How a Black, Female LAPD Cop Would Change Policing, Part II of II

Read Part I Here. Monica Westfall: Do you think there’s a gap in use-of-force training that allows officers to plead that they feared for their lives when they face murder charges for use of force – in killing unarmed black men in particular? And what do you think would be a better method of training in this area?

Sgt. Cheryl Dorsey (Ret.): It’s not a training issue. It’s an accountability issue! We are trained a certain way, and we are certainly not trained to shoot people who scare us. If you are that frightened of a community, again, this is not the job for you. If you’re easily moved to anger because someone curses at you, or because someone runs from you, or because someone doesn’t comply – this is not the job for you. Those are things that are inherent to police work, those things happen everyday – sometimes all day! You don’t get to shoot people when they run from you. I don’t think any officer wakes up in the morning thinking, “I’m going to kill somebody today, I just don’t know who.” So, when that happens, it’s like uh-oh – now what? I feared for my life! Or, I couldn’t see his hands. It’s very difficult to argue what’s in someone’s head, and great deference is given to an officer’s version of events. Those types of excuses worked in the fatal police shootings of Michael Brown, John Crawford, and 12 year-old Tamir Rice. The problem is with accountability.

Except the black officer in Minnesota, Mohamed Noor, that fatally shot the unarmed woman, Justine Damond, last summer. He said he feared for his life and it didn’t work for him. He was charged with murder and jailed.

So, then there’s that!

I don’t know the makeup of that jury or if the color of that officer’s skin overshadowed the uniform. As another example, Betty Shelby, the former female officer who shot and killed Terence Crutcher, used the “I was scared more than anything ever in my life,” excuse. Shelby shot Crutcher in the back as he walked away from her with his hands raised in the air. She’s now working on another department right now, poised to do the same thing. The Crutcher family was paid millions of dollars, but it wasn’t Shelby’s money! It wasn’t even the department’s money; it was the taxpayers’ money. So, I think part of the deterrence against using unnecessary deadly force will happen when police officers who use deadly force as a first resort rather than a last resort – which is the way we are trained – are held financially and legally responsible.

I commented on a police shooting recently where a lone officer responded to a call after a man crashed his car and began attacking bystanders. After being chased by the driver, the officer tased the man 10 times and still didn’t gain compliance. The driver continued attempting to assault the officer and was eventually shot. He later died. When asked, I responded, “Sometimes deadly force is required and in this case I believe it was justified.” As a female officer, I am not going to allow a suspect to hit me. One punch could incapacitate me, and now the suspect has access to my weapon.