Who Do They Protect and Serve?

New details have been released about the fatal shooting of 14-year old Deonte Rawlings. One year after the incident, copies of an interview of one of the cops who were involved in the shooting were obtained. In the interview, Officer James Haskell explains the events which led up to Deonte's death. His story was as follows, On September 17th 2007 Officer Haskell and Clay were off-duty driving through a Southeast public-housing complex searching for a bike which was stolen from Haskell's garage. Not long after, Haskell and Clay noticed Deonte riding a bike in the opposite direction. Haskell reversed his Tahoe sport-utility vehicle and pursued Deonte until they caught up with him. Haskell told investigators that he told Deonte to "Drop the bike". Deonte responded by saying "What". Haskell claims that Deonte dropped the bike and pulled out a .45-caliber semiautomatic. Deonte fired two shots first and Haskell retaliated with two shots from inside the vehicle. Clay, according to Haskell got out the car but did not participate in the shootout. Instead, Haskell told Clay to radio in for help. When Clay realized that he was on the "wrong channel", Haskell told Clay to take the car and go back to the house. Deonte continued to shoot over his shoulder at Haskell as he attempted to run away. Haskell fired a few more shots at him before Deonte finally dropped. Haskell left the scene and used the radio to call a fellow policeman to come pick him up a block away from the scene. Seven policemen responded to Haskell's call however Haskell did not direct them to the scene of the crime. Instead, Haskell was dropped off at his mom's house which was in the area. The stolen bike was later found in Upper Marlboro. I would love to say that these officers were brought to justice however this is simply not the reality. Both officers were cleared despite the obvious inconsistency in the story. The first would be that at no point in this altercation did Haskell or Clayton identify themselves as police officers. Also, Haskell's description of how Deonte shot the gun is questionable because no gun was found on or anywhere near the scene of the crime. Reports show that there was no residue found on Deonte's shirt, nor were there any shell casings found 100 feet of where the altercation occurred. It seems odd to me that of all places on the body, Haskell shot him in the head. In my opinion, a crime is still a crime regardless of who commits it. These policemen should be arrested and convicted for the crime they've committed. However, as I have come to find out, the laws doesn't always apply to the police. Time and time again we have seen that there are many policemen who abuse their power and see no repercussions for their actions. Police are above the law. Bottom line.
Which leads me to ask the following question..Who do they serve and protect?
Obviously, not you.

This story and the audio interview of Officer Haskell can be accessed at the following sites:

http://static.wjla.com/documents/haskelinterview0924.mp3
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/23/AR2008092303228.html