Today on AirTalk, we take a look at what we know about the facts of two recent officer involved shootings, as well as how these incidents relate to how police are trained to react in these situations. We also sit down with advertising experts to discuss the recent U.K. ban on gender stereotypes in advertising; and more.
Surveillance Video From Willowbrook Police Shooting Raises Questions About Whether Deadly Force Was Justified
Following the release of surveillance video of police shooting and killing a young black man in the Willowbrook neighborhood of Los Angeles earlier this month, questions are arising about whether the deputies' actions that led to the shooting were justified.
The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department says 24-year-old Ryan Twyman used his vehicle as a weapon against two Los Angeles Sheriff’s deputies during the June 6th incident. Mr. Twyman was a convicted felon who police say was under investigation for gun possession, and when deputies in the Willowbrook area spotted a white sedan matching the description of Mr. Twyman's car, they initiated a stop. The video shows the deputies approaching the car, and one opens to the passenger side back door while the other goes to the driver side front door. Then, the car suddenly reverses out of its spot, at which point the deputies attempt to retreat. Both pull out service weapons and fire multiple times. One deputy gets a service rifle out of the patrol car's trunk and begins firing from a defensive position behind another car. In the end, LASD says approximately 34 rounds were fired. Mr. Twyman died at the scene from multiple gunshot wounds. No gun was found in the possession of Mr. Twyman or the 22-year-old passenger in the car, who was not injured.
Twyman's family is suing the county for damages, saying that neither of the men were armed and that the officers were not justified in their use of deadly force. LASD is conducting a criminal investigation into the officers' actions as well as an internal investigation into whether the officers violated LASD policy by shooting into the vehicle. L.A. Sheriff's Deputies are basically prohibited from shooting at a moving car unless there is a weapon present.
Following these incident, we’ll talk with police tactics experts about what's in the surveillance video and what they can tell us about the officers’ actions as they relate to how police are trained to react in those situations.
Guests:
Frank Stoltze, KPCC correspondent covering crime and public safety; he tweets
Ed Obayashi, deputy sheriff and legal advisor for the Plumas County (CA) Sheriff’s Office and use of force advisor for the California Association of Police Training Officers
Cheryl Dorsey, retired sergeant with the Los Angeles Police Department who served for 20 years and worked her entire career in patrol and the gang unit (Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums, or C.R.A.S.H.) in Operations South Bureau; she tweets
Has Cal State Been Hiding $1.5B In Operating Fund? California State Auditor Says So
According to a recent report released by California’s state auditor, the California State University system has been sitting on $1.5 billion in reserves… while also raising tuition and lobbying the Legislature for additional funds.
A majority of the money in the reserve, which had been placed in outside accounts rather than in the state Treasury, had come from student tuition, which nearly doubled from 2008-2018.
According to the audit, CSU leaders kept legislators, students and the public in the dark about the surplus, while also using the money as a discretionary fund to cover the costs of instruction or other operations it considered crucial.
CSU was quick to respond to the report, with CSU Chancellor Timothy P. White calling the report misleading and that it incorrectly claims that the CSU failed to inform the public about the funds, while also misrepresenting CSU practices.
The report recommends that the Chancellor’s Office disclose its spending surplus, as well as an estimate of how much tuition contributes to the surplus, to the Legislature by November 30th each year.
To increase transparency, the audit recommended that the Chancellor’s Office publish on its website information about its surplus, including how much of it came from tuition. One of the audits recommendations for the Chancellor’s Office to increase transparency was to share this information publicly on its website.
Guest:
Sawsan Morrar, reporter for the Sacramento Bee covering school accountability who’s been following the story; she tweets
UK Bans 'Harmful' Gender Stereotypes In Advertising… Good Luck With That
Hapless husbands and housework-burdened moms were being banished from British advertising, as a crackdown on “harmful” gender stereotypes came into force last Friday.
Under new rules, advertisements must not include “gender stereotypes which are likely to cause harm or serious or widespread offense.”
Examples include depictions of a man failing to change a diaper or a woman to park a car, or ads that suggest women are solely responsible for cooking and cleaning.
Complaints will be assessed by industry watchdog the Advertising Standards Authority. It doesn’t have the power to impose fines, but British broadcasters are bound by the terms of their licenses to comply with its rulings.
