In 2001, police responded to a rape in Philadelphia.

They saw a Black guy and shot him 3 times. He was charged and convicted of the rape.

But he was only on there because he heard a cry for help.

Yesterday, after 19 years in prison, he was exonerated. https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia-wrongful-conviction-exoneration-police-misconduct-tremaine-hicks-20201216.html?__vfz=medium%3Dsharebar
Police shot a Philly man, then accused him of rape. He was exonerated after 19 years.

Joseph Tremaine Hicks, his lawyer said, "is going to be returned to something that he should have had on Nov. 27, 2001, when police encountered him, but he didn’t: the presumption of innocence.”

https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia-wrongful-conviction-exoneration-police-misconduct-tremaine-hicks-20201216.html?__vfz=medium%3Dsharebar
A reminder that even though Termaine Hicks was exonerated and released after 19 years in prison do you a wrongful conviction, he will get *nothing* in terms of compensation from Pennsylvania unless he sues. His records will also not be expunged. https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/editorials/philadelphia-wrongful-conviction-compensation-exoneration-expungement-20191011.html
Expunged records and monetary compensation are the least the state owes the wrongfully convicted |...

The injustice of a wrongful conviction doesn’t end on the day an exonerated person walks out of the courthouse.

https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/editorials/philadelphia-wrongful-conviction-compensation-exoneration-expungement-20191011.html
Hicks is the 16th person exonerated by DA Larry Krasner’s conviction integrity unit. Many of the vacated wrongful convictions are from years when police touted very high clearance rate. Throwing someone in a cell doesn’t equal “solving” a crime. https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/editorials/philadelphia-police-unsolved-murders-homicide-clearance-rate-20190829.html
It's also worth asking: if you knew Hicks' personally, would you ever call 911 to report a crime or agree to give police a statement?

Of course not. You would fear that you would end up in handcuffs.

When policing makes us *less* safe. https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/editorials/philadelphia-police-brutality-rickia-young-walter-wallace-jr-gun-violence-20201204.html
Rickia Young’s brutal treatment by police makes all Philadelphians less safe | Editorial

Policing is supposed to ensure public safety. In Philadelphia, policing is a part of a public safety problem.

https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/editorials/philadelphia-police-brutality-rickia-young-walter-wallace-jr-gun-violence-20201204.html
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