Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons/Noticeboard/Archive268

Shooting of Stephon Clark

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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Stephon Clark was recently shot and killed by police in Sacramento, while unarmed and hiding in his grandmother's backyard. The press has reported that he had past criminal convictions.

In our article on his death, I had added Clark's convictions in a manner that I hoped would not lead or prejudice readers, but would nevertheless make the information available. Those convictions have been removed [1] as a "SYNTH impression... BLP smear." The editor who removed them, SPECIFICO, has asked that we take the issue to BLPN. So here we are: advice is appreciated.

Also pinging @GreenMeansGo, Darkstar1st, and MelanieN: they're participating in the conversation or have helped at the article as well. -Darouet (talk) 15:25, 30 March 2018 (UTC)

The article title is "Shooting of Stephon Clark," not "everything we can dig up about Stephon Clark, a nonnotable private individual who was shot while holding a cellphone." I agree with SPECIFICO that adding unflattering material just to "make the information available" is wrong here. 16:11, 4 April 2018 (UTC)— Preceding unsigned comment added by HouseOfChange (talk • contribs) (Sorry I forgot to sign my comment.)HouseOfChange (talk) 16:34, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

HouseOfChange—you say The article title is "Shooting of Stephon Clark," not "everything we can dig up about Stephon Clark, a nonnotable private individual who was shot while holding a cellphone." The article is not solely about the shooting of Stephon Clark. The article is about the events subsequent to the shooting of Stephon Clark. Were it not for the events subsequent to the shooting of Stephon Clark there would probably not be an article. In those events subsequent to the shooting of Stephon Clark there is discussion of the criminal history of Stephon Clark. Why would we omit that criminal history? Bus stop (talk) 17:56, 6 April 2018 (UTC)

The article is about the shooting. Unless his past convictions are somehow involved with the shooting, which I can't imagine they are, they should be excluded as irrelevant. Seraphimblade ^{Talk to me} 16:21, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

Seraphimblade—you say the article is about the shooting. The article is not solely about the shooting. The article is about events subsequent to the shooting. In events subsequent to the shooting, the criminal history of Stephon Clark is discussed. Why would we omit that criminal history from this article? Bus stop (talk) 18:02, 6 April 2018 (UTC)

@HouseOfChange:@Seraphimblade:Thanks for taking a look. I hope you will join the efforts at the article and talk page if you are so inclined. @MelanieN: SPECIFICO talk 16:25, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

Seraphimblade, he was shot evading arrest for a crime he is suspected of committing while on probation for the same crime. are you suggesting this is unrelated to this death? Darkstar1st (talk) 17:28, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

Considering the police had no idea of this when they shot him, yes, it's unrelated. --SarekOfVulcan (talk) 17:31, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

Right now, the text of the biographical section of the article looks like this:

Stephon Clark (born Stephen Clark) was a graduate of Sacramento High School. He was the father of two sons, ages 1 and 3. At the time of his death, Clark was 22 years old. His brother, Stevante Clark, told KOVR that he and Stephon had come from "underprivileged, broken homes”. A 16-year-old brother was killed in a shooting in 2006. Stevante Clark said Stephon had been released from county jail about a month before the shooting and had been staying with his grandparents on and off, adding "He was arrested before, but he's been different lately. He really changed his life." Sacramento County court records show that Clark had a history of convictions for robbery, domestic abuse, and a prostitution-related offense. At the time of his death he was on probation for a 2014 robbery conviction.

On the article talk page, it was agreed that the convictions should be mentioned in the this article due to their discussion in many, if not most, newspaper articles published on the shooting. Plus, wikipedia articles on similar shootings tend to mention prior convictions as well. Currently, there is a discussion on the talk page about whether to add a sentence to this section quoting or paraphrasing one or more activists who state that his convictions could not have contributed to his shooting due to the fact that the officers who killed him were at the time unaware of whether he had committed any crimes before. Red Rock Canyon (talk) 17:36, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

It was most certainly not agreed, "baselessly bludgeoned" would be more apt. But the key point is that the article talk page is a separate venue and this page is for independent review. SPECIFICO talk 17:42, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

• The information included is relevant to the subject because sources writing on the subject thought they were reliable to write about. We don't make unilateral sweeping editorial decisions about what is or is not relevant. We look at the sources, and mirror what they do. What's currently in the article has been discussed at length on the article talk page, and there is a single editor who does not agree, and has bludgeoned the talk page there with nearly 100 comments over the past few days. Those here are welcome to join in the ongoing discussion there. GMG^talk 17:54, 4 April 2018 (UTC)
• Respectfully, I think there are multiple sense of "relevant" being used here by various editors. IMO it is pretty clear that although criminal history (like a history of complaints against the officers) is not relevant to anybody's legal culpability, and did not impact the officers' decision-making, nonetheless it is relevant to a straightforward description of what happened and who was involved. N.B., it is an article about a shooting that has BLP implications, not a biographical article that mentions a shooting. Factchecker_atyourservice 18:12, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

• Well actually, since the article is about actions of the officers' and how they exercised their official roles, there is some (not all) history of the officers that would be relevant in the strong sense. SPECIFICO talk 18:15, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

SPECIFICO—you say the article is about actions of the officers. The article is not solely about the "actions of the officers". This is an article about events subsequent to the shooting of Stephon Clark. In those events there is discussion of the criminal history of Stephon Clark. Why should this article omit the criminal history of Stephon Clark given that the criminal history of Stephon Clark is discussed in events subsequent to the shooting of Stephon Clark? Bus stop (talk) 18:12, 6 April 2018 (UTC)

There's one source about a conspiracy theory that draws on mentions of Mr. Clark's arrest record. If that conspiracy theory gets wide coverage, we could add a section about it. There's no RS that relates the events or actions of the officers to the killing. SPECIFICO talk 18:27, 6 April 2018 (UTC)

SPECIFICO—you say "There's no RS that relates the events or actions of the officers to the killing." This article is not solely about the actions of the officers at the time of the deadly encounter. This article is also about events that took place subsequent to the shooting. Those events included discussions in which the previous run-ins with the law were raised. Bus stop (talk) 18:46, 6 April 2018 (UTC)

• As he was convicted there is no BLP issue in mentioning his conviction. We do not censor information (widely covered that is) - and we let the reader do what they may with it.Icewhiz (talk) 19:07, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

• Yes there certainly is a BLP violation, if the mention is undue and used only to insinuate the SYNTH suggestion that his priors were related to his killing. And I note that at least 2 editors in this thread appear to believe that, even without providing any RS that states it. SPECIFICO talk 18:44, 6 April 2018 (UTC)

• SPECIFICO—you say "Yes there certainly is a BLP violation, if the mention is undue and used only to insinuate the SYNTH suggestion that his priors were related to his killing." This article is not solely about the shooting of Stephon Clark. This article is also about the protests and social unrest and heated discussions subsequent to the shooting of Stephon Clark. Subsequent to the shooting, the Clark family's attorney referenced Stephon Clark's prior run-ins with the law. Subsequent to the shooting Betty Williams, president of the local chapter of the NAACP, referenced Stephon Clark's prior run-ins with the law. Other community leaders as well as Clark's family have referenced Stephon Clark's prior run-ins with the law. In each instance the point made was that prior run-ins with the law do not excuse the use of deadly force. But how is the reader of this article to know this aspect of the discussion, subsequent to the shooting, if we totally omit it from the article? Bus stop (talk) 01:53, 7 April 2018 (UTC)

• The distinction has been explained to you roughly half a dozen times here and at the article talk, so I'm not going to repeat. SPECIFICO talk 03:23, 7 April 2018 (UTC)

