ST. LOUIS, Missouri — Ray Rice, the retired St. Louis police lieutenant who leads the Ethical Society of Police, said the organization felt compelled to speak out after watching footage of federal agents storming a Chicago apartment complex. He described the raid as a “betrayal of constitutional norms” that traumatized children and eroded the public’s trust in policing.
“The most visceral response I had was seeing young children being treated that way and the terror on their faces,” Rice said on The Record. “You can’t see that happen and not have a question about the humanity or the lack of humanity afforded those who were targeted like that.”
Rice’s group was the first law-enforcement organization in the nation to publicly condemn the raid. Within days, the National Association of Black Law Enforcement Officers echoed the same message, calling the incident “a direct assault on the legitimacy of our profession.”…