Shortly after unarmed Stephon Clark had been shot and killed by Sacramento police officers, Mayor Darrell Steinberg acknowledged that implied racism and bias was a major factor in Clark’s death.
Sacramento police officers pumped 20 bullets into the body of Clark because they “thought” Clark had a gun. Factually, he was holding a cellphone in his hand.
As a 20-year veteran sergeant of the Los Angeles Police Department, I know firsthand that officers are expected to “know” when they fire their weapon.
Name another group of professionals that routinely deal with the public that are allowed to act so carelessly and capriciously without repercussion. Imagine, a top chef in a five-star restaurant who mistakenly serves a chicken breast to a customer who had requested a filet mignon and was then allowed to just simply respond, “I thought it was beef.”
That chef would be fired. Why, then, does society and lawmakers allow police officers to get away with, “I was in fear. I thought he had a gun. I don’t know why I shot.”
Polices officers are trained professionals and are expected “to get it right.” Every time.
Having spent my entire career in uniform as a patrol officer and supervisor, I know firsthand that suspects attempting to avoid arrest are sometimes uncooperative, combative and will run. I have chased, fought and arrested many suspected criminals; and guess what? I shot no one.
The officers in the Clark shooting were shown on video to be in a position of cover and concealment at the corner of his grandmother’s residence with an air unit overhead. What was the urgency to confront Clark? The officers had the benefit of an air unit overhead.
Why not request additional units, set up a perimeter to contain the suspect in the backyard? And why did those officers mute the audio on their bodycam after the shooting?
According to Sacramento Police Chief Daniel Hahn, there are “various reasons why somebody would.” I can’t think of one.
Shortly after the murder of Stephon Clark, 34-year-old Danny Ray Thomas was shot and killed by Texas Deputy Cameron Brewer. Thomas, who was unarmed, had been walking in the middle of the street with his pants down around his ankles prior to the fatal police encounter.
While a “thorough, transparent and expeditious” investigation has been promised by Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, it is my hope that expediency does not replace common sense and reasonableness.
Although it was reported that Brewer had a Taser in his possession and had been previously trained on the use of non-lethal force when dealing with a mentally ill person, he claimed “fearing for his safety” as the justification for firing a single shot striking Thomas in the chest.
We’ve seen this before. In North Miami, police officer Jonathan Aledda shot an unarmed black man, Charles Kinsey, as he lay prone on the ground with his arms extended. Kinsey attempted to explain to Aledda that he [Kinsey] was assisting a mentally ill client who was also seated on the ground next to Kinsey at the time the officer fired his weapon. Thankfully, Kinsey did not die. When asked why he shot, Aledda’s responded, “I don’t know.”
Unless and until there are substantive consequences for officers who use deadly force as a first resort rather than a last resort as trained — there will continue to be copy-cat, “fearful” killers offering nothing more than “I was scared” as a reason.
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