• As the convictions were unrelated to the shooting (topic of the article), it is WP:COATRACK to add the material, although apparently Fox News is using this info to discredit the victim. Let's be Wikipedia, not Fox News. HouseOfChange (talk) 19:16, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

HouseOfChange—you say the convictions were unrelated to the shooting (topic of the article) but of course the topic of the article is not solely the shooting. I think this is the crux of the problem. When we are writing an article including a larger event we should be including details pertinent to that larger event. And as concerns that larger event, there is certainly discussion of Stephon Clark's criminal history. Bus stop (talk) 18:32, 6 April 2018 (UTC)

• It would seem whether this was or was not related to the shooting and his activities prior to being shot is in dispute - hence the corrrect thing to do is to mention the facts, without editorializing.Icewhiz (talk) 20:14, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

• Please cite a reliable source saying that it is in dispute whether the prior convictions are relevant. All sources I have seen say they were not relevant, because the police did not know his identity when they shot him.HouseOfChange (talk) 20:51, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

• All the sources I see state the police did not know who they shot. Unless his criminal convictions are related to the shooting in some way, it seems quite coatracky. Only in death does duty end (talk) 21:41, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

Folks, Coatrack is a policy that refers to ancillary material becoming the dominant focus of an article. It has no bearing. The criminal history is widely reported, so the suggestion it is a Fox news thing is also just wrong. Additionally, the suggestion that including the material would be an effort to "discredit" the victim is offensive and uncalled for.

Some community leaders insisted Clark's criminal history wasn't "relevant" but if that were true in a literal sense, it wouldn't be in so many major news reports. Factchecker_atyourservice 21:55, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

Please cite some RS that say his convictions were relevant to the shooting, which is the subject of this article. Or even some RS that say there is a dispute whether his convictions were or were not relevant to the shooting. HouseOfChange (talk) 22:04, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

What a ridiculous suggestion! Sources don't make list of facts and say "X is relevant and Y is relevant and Z is relevant", they just talk about the relevant stuff. Factchecker_atyourservice 22:23, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

What the above said. Also the article is about the shooting. It is not a biography of the subject of the shooting. If it was a biography, their criminal convictions would likely be relevant (see BLP) if their criminal convictions were relevant to the shooting (eg, someone with a conviction for armed robbery being shot while carrying a gun and pointing it at a store owner) - otherwise including their previous conviction smells like a coatrack to make the story about the victim of a crime in much the same way FOX news likes to portray black victims as criminals. Since we are *not* FOX news, I see no need to follow their base tactics. Only in death does duty end (talk) 22:22, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

The entirety of your comment is an insult that has nothing to do with what anyone is discussing. Nobody is trying to cite Fox, engage in "base tactics" or "portray black victims as criminals". Factchecker_atyourservice 01:04, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

• (edit conflict) I am still of the opinion that past criminal convictions should be kept to a minimum (see my comments on the article's talk page). Mentioning he had some would be acceptable, but a laundry list of them would not be. The primary topic of the article is the shooting, so much more beyond basic biographical info would be coatracking imho. To Factchecker atyourservice's comments above, relevance to an encyclopedia reader is not the same as relevance to an newspaper reader. We do not engage in yellow journalism or human interest stories. EvergreenFir (talk) 22:05, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

The only part of NOTNEWS that could conceivably lend support for excluding criminal history is "Wikipedia is also not written in news style." Are you suggesting WP articles about police shootings should avoid answering the five W's (who, what, when, where, why) with respect to the incident?

Your reference to yellow journalism cannot be taken seriously. Go read the WP article. And again, it is uncivil to attempt to smear editors in this way. Factchecker_atyourservice 22:20, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

I've made no attempt to smear editors. And in terms of the shooting, we can answer the 5 Ws just fine without discussing his criminal record in detail. Just as I think we should remove the fluff statements from the family, we should remove the criminal record stuff. We was not shot in pursuit of an arrest warrant or anything related to those past events. EvergreenFir (talk) 22:28, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

Do you see how applying the label "yellow journalism" to non-yellow-journalism material that is widely reported in mainstream papers has the effect of raising a false yet still insulting accusation of yellow journalism against the editors who advocate for its inclusion? Factchecker_atyourservice 22:32, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

Evergreen Fir makes a valid point *(not necessarily the "yellow" part)🎶 -- The weight, tone, and content of an encyclopedia article is very often not the same as daily coverage in e.g. the LA Times. I have made this point repeatedly on the article talk page, only to get hooted down with disparagement, name-calling, etc. but the fact remains: WP articles are about narrowly specific, defined and bounded topics. Undue personal detail -- particularly with a negative slant -- is not appropriate, regardless of whether daily news media include it for background, human interest, gossip, or any other good or bad reason. Moreover, the WP editors who so doggedly insist on including this stuff didn't even take the time to include the sort of neutral personal information we find in the articles about other killings -- family, hobbies, interests, neighborhood environment, etc. I have now added some of that information to the article while removing overbalanced POV stuff about the details of his arrest record. SPECIFICO talk 22:33, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

I think it is quite obvious that past run-ins with the law should be included in the article. The article is about the confluence of conditions that find expression in the lives of the people involved. The protesters are not just protesting the unjustified killing of an unarmed man. The protesters also cite the blighted neighborhood, the absence of job prospects in the area, and what they at least perceive as bad policing tactics, that commonly result in the mistreatment disproportionately of poorer people and people of color. If these possible injustices of a wider nature are to be addressed, how can we possibly omit a whole realm of facts from a Wikipedia article ostensibly addressing the subject area? We would be writing a fairy tale. An important principle at Wikipedia is that we follow the precedent set by the best of sources. We don't strike out on our own path in departure from the practices found at the best quality sources, which in this case are journalistic outlets. I don't think any Wikipedia editor is trying to discredit Clark and I would be distancing myself from any editor that I felt was doing that. Bus stop (talk) 23:32, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

For starters, perhaps you could respond to the concerns that @EvergreenFir: and I have raised -- concerns that invalidate your "just the facts, ma'am" approach. SPECIFICO talk 00:06, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

For starters I've responded to your complaint about my above post at the Talk page of MelanieN. Bus stop (talk) 00:39, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

There is no such thing as "undue personal detail", nor "unduly negative" personal detail. Nor does COAT apply to any of this. You folks are just making stuff up. Factchecker_atyourservice 01:02, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

No such thing as undue personal detail? Surely you jest. We do not include every sordid detail in biographies (please refer to WP:BLP and WP:DUE). It is disingenuous to claim editors are making stuff up in order to dismiss the multiple editors who clearly disagree with you. EvergreenFir (talk) 03:30, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

Correct, no such thing. There is a policy on UNDUE WEIGHT which refers to how prominently specific arguments and factual observations are featured in RS's, but it has absolutely zero to do with how personal the detail is or whether it reflects negatively on the article subject. And again, WP:COAT has no application here because it is a policy that prohibits ancillary details from becoming the dominant focus of an article, not a policy that prohibits negative details about a BLP subject. The arguments you're trying to make fall under the "encyclopedic or not" heading, not the "due or undue" heading. And of course the details of criminal convictions are encyclopedic. Factchecker_atyourservice 04:41, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

Huh, I must have missed part where we include negative personal details indiscriminately. Or how COATRACK doesn't apply here. EvergreenFir (talk) 05:21, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

