From [HERE] and [MORE] Vallejo Mayor Osby Davis said Wednesday that he will seek an independent investigation into the recent controversial officer-involved shooting death of Mario Romero Johnson. Davis said he will ask the City Council to request that Attorney Gen. Kamala Harris' office look into concerns raised since police officers killed Romero, 23, while he sat with his brother-in-law, Joseph Johnson, 21 in his car outside his North Vallejo home early Sept. 2.
They were not doing anything unlawful. Police had no valid legal basis to approach them - offering only that they approached due to recent gang-related activity in the neighborhood. They said officers fired repeatedly at Romero because they believed he had reached for a gun in his waistband.
According to police the weapon turned out to be a pellet gun. Family members, however, have vehemently denied that he had such a weapon, or police assertions that he had 50 ecstasy tablets in his car. Joseph Johnson was shot through his hip and hospitalized.
"I saw everything," said Romero's sister, Cynquita Martin, whose house Romero shared with her. "My brother never got out of the car. My brother was slumped over in that boy's lap," Martin said. "He caught bullets for that child (Johnson). He saved somebody's life while they was killing him." [MORE]
The shooting has sparked an ongoing community debate, as well as several public protests and thousands of comments posted on social media sites, including the Times-Herald's.
"It must be understood," Davis said. "that this request should not be taken as an indication of a lack of confidence in the established Solano County Officer Involved Shooting Protocol, or any lack of confidence in the Vallejo Police Department or the ability of the District Attorney's office to conduct fair investigations."
However, it is my belief that under the current circumstances a secondary review will help to establish trust in the process."
Romero's sister, Cynquita Martin, told the Times-Herald that, "I'm very pleased" by Davis' move."I see this as a positive step for the City council and mayor to earn the trust back from the community, toward the victory and justice for Mario," Martin said. She said she will watch developments and "attend (City Council meetings) until justice is served."
The mayor also said he wants police officers and all patrol cars to be equipped with video cameras.
Vallejo Police Chief Joseph Kreins said that he welcomed an independent review if it will "restore or enhance the public's trust and the department's credibility.""The more sets of eyes you can put on something is a good thing," Kreins told the Times-Herald.
Kreins added that he doubts that any attorney general's review will produce a different outcome than the D.A.'s office investigation."The (D.A's investigation process) has worked for many years and continues to work," Kreins said. "But when folks are suggesting that they don't have the confidence in that process, then I have no problem with an independent review."
City Manager Dan Keen said Kreins was informed in advance of the mayor's desire to seek an outside investigation."It was a decision that the mayor made but he did discuss it with he (Kreins) and I," Keen said.
Under the current protocol, officer-involved shootings are investigated not only by the Vallejo Police Department, but also by the Solano County District Attorney's office. None of those recent shooting investigations have been completed, but Romero supporters last week called for an independent probe either by an outside police agency or the attorney general.
Martin said that while the outside investigation was a key demand that family members had made, a rally will be held Thursday at 2 p.m. at the district attorney's office. Several others have been held since the shooting.
Both Keen and Davis said it's their understanding that the state would step in after the department and the District Attorney complete their investigations. When those two reports will be done is not known, Davis said.
State Attorney General spokeswoman Lynda Gledhill said that the agency would not comment on the Davis press release.Gledhill added that state investigations of officer-involved shootings have likely been done, but are not done on a regular basis.
Davis hopes the City Council will consider his proposals next Tuesday.Meanwhile, Keen wants to ensure that the council has all the data on how much everything would cost.
Davis' proposals were issued a day after the Vallejo City Council abruptly ended an economic study session after protesters suddenly filled the council chambers and demanded to speak about the officer-involved shootings. The week before, dozens spoke to the council decrying not only the Sept. 2 incident but also four other fatal officer-involved shootings this year.
Keen said the intention now is to encourage the state to look at just the Sept. 2 shooting, based on the public outcry surrounding it, but not the other incidents. Davis also said his request involves the Romero shooting, not the other officer-involved shootings.Meanwhile, referring to Tuesday night's halted meeting, both Davis and Keen said the city is exploring ways to allow residents to voice concerns and still conduct city business "in an orderly fashion."
In addition to asking that Attorney General Harris intervene, Davis said he will ask that Keen move to buy body and in-car cameras to be integrated with the vehicle's mobile data computers and emergency systems.
Currently, only some officers wear body cameras, but no cars are equipped with in-car versions.
Kreins said his goal is that all officers be issued body cameras, but he would not require them to be worn."My issue with not keeping it discretionary is that it might interfere with the officer's safety and the critical incident at hand," Kreins said. "The last thing I want is my officers worried about the cameras at a critical scene. In our job things happen very quickly."Kreins favors in-car cameras because they will turn on and off automatically.
However, it might take months before all 45 vehicles in the Vallejo police fleet are equipped with them."I'm hoping it's something that we can do in the next few months. But there's the issue of money and technology," Kreins said. They cost about $10,000 per car for cameras and officer training.
Keen said the body cameras could probably be bought without triggering "meet and confer" meetings with the police union.
Davis also asked Keen to:• Conduct research to select and implement a decision-based firearms/use of force training simulator system.• Reaffirm the Police Department's protocol and procedure for communicating with the public and families in incidents concerning loss of life or great bodily injury as a result of violence.
The Romero family, in particular, has angrily contended that police have not communicated properly with them, or in a timely way about the shooting.The Romero family, in particular, has angrily contended that police have not communicated with them about the shooting. Martin said Thursday that her brother's body is still at the coroner's office, that police still have not contacted family members, and that no funeral arrangements have been made.