Ask Questions Later

WHAT BEGAN AS A HAIL OF GUNFIRE NEAR A NEW York City subway continues as a war of words over police training and attitudes. Two white transit cops sprayed 21 shots at a man in a dispute they deemed dangerous -- only to find the man was a black plainclothes officer, Derwin Pannell. The white officers involved claim Pannell had his gun drawn (he was stopping a fare beater). He says his weapon was holstered and he was startled when his colleagues fired at him from point-blank range. Partially paralyzed, he is suing the city for $70 million.

Central to the dispute, in addition to concerns over training, is the question of racism -- not so much race hatred as the revealing assumption on the part of white officers that in a violent situation, an unidentified black man is a dangerous criminal. It doesn't help that a similar situation took place in Nashville in December, when two white officers were dismissed for allegedly beating a black undercover cop; the two are appealing their ouster.