WP:COATRACK is clearly not applicable here. "A coatrack article is a Wikipedia article that ostensibly discusses its nominal subject, but instead focuses on another subject entirely." Clearly not applicable. Your other link is to WP:AVOIDVICTIM. This is not a biography. This is an article on an event. The subsequent protests catapult a shooting death into social unrest. There are many problems that are addressed by the protests that are subsequent to the shooting death: high crime, poverty, police abuse, few job prospects. How can we write about this while whitewashing the life of the person who was shot? The shooting did not take place in a vacuum. The Los Angeles Times can be depended upon to be just as forthcoming with any information of a negative nature pertaining to the policemen and you can bet that we will be including every salacious detail on the policemen in our article if information of that nature should come to light. This is an article about an inherently gritty subject. You can't omit crucial details. We should be following the precedent set by for instance the Los Angeles Times. Bus stop (talk) 08:37, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

@Bus stop: - "This is not a biography" ... but BLP applies everywhere including this article. So this is still falls under WP:AVOIDVICTIM and related BLP issues. Also, I linked to the Balance section of BLP, not to COATRACK directly. We do not include tabloid details in articles. I still fail to see how past crime is related to the shooting event. EvergreenFir (talk) 14:23, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

@SPECIFICO: RE the WP editors who so doggedly insist on including this stuff didn't even take the time to include the sort of neutral personal information we find in the articles about other killings --family, hobbies, interests, neighborhood environment, etc ., that is both insulting and untrue. The consensus paragraph I added DID include information about his family and his neighborhood environment. We had earlier chosen not to include puffery like “devoted father” and “enjoyed football and video games,” which you just added; what happened to “liked shoes” and “liked to make people smile” which were far more widely reported? And now you have taken it upon yourself to remove the sentence about his previous convictions. Discussion at the article talk page will decide whether to restore it. --MelanieN (talk) 01:26, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

Personal attacks and flogging are welcome on my talk page, not on point here. I hope you're not suggesting that the article talk page overrides BLP/N. SPECIFICO talk 02:14, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

SPECIFICO—nobody suggested that the article talk page overrides BLP/N. Bus stop (talk) 02:45, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

• Um, "Discussion at the article talk page will decide whether to restore it" SPECIFICO talk 03:14, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

• The main problem is that this is so entirely wrongheaded vis-a-vis the social unrest that makes this not an obscure shooting that fades with the day's news. The social unrest and the protests precipitated by the shooting of Clark are ultimately grounded in reality—not in fiction and not in the omission of relevant information. If you want to write an article about the real shooting of Stephon Clark you have to address the situation as it actually exists. Some editors here probably think they are doing the memory of Stephon Clark a favor by suppressing the negative. But it is is in a negative environment that something like this takes place. What we are really doing by omitting previous run-ins with the law is tantamount to sweeping a problem under the rug. BLP violation is bogus. The Los Angeles Times is not a racist publication and it doesn't want to disparage the individual. No one said it aimed to do anything like that. But the argument is made that our purpose is different from that of a news article. Yes, it is slightly different. But in general we are required to adhere to their precedents. Bus stop (talk) 02:01, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

• SPECIFICO—what happened to your argument based on WP:Synthesis? Have you dropped that argument in favor of an argument appealing to WP:COATRACK? It is no secret that policies and guidelines can be misused. "A coatrack article is a Wikipedia article that ostensibly discusses its nominal subject, but instead focuses on another subject entirely." Clearly this is inapplicable to the question we are addressing. Its inapplicability is approximately equal to the inapplicability of your argument based on WP:Synthesis. Bus stop (talk) 08:06, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

• SPECIFICO—you mention at User talk:Bus stop#BLP/N Stephon Clark that you "have not mentioned WP:COATRACK anywhere". This is my error and I stand corrected. I have crossed out my offending post, above. Bus stop (talk) 17:38, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

According to Wikipedia policy, Stephon Clark is covered by WP:BLP, because his death is so recent. Wikipedia:Biographies_of_living_persons#Recently_dead_or_probably_dead HouseOfChange (talk) 05:59, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

• And the police officers that shot him are BLPs too. That they shot a man with previous convictions, escaping them after he aroused suspicions is clearly relevant. Whether they knew of his priors or not has little bearing to this being relevant - it is widely in the media, and will surely be brought up in any legal case.Icewhiz (talk) 06:21, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

• As will the fact that there's no reason they would have known this at the time, and the fact that they were not in any fear of their lives, and the fact that this was a ridiculous escalation from a trivial crime, and all of these things will, as usual, be ignored, and the police will, as usual, walk away without consequences, because in a country where summary execution for Driving While Black is perfectly fine, there is pretty much nothing that can be done about blue on black violence. Guy (Help!) 08:59, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

• I am sure there is commentary to that effect that may be inserted into the article. The police were out there searching for a burglary suspect. Per the copious coverage of Clark's priors in conjunction with the shooting it seems RSes think it relevant to mention that the fleeing suspect had prior convictions that included robbery.Icewhiz (talk) 11:26, 5 April 2018 (UTC)
• Guy, that is not helpful and frankly comes across as totally zenophobic. Police may have and may not have overreacted here and of course this death is very saddening, but the police are given many cues as to what they are dealing with by dispatch, so they can make a risk assessment, one of which is not, "he's a young black man, blow him away". Maybe actually reading the news reports would be helpful rather than make a blanket zenophobic slander like some BBC talking head. "two felony counts of domestic abuse, to which Clark – who preferred to go by the name Stephon – pleaded guilty and agreed to complete a treatment program. The court record also shows a 2008 robbery charge, and charges in 2013 for possession of a firearm and possession of a controlled substance"[2] when police get that info, they know they are dealing with someone with many priors, so when the guy refuses to stop for the police when ordered, but instead runs, the police go into the situation knowing then from dispatch that this suspect has a history of violence and criminal behavior and based on the fact he was just seen breaking into an occupied home, they had every reason to believe he was a threat, I mean, who the fuck wouldn't? Maybe Superman wouldn't...or Batman? If the police are guilty then I hope and pray they get a life sentence, and if not, then their careers are likely ruined anyway, for doing their jobs.--MONGO 13:32, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

• @MONGO:, they got steered in by a helicopter. At the time they shot him, they had no idea who he was - just some guy running around breaking windows was all they had to go on. --SarekOfVulcan (talk) 13:38, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

• If the media follows the story we will find out eventually...maybe. But the media doesn't want the truth...they just want to fill the narrative of "unarmed black man killed by police", cause that's what provokes anger and incites moral outrage. What is omitted is the SOP of these sorts of events, not unexpectedly.--MONGO 14:05, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

• This is going into conspiracy theory area. Responding officers do not get info about every person that lives nearby prior to going on a arrest/manhunt for a specific target (which we know wasn't Clark). We can't work anywhere close to the assumption that the dispatched officers knew Clark's priors at the time they approached him. --Masem (t) 14:14, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

• I always did. Perhaps they did not get every detail, every past charge or conviction, but "matches the description of" is routine. The dispatch record of the shooting is available already and the finer details of what the officers may have been enlightened of may also be released.--MONGO 14:55, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

• They had the description of the perp that they were assigned to go after, but no name. Clark matched the description. There is no way they knew of Clark's priors at all. --Masem (t) 15:22, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

@JzG: "the fact that they were not in any fear of their lives" is about as close to flatly contradicted by all RS's as we would ever find in a case like this. What are you on about? Factchecker_atyourservice 17:55, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

• I agree with what EvergreenFir said above, I think they should be briefly mentioned, but we don't need a full run-down. A key fact here is that just as the cops did not know who Clark was prior to trying to arrest him, Clark did not know why the cops were approaching him. Clark's reaction at the appearance of cops suggests a reason to be wary of why he was being approached; having past criminal history implies a good reason (we can't directly say it, obviously). We don't want to make Clark looking like a lifetime criminal, so going into full detail of past convinctions which otherwise have no bearing on the story is not necessary, but to not mention that he had some makes the cops' reaction seem more unnecessary. All that needs is something like "Clark had prior criminal history of robbery, domestic abuse, and a prostitution-related offense, and was currently on probation after being released from prison a month prior." Neither overly degrading, but still addresses this Clark had had run-ins with police before, thus explaining implicitly why he likely ran. --Masem (t) 13:44, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

