Despite the fact that Americans are protected by our constitution from overly aggressive law enforcement, there continue to be tragic occasions when officers shoot first and ask questions later. Another such story is unfolding in South Carolina.
Walter Scott was stopped by a patrolman for driving with a burned out tail light. The routine traffic stop became troublesome when Scott didn’t produce documentation about who owned the car and whether he had insurance. Video shows that Scott ran away. Patrolman Michael Slager pursued him on foot, and shot him in the back. Slager has been charged with murder and fired from his job. Scott is dead. Why?
Some people blame Scott for his own death because he ran. His action may have been unwise; but it didn’t legitimize use of deadly force. News reports speculate that Scott was wanted for non-payment of child support and tried to escape before Slager learned that information. It is certain that Scott can’t tell us his reasoning
There was a previous report that Slager had used excessive force. In 2013, Mario Givens filed an official complaint, verified by eyewitnesses, that Slager used a taser on him unnecessarily while he tried to convince the officer that he was innocent of any crime. In fact, Slager had mistaken Givens for another man and Givens was innocent of wrongdoing. But Slager’s employer, the North Charleston, SC police department, did not investigate the report. Now that Scott is dead and Givens’ complaint is receiving public attention, the Department promises to investigate.
I searched for reliable information about unjustified killing by police, but couldn’t find it. I did learn that the US Department of Justice has the same problem – no reliable information – because local police departments are not required to report the events unless they are receiving federal funds. Even the data that are reported may be questionable. Subjectively, it seems that the victims are disproportionately ethnic minorities, poor, homeless, mentally ill, or all of the above. If that is true, is it because police are biased or because the victims do more things that bring contact with police or some of both? Again, no one knows the answer.
We do know that police may not use deadly force to stop a suspect merely because he is fleeing to avoid arrest. The US Supreme Court made that clear in the 1985 case of Tennessee v. Garner. Memphis Officers, Elton Hymon, and Leslie Wright were dispatched to the scene of a reported home burglary in process. They saw someone run from the home and ordered him to stop. Instead he began to climb a fence in an apparent attempt to escape arrest. To prevent the escape; Officer Hymon opened fire, killing 15 year-old Edward Garner. Under Tennessee law in effect at the time, Officer Hymon was within his rights to shoot a suspect who was fleeing arrest. The officer’s judgment that Garner had burglarized the house was confirmed by the fact that he had a purse and money from the home in his possession. This quotation from the court’s decision summarizes constitutional limits on police use of deadly force that have been in effect for 30 years, “We conclude that such force may not be used unless it is necessary to prevent the escape AND the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others.” (emphasis added)
Our national worries about excessive use of force by police have festered for too long and won’t improve without action. If Michael Slager’s behavior had been investigated and managed earlier in his career, he might now be a productive officer and Walter Scott might be alive.
How can we do better? Here are a few ideas from other places:
- Recognize that the problem is real and deal with it openly.
- Eliminate the appearance or reality of conflicts of interest in the investigation of complaints by forming an Independent Police Review Commission (IPR).
- Study Portland, Oregon’s experience with an IPR under the auspices of their Auditor to investigate allegations of police misconduct, reports results, and engage both police and the public in discussions of law enforcement policy.
- Require reporting of all deaths caused by police action into a national data base.
Those ideas won’t fully address the problem, but they are steps in the right direction.