwards was seated, began to reverse aggressively in the direction of the police officers. This sudden act resulted in Officer Oliver shooting into the window of the car, killing Edwards.

At first, all the officer faced was the loss of his position on the police field. Six days after the incident, however, Oliver was charged for murder and has been arrested for committing such a felony. Oliver has committed one of the most serious types of felonies, and when people heard at first that he had only suffered from the loss of his job, they were incredulous and argued for justice until he was finally arrested. According to The New York Times, a warrant was issued on May 5 for Roy’s arrest, and he turned himself in that same night. The department that he worked for, Balch Springs Police Department, said that he was only taking precautions and did what he could have done on instinct within the the short time period in which everything happened..

Although people at first were upset over the officer’s lack of consequence the rage seems to have died down a bit. Oliver did the right thing by turning himself in and it has given the black community some sort of justice. On the other hand, even though he is finally facing a fair punishment, the “accidental” murder cannot be forgiven.

Over the past year or so, there have been multiple events with similar issues among the black community. Oliver clearly could not have known the racial identification of his target, but it is the carelessness and wait for justice that once again comes back to the idea of “black lives matter.” According to Mapping Police Violence, “Police killed at least 102 unarmed black people in 2015, nearly twice each week.” Time after time, there have been many news reports about such matters, and almost all the cases have been about black people wrongfully being attacked by police officers.