• Just want to say that I agree with the above: "We don't want to make Clark looking like a lifetime criminal, so going into full detail of past convictions which otherwise have no bearing on the story is not necessary, but to not mention that he had some makes the cops' reaction seem more unnecessary. All that needs is something like "Clark had prior criminal history of robbery, domestic abuse, and a prostitution-related offense, and was currently on probation after being released from prison a month prior." Neither overly degrading, but still addresses that Clark had had run-ins with police before, thus explaining implicitly why he likely ran." This is a well-balanced approach, in my opinion. Bus stop (talk) 15:10, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

• Wikipedia policy for BLP is quite clear that defamatory material unrelated to the topic of the article should be excluded. Your guess that he ran because of his criminal record is WP:OR. Please cite a Wikipedia policy that should in this case override WP:BLP. HouseOfChange (talk) 16:41, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

• There's no question he had a criminal history (not just small civil crimes like speeding or jaywalking). Noting that, given plenty of RSes that make its mention, is not defamatory. Going into detail of every prior crime, however, is. We don't want to shine a huge light on the criminal past, only noted that it existed, which does make it related to the matter at hand, to understand he was on probation a month out from prison release. --Masem (t) 17:01, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

• (after edit conflict) Misuse of policies and guidelines is a problem, HouseOfChange. You imply that the material in question is unrelated to to the topic of the article, but the article is about social unrest encompassing a range of problems, one of which is the shooting death of a man. You point out that "he ran because of his criminal record is WP:OR", which would be the case if stated in article space, but I contend that it is not original research when stated on this notice-board/Talk page; it is merely an unsupported statement. I am not sure who you are responding to, but I have chosen to respond to your post. If you are responding to Masem, you might consider addressing them by name. Bus stop (talk) 17:07, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

HouseOfChange—I regret my tone of voice. Striking my comment. Bus stop (talk) 00:32, 6 April 2018 (UTC)

• Agreed that only the basics on past history are needed.--MONGO 18:04, 5 April 2018 (UTC)
• Ditto. Here's some sourcing. As is often the case a local paper has some of the best coverage on the issues we're talking about: Clark's criminal record and the officers' decision-making process. It has the most detail about Clark pleading no contest to various charges, as well as details of the incidents themselves, and reaction quotes from policing experts and an account of why officers shot, e.g.

Police said officers "gave the suspect commands to stop and show his hands," but that he "immediately fled from the officers and ran towards the back of the home." It was there that police said they pursued Clark and where he "turned and advanced towards the officers while holding an object which was extended in front of him." Police said officers believed the object was a gun and fired, "fearing for their safety." No gun was found at the scene. Police later said that object was a cellphone. It was found near Clark's body and taken into evidence.

Factchecker_atyourservice 18:14, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

References

As one editor has pointed out, members of the press have used his convictions to disparage Clark. As mentioned in that link, Clark’s attorney has directly addressed this tactic, and has asserted that this shouldn’t matter. An official from the NAACP has addressed the disparagment of Clark based on his record. His family has addressed it. The LA Times gives eight paragraphs to the subject of his arrest record , and includes mention of how “Community leaders” discuss it’s immateriality, and also includes a quote by an NAACP leader also addressing her assertion the arrests do not matter.

The mention of Clark’s arrest record by members of the press and the public at large have become part of the events surrounding the shooting, and are in that way similar to the events detailed in the “Responses” section currently in the article. The use of his record to disparage him has become part of the story, and is a “Response” to the shooting.

Wikipedia should provide the interested reader with the information required to intelligently discuss the topic for which they come to us. In this case, were a hypothetical user tasked with getting up to speed on the shooting and the events surrounding it, if they came to our encyclopedia, they would be left with a significant hole in their knowledge pertaining to the reaction to the Clarke shooting. They would be unaware that his arrest record is being used to disparage him by those who seek to denigrate him. They would be unaware that “community leaders” have addressed the use of his arrest record to smear him. They would be unaware that the NAACP has addressed the tactic of using his arrest record against him. They would be unaware that Clark’s attorney has addressed that tactic. That is part of the story, and part of the events surrounding the shooting. We would therefore be requiring readers wishing to truly learn about a topic to not rely on Wikipedia, but requiring them go elsewhere because Wikipedia does not include details of the story, and Wikipedia withholds information surrounding events which are being discussed by mainstream news sources and the public at large, based not WHETHER a fact is part of the public debate as reported by sources, but whether or not it SHOULD be part of the public debate. We would be serving not as neutral purveyors of sourced fact, but as gatekeepers using our point of view to exclude fact.s

That his arrest record is being used in the public debate is a sourced fact. It is not within our purview and mission as an encyclopedia to censor the facts of this debate because we may personally believe it is a debating tactic of scoundrels and personally believe it is irrelevant. News sources and individuals involved in the public response DO feel it is relevant, and have used it as part of their "response" to the shooting. These are facts as reported by reliable sources, and makes it per se part of the events surrounding the shooting, and we should include it in proportion to the weight given to it by reliable sources. Marteau (talk) 18:45, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

You forgot to mention it's a legitimate matter of public interest to people who are not scumbags and who have no desire to disparage or smear Clark. Factchecker_atyourservice 19:09, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

It was only my intent to address the complaint of several editors that his record has nothing to do with the event of his shooting. Other reasons why it belongs in the article have been addressed by others and did not in my opinion require my input. Marteau (talk) 19:48, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

Yes. The question of whether his prior convictions played a role in the shooting is not a question we need to ask in making this decision (though I'd say it's pretty clear they didn't). The only question that matters is whether his prior convictions belong in an encyclopedia article about his shooting. Given that they are widely discussed in the press in the context of the shooting, to me it seems obvious that this information is relevant to the topic and should be mentioned. No policy prohibits the inclusion of this material, and the sources discussing the shooting cover it, so we should follow the sources. Red Rock Canyon (talk) 23:11, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

One more agreeing his record is relevant, whether it's to reasons the police fired, or reasons Clark ran, or merely that it was widely covered in the aftermath. We do want to give context (do any reliable sources definitively state the police did or did not know?), and we don't want to go too deeply into it, but a sentence or three seems called for. --GRuban (talk) 22:33, 6 April 2018 (UTC)

GRuban—I don't know how widely it was covered in the aftermath. I think this is an understandably sensitive topic as no one wants to tarnish the image of the deceased. But I believe that members of the community, a local representative of the NAACP, and the family's lawyer, have pointed out that the prior criminal record played no role in the shooting, and I believe that their reason given is that the police who shot him were not aware of his past run-ins with the law at the time of the shooting. See Talk:Shooting of Stephon Clark#Proposed wording for the "Stephon Clark" section of the article. Also, Marteau addresses this above at 18:45, 5 April 2018 (UTC). Bus stop (talk) 23:16, 6 April 2018 (UTC)

I see claims that his criminal record should be in the article because it was widely-discussed in aftermath of the shooting. Could somebody add some links to WP:RS that are discussing it in relation to the shooting or its aftermath? New York Times, New Yorker and others covering this in depth don't include even a mention, let alone a discussion. HouseOfChange (talk) 02:45, 7 April 2018 (UTC)

I included three. It's at the top of the nesting you just replied to. Marteau (talk) 05:49, 7 April 2018 (UTC)

