Report questions LA sheriff shootings -Special Counsel says Many Shootings were Avoidable

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department came under pressure last Friday to fix shortcomings in its new policy on foot pursuits, including requiring deputies to be trained about the regulation.Special Counsel Merrick Bobb, the Sheriff's Department watchdog, said in a report that many shootings are avoidable and occur at the end of foot chases that are mishandled by deputies. He reviewed 239 deputy-involved shooting cases from 1997 to 2002, and determined that 52 involved shots fired by deputies during or at the conclusion of a foot pursuit. Of 44 shooting cases in 2003 and 2004, a dozen involved foot pursuits. "While not every shooting was avoidable, many were," Bobb wrote. "In many instances, the suspect could have been captured in a safer and smarter way. We advocate that the LASD come up with a new foot pursuit policy." Bobb's report was released at the end of a week in which the Police Commission revised the policy limiting when Los Angeles Police Department officers can fire at moving vehicles. Police Chief William Bratton said he plans to review all of the department's policies to ensure they are up to date with law-enforcement practices nationwide. "A litmus test in American policing is how an agency deals with chases by car and by foot," Bobb said. "A law enforcement agency continues to live in an era of unenlightened policing if it does not eliminate or very tightly control solo foot pursuits and car chases and the unnecessary shootings and force incidents which follow in their wake," he said. Bobb wrote the new sheriff's policy, implemented in November, discourages foot pursuits, but fails to set a standard other than stating deputies should use common sense in deciding whether to engage in a foot pursuit. He also complained that deputies are not required to undergo training about the new guidelines. "In the end, whether a solo foot pursuit will be judged within policy turns only on whether a deputy gives a 'common sense' reason for initiating or continuing to chase and whether his supervisor accepts it," Bobb wrote. He said the policy falls short of ensuring the department is doing everything it reasonably can to minimize taxpayer liability for police misconduct. [more] and [more]

• An Officer's Split-Second Decision to Use Deadly Force [more] Should NOT be Based on Hatred or Fear of Black & Brown Men. Stop hiring frightened Rednecks!