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Questions Linger After Police Killings of Black Man & Latino Man

Community outcry following two fatal shootings by New Haven police in late 2004 recently prompted the Board of Aldermen to create a task force to investigate the use of "excessive force" by police. Ward 10 Alderman Edward Mattison LAW '68 said the task force, the members of which will be selected by the mayor, the president of the Board of Aldermen, New Haven Police Chief Francisco Ortiz Jr. and the New Haven Police Union, will examine the shooting deaths of Mack Lucky Nov. 8 and Hiram Marrero (Pictured above) Dec. 16. Lucky was shot by off-duty New Haven Police officer Elliot Rosa in the elevator of his building on Howard Avenue. Rosa was part of the Officer in Residence program, which gives officers residence in public housing in exchange for providing security for the buildings. Marrero was shot by police after he wounded a caregiver at his group home for the mentally ill. After the shootings, vocal community members requested the city consider police use of nonlethal weapons, revised procedures for police interaction with the mentally ill, and the future of the Officer in Residence program, Mattison said. In response to community criticism -- including a letter written on Jan. 10 by potential mayoral candidate Jeffrey Gorley demanding a review by the Justice Department -- mayoral spokesman Derek Slap said the incidents are already being reviewed by the State Attorney's office and the task force. [more]