Links to sources can also be found on the article Talk page under the section heading Proposed wording for the "Stephon Clark. Bus stop (talk) 06:32, 7 April 2018 (UTC)

For convenience here are some links to reliable sources which discuss past arrests and convictions: [3],[4],[5],[6],[7]. It's included in multiple articles which cover the shooting, so seems it should be included in the article. Also, if we mention that Clark had a criminal record, seems we should specify and not leave the readers guessing what this record involves when the sources specify, but seems the specifics could be added to a footnote instead of article text, if there are concerns regarding this turning into a laundry list.--DynaGirl (talk) 14:40, 7 April 2018 (UTC)

• Comment (moved from the section below) We used to have this sentence in the article: “County court records show that between 2014–2016, Clark pleaded no contest to several charges including robbery, domestic abuse, and a prostitution-related offense.”, with reference. Discussion at the article's talk page favored including it. Right now it is being kept out of the article pending the outcome of this discussion. The article still does say that he had been recently released from county jail; that according to his brother he had “really changed his life” since his prior offenses; and that multiple community leaders stated that his criminal record was immaterial to his death. Those things make no sense without any information about about his convictions. For comparison, in articles about similar shootings such as Shooting of Philando Castile, Shooting of Oscar Grant, and Shooting of Walter Scott, information about a prior record is included, although none of them had as lengthy or serious a record as this subject. Presumably those other articles, some of them longstanding, had consensus and were regarded as being in compliance with BLP criteria. After all, well sourced negative information is SUPPOSED to be included in BLPs. If people prefer, we could just say that he had some previous convictions, with the detailed charges in a footnote. But right now we have nothing, pending a conclusion here. --MelanieN (talk) 20:40, 8 April 2018 (UTC)

• replyI think it's a big can of worms to declare 3 articles chosen out of dozens or hundreds of killings articles as precedent that might override to circumstances and applications of policy as they relate to this article.WP:IAPD. SPECIFICO talk 21:40, 8 April 2018 (UTC)

• BLP policy is not like policy against original research. We can exercise judgement. WP:V is a nonnegotiable policy. Bus stop (talk) 22:12, 8 April 2018 (UTC)

• Per WP:BLPCRIME - this is not a BLP issue. The subject here was convicted in a court of law - there is no BLP(BDP) issue in mentioning that. the argument for exclusion here is based on non-BLP grounds.Icewhiz (talk) 11:09, 9 April 2018 (UTC)

WP:AVOIDVICTIM SPECIFICO talk 17:04, 9 April 2018 (UTC)

• WP:BLPCRIME is pretty clear that it is not a BLP violation to write that someone has been convicted of a crime. If it is inappropriate to write he was convicted of prior crimes, it is also inappropriate to include any other personal information about him. The argument above is that the officers were not aware of his prior convictions. Then they surely were also not aware he was 22 years old, that he lived in a tough neighborhood, and that he came from a broken neighborhood. If the article is about the shooting, don't include any personal information about Clark. If editors want a section with some sentences about Clark, then his prior convictions are just as applicable as him coming from a tough neighborhood. Mr Ernie (talk) 14:25, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

WP:AVOIDVICTIM Thanks, Ernie. SPECIFICO talk 15:00, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

You're not addressing the problem, SPECIFICO. What does one do when two aims conflict with one another? How do you explicate an American social phenomenon when one element within that phenomenon constitutes a BLP concern? The very existence of this article is dependent on developments subsequent to the shooting which merely serves as a convenient title for this article. In this context BLP is merely a technical concern preventing us from completely addressing the actual subject of this article. The actual concerns of this article include poverty, unemployment, the structure of the family, crime, and police interaction with civilians. Bus stop (talk) 15:29, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

Every time you repeat this basic misunderstanding of WP core policy you put another nail in the coffin of such article content. It's shut down pretty darn tight now with 20+ rivets. SPECIFICO talk 15:43, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

It may be heresy but I don't think BLP is core policy. Core policy is WP:5P. That includes WP:NPOV. The article presently states in his brother's voice "He was arrested before, but he's been different lately. He really changed his life." Really? Sources are telling us that he was likely engaged in criminal activity on the evening of the fatal encounter. Core policy includes WP:5P5: Wikipedia has no firm rules. Wikipedia has policies and guidelines, but they are not carved in stone. And that "sometimes improving Wikipedia requires making exceptions." It would be a good idea if you actually addressed the conflicting aims of an article on a two-week, far-ranging American social phenomenon, and an article focussed solely on a shooting in which the prior criminal history of the person shot bore no relevance to his being shot. That, believe it or not, is what we are discussing. Bus stop (talk) 16:13, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

BLP was mandated by Foundation. It is 100% canonical. Guy (Help!) 13:08, 12 April 2018 (UTC)

JzG—I think we need to weigh the interaction of one aspect of policy with another. NPOV is also involved here and it is also an important policy. Bus stop (talk) 13:35, 12 April 2018 (UTC)

Not really, no. BLP mandates NPOV, but this is not an NPOV issue, there is no problem omitting irrelevant and discreditable details about living people. We do it all the time. Guy (Help!) 14:08, 12 April 2018 (UTC)

We do it all the time when the sole focus of the article is the incident containing the BLP violation. This article is not about a span of time from the placing of a 9-1-1 call and a shooting. There were ample instances subsequent to that shooting that allowed for the legitimate raising of the concerns pertaining to the criminal history. They are NPOV concerns because we should be including counterarguments as found in reliable sources to the prevailing arguments that the police are guilty of gross negligence. I am not taking a stance on that question. I am arguing for a full inclusion of arguments given. We are not here to give answers. But we are certainly here to provide information—and not to contrive to omit information. Bus stop (talk) 14:40, 12 April 2018 (UTC)

Can we get a summary or conclusion on this subject?

Can we please get a decision here about whether it is or is not appropriate to mention his police record? We used to have this sentence in the article: “County court records show that between 2014–2016, Clark pleaded no contest to several charges including robbery, domestic abuse, and a prostitution-related offense.”, with reference. Discussion at the article's talk page favored including it. Right now it is being kept out of the article pending the outcome of this discussion. The article still does say that he had been recently released from county jail; that according to his brother he had “really changed his life” since his prior offenses; and that multiple community leaders stated that his criminal record was immaterial to his death. Those things make no sense without any information about about his convictions. For comparison, in articles about similar shootings such as Shooting of Philando Castile, Shooting of Oscar Grant, and Shooting of Walter Scott, there is information about a prior record, although none of them had as lengthy or serious a record as this subject. If preferred, we could just say that he had some previous convictions with the details in a footnote - but right now we have nothing, pending a conclusion here. (Moving substantive comments to the main discussion if this is going to get hatted.) --MelanieN (talk) 02:13, 8 April 2018 (UTC)

Its probably going to need a formal RFC. If people cannot even agree on if it is a BLP issue or not, then generally erring should be on the side of caution. However I suspect that will not go down well. Only in death does duty end (talk) 04:02, 8 April 2018 (UTC)

I agree it's quite clear that once we leave the closed loop of the article talk page there is very substantial concern that this is a BLP violation, except as it is discussed by RS in the context of the so-far UNDUE conspiracy theory coverage that mentions Mr. Clark's history. And much of the advocacy for inclusion here is simply visitors from that article talk page that required this BLP/N visit. If there's renewed attempts to include it we will need at the least a formal thorough close to this thread and perhaps an RfC. Over the course of three weeks since the killing, there's been a lot of ongoing coverage of the event and its context and implications and conspicuously little about this personal and synth-prone personal profiling. SPECIFICO talk 15:51, 8 April 2018 (UTC)

