Newspaper Page Text
The Champion, Thursday, Feb. 19 - 25, 2015
EDITORIAL
Page 4A
Outside eyes should look at police-involved shootings
In Ferguson, Mo., in August
2014, it was the shooting death
of Michael Brown, an unarmed
Back teenager, by Darren Wilson,
a White police officer that set off
weeks of protests.
In DeKalb County, there have
been protests after the December
2014 shooting death of Kevin Da
vis by DeKalb officer Joseph Pitts.
Davis called 911 when his girlfriend
was stabbed by another person in
their apartment. According to po
lice, when the officer arrived he
heard screaming, eventually opened
the apartment door after his knocks
were unanswered and shot a pit bull
that charged him. He then encoun
tered Davis, who had a gun, and
fatally shot him when Davis refused
to drop his gun. Davis’ family said
he grabbed his gun when he heard
gunshots in his home and was sub
sequently shot by the officer.
As heightened awareness of
police-involved shootings such as
these two is increasing around the
country, law enforcement agencies
must take another look at how these
incidents are handled internally and
publicly.
In a recent news conference, Ce
dric Alexander, the county’s deputy
chief operating officer for public
safety, said the police department
is capable of investigating its own
police-involved shooting cases.
With all due respect to Alexan
der, who was chosen by President
Barack Obama to be on the Task
Force on 21st Century Policing,
police departments investigating
their own police-involved shootings
should no longer be considered a
best and desirable practice.
While the president’s task force
has not yet released its recommen
dations, the U. S. Conference of
Mayors in January released its rec
ommendations on improving com
munity policing.
Addressing police-involved
shootings, the mayors’ group stated
that “to increase public confidence,
police departments should call on
independent or outside investigators
and agencies when a death occurs
during an encounter with an officer.”
This should be automatic. In
DeKalb County, it was after a two-
month internal investigation, a few
rallies, increasing media attention
and a request by the Davis family
that the police department asked the
Georgia Bureau of Investigation to
look into the shooting.
Unfortunately there are times
when officers must shoot and kill
suspects. But when this happens,
community stakeholders now de
mand that someone outside the lo
cal brotherhood of police look into
the incident.
This will go a long way in build
ing trust between police depart
ments and communities; protecting
police officers physically and voca
tionally; and ensuring the peace of
the community.
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