No Officers Names Released/None Fired in Police Murder of Black Man Shot 46 Times: Saginaw demotes 1 officer, disciplines 2
Saturday, September 22, 2012 at 06:02AM A police supervisor has been demoted and two officers were disciplined for their roles in the fatal shooting of a knife-wielding, mentally ill, homeless man in a parking lot, city officials said Friday.
The on-scene supervisor during the July 1 shooting of Milton Hall, 49, was reprimanded and demoted to patrolman, Saginaw Acting Police Chief Brian Lipe said, and the two officers received reprimands for not following the department's mobile video and audio policy.
The command officer "failed to take command and control of the situation," Lipe said at a news conference. Some patrol-car video was working, but some in-car audio wasn't turned on and some microphones worn by the officers didn't have working batteries, he said.
The officers involved will return to active duty, said Lipe, who defended the officers' overall response. Their names were not released.
According to investigators, Hall refused to drop a knife and six officers fired 46 shots at him, hitting him 11 times. Video taken on another witness' cell phone and later obtained by CNN showed Hall collapsing in a hail of gunfire after police ordered him to drop the knife.
The Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton and U.S. Rep. John Conyers, a Detroit Democrat, protested the killing and called for the officers to be punished.
City officials said Friday that they hoped citizens upset about the shooting would be able to come together following the review. Some critics, however, expressed disappointment.
"You all had the audacity to come in here and tell us we need to go forward," the Rev. Cirven Merrill said. "Going forward to us is firing those ... officers who shot Milton Hall."
Prosecutors and state officials said this month that none of the officers would face criminal charges. The task force that reviewed the officers' conduct was appointed by City Manager Darnell Earley.
"There are people who will feel the discipline of three officers is not justice," Mayor Greg Branch said. "But it is the extent of justice within the laws applicable to this venue."