SPECIFICO—can you argue in your own words why we should leave this information out of the article? Use your own words. Don't use policy. Of course, that's not how this project works. But would it be so terrible if we had a parallel conversation, one in which reference to policy were held in abeyance? Why do you think this information, in any form, should be kept out of this article? Bus stop (talk) 16:49, 8 April 2018 (UTC)

As I have detailed above, his record of arrests is a topic of discussion in the community itself, with his attorney, the NAACP and his family, addressing it, among others. The Sacramento Bee (Clark was shot in Sacramento, of course) just today gives four paragraphs to the subject of his arrests, without invoking any "conspiracy theories". I above have cited multiple sources in the mainstream press of his arrest record being a topic of discussions without invoking any conspiracy theories or synthesis. This does not require a formal closure, just a cessation of the by now tedious and spurious repetition that all mention whatsoever of his arrests is a "synthesis" or the furthering of conspiracy theories. Nothing in today's article in the Sacramento Bee invokes any such thing and reflecting theirs (and other sources) inclusion in a likewise manner in our article is in no way a BLP violation. Marteau (talk) 18:06, 8 April 2018 (UTC)

Per MelanieN I have requested a close at AN. I am going to hat this sub-thread. Any further substantive comments can go in the original stream above. I have requested close at AN here: Wikipedia:Administrators'_noticeboard/Requests_for_closure#Other_types_of_closing_requests SPECIFICO talk 18:12, 8 April 2018 (UTC)

(I have un-hatted.) Bus stop (talk) 19:03, 8 April 2018 (UTC)

The record of the prior arrests, and the high likelihood that he was committing the break-in type of crimes on the evening he was tragically and unjustifiably killed, are an irrefutable part of the two weeks of roiling and far ranging controversy—also involving poverty—that have gripped Sacramento and other cities. How does Wikipedia get to duck beneath BLP technicalities to omit what plenty of other sources of information include? Bus stop (talk) 19:14, 8 April 2018 (UTC)

The New York Times writes "On Tuesday, speakers cried as they described the poverty and increasing income inequality between wealthy parts of Sacramento and its poorer neighborhoods."[8] The two weeks of protest touched upon issues other than the police shooting. Writing a comprehensive article is in this instance at odds with hewing to BLP technicalities. Bus stop (talk) 20:04, 8 April 2018 (UTC)

And here it is being argued that I am "openly rejecting our WP:BLP policy". No, I am not. I do not concede there is a violation of BLP policy. It is a grey area. As in so many other things, it requires good judgement. Bus stop (talk) 20:37, 8 April 2018 (UTC)

I believe Bus Stop is arguing that the police officers who shot this unarmed man were somehow aware of this man's prior record, and that somehow a record of something involving prostitution was relevant to his being shot in the back a couple of times. In other words, no. Again we have the POV that the black victim had it coming and deserved to get shot. Sorry, I know, you were only suggesting that, not saying it explicitly, but we're all feeling you. Just don't use "tragically" if you don't believe it was a tragedy, that young man's and his family's tragedy. Drmies (talk) 01:59, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

Yeah let's not do that User:Drmies. There are sources that include his history in the context of the shooting. Let's not try to demonize good faith editors. Arkon (talk) 02:26, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

Oh please. Surely we don't dance like all others dance; they don't have a BLP like we do. "There are sources"...so what? We have a BLP and hopefully some common sense. As for demonizing--well, guess what it's called when you want to include negative and irrelevant information in article space. Drmies (talk) 02:29, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

My common sense says you're not adhering to policies governing content and instead attacking an editor. Yay you. Arkon (talk) 02:32, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

Oh, and my sides, "There are sources"...so what?", this ain't the place for you. Arkon (talk) 02:33, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

Pff. If you think that the BLP is satisfied the moment "there are sources", then you just don't get it. Drmies (talk) 02:44, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

If you think attacking editors that are arguing inclusion for content that is verifiable is able to be brushed away with your snide nonsense, well, again, you don't belong here. You are welcome to regale me with a limerick about some nonsense on my talk if you like, but stop your personal attacks on other editors here. Mind reading isn't your forte it appears, so keep that in check. Arkon (talk) 02:53, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

Then skip the snide nonsense and address the argument. If you can. If you have anything besides "there are sources". Otherwise, well you know. Drmies (talk) 02:55, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

Which argument would that be? Arkon (talk) 03:03, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

Drmies—Please don't put words in my mouth. You say I believe Bus Stop is arguing that the police officers who shot this unarmed man were somehow aware of this man's prior record. No. I am not saying anything remotely like that. No source says that. You say Again we have the POV that the black victim had it coming and deserved to get shot. Not only did I not express that but no one expressed that. You say you are feeling me. As concerns "feeling" me, I would say that it would be far preferable if you actually read what I write. Bus stop (talk) 02:49, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

Oh I read what you wrote, thanks, and I think that many PoC agree. But setting personality aside, if the record wasn't relevant to the shooting (as you seem to agree), it is not relevant in the article. We are not writing a "comprehensive biography" of the subject: we are writing a comprehensive article on the shooting. Thanks, Drmies (talk) 02:55, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

It's easy, what do RS's say? You've already readily dismissed that above, while disparaging others, how far down this hole are you? Arkon (talk) 03:10, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

I don't know what PoC means. Bus stop (talk) 03:18, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

People(persons) of color, but just another non sequitur. Arkon (talk) 03:22, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

I considered that but the next sentence reads "But setting personality aside..." How could "people of color" be a reference to a personality type? Bus stop (talk) 03:41, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

They may have been hitting the sauce? They haven't said much that's made sense here so can't help you there. Arkon (talk) 03:45, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

RSes are necessary but in themselves insufficient for the inclusion of any information in a Wikipedia article. The information in any article must pass WP:BLP, WP:NPOV, WP:WEIGHT, and WP:CONSENSUS to warrant inclusion. Regardless, Bus Stop admits that "No source says" that the police who shot Clark were aware of his prior record. If it cannot be demonstrated that RSes agree Clark's prior record played any rôle in the shooting, then the information cannot be demonstrated to be relevant to the topic of the article. It is a BLP issue as the inclusion of the information can bias readers—and is the most likely reason both for RSes to mention it and for WP editors to push for its inclusion. Curly "JFC" Turkey 🍁 ¡gobble! 03:34, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

Let me be clear personally on these points, everyone of the the WP:wordsoup's can be covered by what I've run into on this issue (besides the consensus one obviously, but that's not for here), but I don't have a preference on inclusion or not. I'm just sick of the the aspersions being thrown around at people who are obviously trying to do what's best for the project. It won't help this conversation, and it won't help the encyclopedia. BLP is satisfied on the RS point however, so again, talk page. Without the ABF above. Arkon (talk) 03:42, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

What do you mean by "BLP is satisfied on the RS point"? Curly "JFC" Turkey 🍁 ¡gobble! 03:50, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

I suppose I must ask the opposite question, there are (please don't make me look them up again, cause I really was just here to stop the PA's) RS's that present his previous issues in the context of the shooting. Which part of BLP does that violate? Arkon (talk) 03:53, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

BLP is about WP text. Not source text. SPECIFICO talk 04:08, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

Which should be hashed out on the talk page. Arkon (talk) 04:09, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

Arkon: I was asking what you meant by the statement, not questioning the validity of it (I can't question the validity of it until I understand what you meant). Curly "JFC" Turkey 🍁 ¡gobble! 05:46, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