The watchdog, which has previously banned ads for suggesting it was desirable for young women to be unhealthily thin, said it won’t ban all stereotypes, such as women cleaning or men doing home-improvement jobs. The authority said its aim is to remove those that are harmful, such as ads that contrast “caring” girls and “daring” boys, or mock men for carrying out stereotypically “female” tasks.
The goal is to prevent consumers, especially children, from internalizing these limited concepts of gender. But some experts say that the new standards will be difficult to enforce – especially online, where advertising is targeted to reach specific audiences.
AirTalk sits down with advertising experts in the U.S. and the U.K. to discuss the new standards.
With guest host Kyle Stokes
With files from the Associated Press
Guests:
Shabnum Mustapha, media and public affairs manager for the U.K.’s Advertising Standards Authority
Mara Einstein, professor and chair of media studies at Queen’s College in New York and the author of “Black Ops Advertising: Native Ads, Content Marketing and the Covert World of the Digital Sell” (OR Books, 2016)
Chris Hackley, professor and chair in marketing at Royal Holloway, one of the colleges in the University of London system
FilmWeek: ‘Toy Story 4,’ ‘Child’s Play,’ ‘Wild Rose’ And More
Steven Cuevas and KPCC film critics Amy Nicholson, Wade Major and Charles Solomon review this weekend’s new movie releases.
- 'Toy Story 4' in wide release
- 'Child's Play' in wide release
- 'Wild Rose' at ArcLight Hollywood & The Landmark
- You can hear Steven Cuevas' interview with the film's star Jessie Buckley at KPCC.org/theframe
- 'Leto' at the Laemmle Ahrya Fine Arts
- 'True Justice: Bryan Stevenson's Fight for Equality' at the Laemmle Glendale & on HBO Streaming Weds June 26
- 'In The Aisles' at the Laemmle Royal
- 'Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am' at the ArcLight Hollywood & The Landmark Theater
- 'Ladies In Black' at the Laemmle Music Hall
- 'The Command' at the Galaxy Mission Grove (in Riverside)
With guest host Steven Cuevas
CRITICS' HITS:
Amy: 'Child's Play,' 'Leto' & 'In The Aisles'
Wade: 'Toy Story 4,' 'Wild Rose' & 'Ladies in Black'
Charles: 'Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am'
MIXED FEELINGS:
Amy: 'The Command'
Charles: 'True Justice: Bryan Stevenson's Fight for Equality'
Guests:
Amy Nicholson, film critic for KPCC, film writer for The Guardian and host of the podcasts ‘Unspooled’ and the podcast miniseries “Zoom”; she tweets
Charles Solomon, film critic for KPCC, Animation Scoop and Animation Magazine
Wade Major, film critic for KPCC and CineGods.com
From ‘Fight Club’ To ‘The Matrix’, 1999 Might Just Be The Best Movie Year Ever
What was the best year ever for film? Was it 1967, the year where groundbreaking films like “Bonnie and Clyde” and “The Graduate” ushered in the era of New Hollywood? Or 1939, the Golden Age of classic cinema, with films like “The Wizard of Oz” and “Citizen Kane” that 80 years later are still held up as some of the greatest movies of all time?
Brian Raftery, author of the new book “Best. Movie. Year. Ever.: How 1999 Blew Up the Big Screen” makes a case for a different year: 1999.
From the revolutionary effects of “The Matrix” to the surprise success of “The Blair Witch Project”, “Best. Movie. Year. Ever.” shows just how much the movies from 1999 have forever impacted the landscape of cinema.
Brian joins guest host Steven Cuevas and our FilmWeek critics to discuss what makes 1999 “the most groundbreaking year in cinematic history” and why movies like The Sixth Sense, Notting Hill and Office Space remain so iconic and quotable 20 years later.
With guest host Steven Cuevas
Guests:
Brian Raftery, author of the book, “Best. Movie. Year. Ever.: How 1999 Blew Up the Big Screen” (Simon & Schuster, 2019); he tweets
Amy Nicholson, film critic for KPCC, film writer for The Guardian and host of the podcasts ‘Unspooled’ and the podcast miniseries “Zoom”; she tweets
Charles Solomon, film critic for KPCC, Animation Scoop and Animation Magazine
Wade Major, film critic for KPCC and CineGods.com