Curly Turkey—the article isn't just about the shooting. If the article were just about the shooting it probably wouldn't exist. The article is also about all subsequent events. Many topics have been raised, most importantly including poverty, which as we know can lead to crime. No one wants to disparage the deceased. But the family was disadvantaged and the individual turned to crime and with a high probability was committing a crime on the evening he was shot. There is dialogue and discussion from many quarters on the particulars of this incident. And that dialogue—subsequent to the shooting is reliably sourced. This source is from yesterday. The Sacramento Bee isn't a racist publication. It mentions previous run-ins with the law because the readership wants to know the details. The inclusion of that information does not feed a point of view based on race. It is information for the sake of information. It answers the question of "what happened?" Our readership doesn't benefit from being kept in the dark. This is not just a straightforward WP:BLP. There is a need to provide the full picture of two weeks of oftentimes heated dialogue. The imperative of being informative overrides the negative aspersions cast on the deceased. The Sacramento Bee faces the same questions that we do and they include this information as do other good quality sources such as the Los Angeles Times. Bus stop (talk) 04:11, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

The press has different purposes and policies than Wikipedia—we're not reporting the news, we're not competing with other publications for readership, and our aim is to be balanced and comprehensive, not exhaustive. We're not keep the readership any more in the dark than denying them information about Clark's musical preferences, which the press might report in any amount of detail they like, but is not known to have played a rôle in the officers' decision to shoot him. Curly "JFC" Turkey 🍁 ¡gobble! 05:55, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

On review of what later press sources have said about the topic (eg NY Times on Mar 30) which cover the event without mentioning Clark's background, I think it is right to err on non-inclusion of his previous crimes at this point. The whole situation can be discussed without that. None of the articles that appear in the week that follow really focus on that, because the situation is more focused on how the cops approached him and mistoke what he had in his hands and then their apparently excessive response; it's less about Clark and more about these officers' actions. Including the material is not a wholesale violation of BLP, but BLP requests we defer anything potentially negative like this that is not instrumental to the core topic. I can see his history potentially coming up later should there be court action, but that's CRYSTALBALLing its inclusion at this time. --Masem (t) 06:11, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

The actual BLP issue, long term, is the police officers (and it doesn't require a BALL to see that the prior record will be raised in any future legal proceedings involving them) - and we should represent their position in a fair manner. The BDP issue of Clark is secondary (particularly as given BLPCRIME - mentioning convictions is not a BLP issue).Icewhiz (talk) 06:50, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

It needs to be stressed again: the officers had no idea who they were looking for or who the person they found when this happened, there is no way they would have known he had priors. Their reaction is based on how he reacted and what they took to be a weapon in the darkness, not because he was a known criminal. Taking on the BLP issues related to the officers, there's nothing that we gain in maintaining their BLP by including Clark's prior criminal history, since it is not connected to their actions. --Masem (t) 14:24, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

What makes you think you can disregard the fact, as is indicated only a few inches above here, that the issue is WP:AVOIDVICTIM and your blpcrime bit is meaningless? SPECIFICO talk 14:59, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

Certainly there are opinions to that effect which can be included carefully - though saying "no way" in Wikipedia's voice may be stretching possible on the ground inference. What we need to be careful of here - long term - in terms of BLP policy is framing this in a manner that suggests the officers were criminally culpable in some manner for the event - as long as they haven't been charged, let along convicted - that's the real BLP issue with the article. The shooting described in the article may be a crime, we describe an investigation into the shooting, yet no one has been tried let alone convicted, and per WP:BLPCRIME - For relatively unknown people, editors must seriously consider not including material—in any article—that suggests the person has committed, or is accused of having committed, a crime, unless a conviction has been secured. - which is relevant regarding the police officers.Icewhiz (talk) 14:34, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

With all due respect, all BLP issues are real BLP issues. Cheers. Dumuzid (talk) 14:40, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

I agree we shouldn't try to make Clark look like a saint here to make the cops' action seem wrong. Just as they couldn't know his priors, they couldn't know if he was a good citizen. Clearly, his family and those upset at the shooting are going to insist that he was a "good kid" and the like, as to try to argue their side, and that's likely going to be part of this article, but that should stay out of our description of Clark that is stated in a factual voice. --Masem (t) 14:44, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

• General comment: This would be a misapplication of BLP policy because this article isn't primarily a BLP. This article is about an approximately two-week period of American social introspection and unrest. Addressed on this American occasion are such diverse issues as poverty, job availability, the family, crime, and the interface of police and civilians. As concerns the purposes of the press versus the purposes of this project on the topic at hand, the purposes are virtually identical. There would not be an article on just the shooting. It would lack notability. We have this article because the shooting noted in the title of this article sparked a discussion that not only spanned two weeks but spanned the length and breadth of the country and spanned a range of topics. Naturally, many observations were made. Many participants weighed in with relevant points. It is myopic to think that because the criminal history of the suspect did not play a role in the shooting that therefore, based on BLP concerns, it must be excluded from the article. Crime is unavoidably a part of the problems that play into the much-needed American discussion that is the real subject of this article. Bus stop (talk) 14:18, 10 April 2018 (UTC)
  • BLP applies to all topics, not just articles that happen to deal with BLP (or recently-deceased). --Masem (t) 14:24, 10 April 2018 (UTC)
    • Masem—I actually regard the omission of this information as a distortion of this article. The article is about the social condition of America. It is not just about one shooting. Multiple instances of criminal activity increase the odds that police will kill a man. The sources are showing us that multiple instances of criminal activity exist. Omission of the information of the police record distorts the fundamental fact that repeated lawbreaking played a role in increasing the likelihood of the shooting. This relates not just to the one shooting that is the title of this article. That information plays into the total picture that is the real subject of this article. This isn't just an article on one shooting. It is an article on two weeks of protest following that shooting. Anyone can read the accounts of the protests to understand this. The New York Times tells us "On Tuesday, speakers cried as they described the poverty and increasing income inequality between wealthy parts of Sacramento and its poorer neighborhoods."[9] One does not put on blinders and pretend that this article is merely about a one-hour period of time spanning the placement of a 9-1-1 call and the shooting of an unarmed man. That is a myopic view of the article. Bus stop (talk) 16:38, 11 April 2018 (UTC)
      • Not persuasive. If such sociology research on crime has been done by scholarship and vetted by scholarship, it could arguably have weight and appear in the appropriate sociology article (with citation(s)), not in this current events article - because it sounds like you are arguing for original research. -- Alanscottwalker (talk) 13:25, 12 April 2018 (UTC)
        • Alanscottwalker—the article is not just about the brief period of time between the placing of the 9-1-1 call and the shooting. Were it just about that then the BLP concerns would hold. But the article also would not exist if it were just about the shooting. The actual scope of the article, and its reason for notability, is all that has transpired since the shooting. That has certainly included discussion of the criminal history. It would be a contrivance of us to omit it. Bus stop (talk) 13:44, 12 April 2018 (UTC)
          • I heard you the first-time, as I said not persuaded, see also COATRACKing, we are not here to imbue things with a significance of our selection - that is not our job. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Alanscottwalker (talk • contribs) 13:48, 12 April 2018 (UTC)
            • I don't think we are imbuing things with any significance at all. This is an article that receives its notability from the social unrest which is subsequent to the shooting. In that social unrest there are numerous instances of the invocation of the criminal record of the victim of the shooting. I would appreciate it if you would acknowledge that this is not just an article with its sole focus on the period of time between the placing of the 9-1-1 call and the shooting. That is an artificially concocted scope designed to accentuate a BLP concern that looses a good deal of its significance in the larger picture. Bus stop (talk) 14:09, 12 April 2018 (UTC)

• BS, Each of your 20+ repetitions of your flawed POV shows us that you have no policy-based criticism of the consensus you're trying to oppose. SPECIFICO talk 13:54, 12 April 2018 (UTC)

• • • • There is a logical idea that the police knew they were going into an area of the city that had higher crime rates, and so were likely less hesitant to use more aggressive means to find and arrest the perp, but I stress again, Clark's identity was not known to the cops prior to the confrontation, going by all reliable reports. All they had was a description of a person , where they were, and what they thought they saw him doing (breaking windows). Anything else outside of his physical appearance (Race, age, height) should not be of concern to Clark's background, at least with respect to the incident itself. His prior criminal history may come up in ongoing protests or in the assessment of the cops' activities, and/or any court actions, and if that history becomes a major facet then, then we should include it, but there's nothing presently that suggests his prior criminal history is essential to understanding this event. --Masem (t) 13:52, 12 April 2018 (UTC)
        • Masem—the windows broken were not only in autos but in at least one house. How often do you think one can tamper with other people's property before one has a negative outcome? We aren't discussing why the police shot him. We simply do not know. We are discussing what is relevant for inclusion in the article. And we are discussing conflicting aims of different aspects of policy. Did the police shoot an innocent man or did they shoot a man who was engaging in criminal activity and who had a history of criminal activity? This is an NPOV concern. We are not taking sides by including the info on the history. We are providing balance. Should we be contriving to remove balance if reliable sources include the relevant information that the police shot a man that repeatedly engaged in criminal activity? I thought we followed sources. You mean every time a reliable source mentions the criminal record we relegate it to the status of the unmentionable based on BLP concerns? Bus stop (talk) 14:26, 12 April 2018 (UTC)
          • You're reading too far into the situation. First, I don't think anyone has yet claims or affirmed that Clark was the person seen breaking windows, so we can't assert he was even possibly engaged in such activity. He only matched the rough description, and certainly on the spot there's no way the cops could have made that determination (they didn't witness him). Second, the whole reason for the protests was that cops fatally shot a young black man who they thought might have been armed but shown afterwards to not have been (having mistaken his cell phone he had out as a weapon). Some are calling this racial profiling, others calling it excessive force, but none of that involves Clark's prior history. We are not beholden to what mass media prints if that violates our core policies. --Masem (t) 14:45, 12 April 2018 (UTC)

perhaps a way forward is to agree on the term recently deceased. i suggest we add the RS material about his felony convictions only, after enough time for it to no longer be considered recent. Darkstar1st (talk) 13:22, 17 April 2018 (UTC)

What would that amount of time be? Bus stop (talk) 13:56, 17 April 2018 (UTC)

Seems the best way forward may be WP:RFC, considering this has been at BLPN for a long time and doesn't seem close to being resolved.--DynaGirl (talk) 14:03, 17 April 2018 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Nicole Louise Pearce

The article reads like a POV piece demonising the subject, but since it is not an area I have much experience editing in, I ask for input here. It is the creation of a user who, in addition to creating and editing this article, has done very little editing except for adding mentions of Pearce in other articles, so pretty much a single-purpose account. I am not denying that the actions perpetrated by the subject of the article (as described in the sources) are awful, but there are several very problematic aspects to the article, such as discussion of the gender identity of the person as if that were a factor, a very long section about "evil" with a lot of references that have nothing to do with Pearce, and even inclusion of a paragraph about "similarly controversial and later deemed regrettable releases of murderers" which is pure OR and again appears to try to link the gender identity of the perpetrators to their crimes. (I have moved that paragraph down into the body of the article from the lede, and removed the "regrettable" verbiage. I think it should go entirely, but won't edit war about it.) --bonadea contributions talk 15:08, 17 April 2018 (UTC)

Good god -- that needs a lot of attention. (I'll help when I'm done with kids this evening...) Nomoskedasticity (talk) 16:50, 17 April 2018 (UTC)

That is indeed terrible. I've taken a somewhat unusual measure, perhaps, by redirecting the article to Murder of Peter Aston. It strikes me as in line with BLP1E, and the edit history shows that the article creator, who indeed seems to be an SPA, is up against various editors who cite WP policy more appropriately. User:Crimescrutineer, you can make your case on the article talk page. That discussion, along with this one, will decide the fate of the article. In the meantime I will not hesitate to block you if you continue the edit warring or undo the redirect. Discussion first. User:Bonadea, User:Nomoskedasticity, thank you for your attention, and you too, User:Hullaballoo Wolfowitz. Drmies (talk) 19:28, 17 April 2018 (UTC)

The rationale for the article has been added to the talk page. I really found these criticisms myopic and hope that future criticism points out precisely why academic biographical information about Pearce, plainly linked to in great detail, is readily thought of as irrelevant, let alone "indeed terrible." User:Bonadea, User:Nomoskedasticity, User:Hullaballoo Wolfowitz, Drmies, (talk) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Crimescrutineer (talk • contribs) 20:09, 17 April 2018 (UTC)

John Philbin

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

---

Can someone please have a word with user:SemiHypercube who is trying to re-add a totally undue Personal Life section to this biography? Cheers. 94.118.33.196 (talk) 23:02, 15 April 2018 (UTC)

And same user, same problem, at Reby Sky. 94.118.33.196 (talk) 23:04, 15 April 2018 (UTC)

@94.118.33.196: First off, I would like to know what makes the Personal Life sections in question "undue"? You seem to be removing sections on legal issues, i.e. 1 2. Secondly, you seem to be using ad hominem remarks on my talk page here. Third, perhaps you could explain your use of changing your IP with this edit? SemiHypercube (talk) 23:46, 15 April 2018 (UTC)

NOt seeing a problem with either of the first two edits (the arrests), they're reliably sourced and constitute only a small part of the article. I DO see a problem with the third edit, the remark the I.P made back to SemiHypercube, that is a personal attack and that's not allowed. ►К Ф Ƽ Ħ◄ 15:41, 16 April 2018 (UTC)

Semi, it was not your talkpage, and even someone with my limited understanding is aware that IPs can change. You have a lot of edits already for a newly registered user -- somewhat sus.

Kosh, you are a demonstrable buffoon. Aren't there some Pokemon articles you could be editing?

Back to the problem... The section in question consists solely of this:

<WP:CWW violation removed>

The section is about as long as the rest of the article. Without wishing to demean Mr Philbin, he is not particularly notable, the incident even less so. How on earth is this acceptable? 94.118.51.92 (talk) 05:01, 17 April 2018 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Rebecca Rios

This content is currently on the page: "In April 2017, Rios' husband, Vandon Jenerette, was arrested on suspicion of assaulting Rios." This is sourced to this newspaper article. I can't find any follow-up reporting on this incident. I'm not sure we should include this content...Rios is the apparent victim of domestic abuse, and her statement in the newspaper article suggests she wants to keep the matter private. In this case, it seems prudence would suggest we not highlight the incident. Somewhat related, I removed content from the page about an ethics complaint against her alleging an inappropriate sexual relationship--the ethics complaint was tossed as lacking merit, so I didn't think it warranted inclusion. Is there specific guidance on how to handle content when an article subject is the alleged victim of domestic abuse? Thanks. Marquardtika (talk) 20:52, 17 April 2018 (UTC)

Sounds like WP:AVOIDVICTIM to me. —DIYeditor (talk) 22:10, 17 April 2018 (UTC)

The source says "This is a very personal matter. Ms. Rios has no comment at this time. She would appreciate respect for her privacy," said an email statement to The Republic from Sharon Ng, Rios' spokeswoman.[10] It shouldn't be in the article. Bus stop (talk) 22:21, 17 April 2018 (UTC)

• I'm with Bus stop here, and have removed it. Thanks to all. Drmies (talk) 22:29, 17 April 2018 (UTC)

Thanks, all. I wasn't familiar with WP:AVOIDVICTIM but that is helpful to know about. Marquardtika (talk) 22:49, 17 April 2018 (UTC)