Document Page: DEADLY FORCE MORE CAN BE DONE TO BRING DOWN POLICE SHOOTINGS

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DEADLY FORCE MORE CAN BE DONE TO BRING DOWN POLICE SHOOTINGS Detroit Free Press; Detroit, Mich. 05-18-2000 DEADLY FORCE MORE CAN BE DONE TO BRING DOWN POLICE SHOOTINGS Edition: METRO FINAL Section: EDITORIAL Type: Editorial Last summer, after a particularly deadly weekend in Detroit, Police Chief Benny Napoleon lamented that many of the city's homicides are basically not preventable: People argue, tempers flare, guns are available. All this usually goes on in private with no chance for police intervention, the chief said. So maybe you give him that debatable excuse. It's a tough town, as they say, and there's no denying it's pretty well armed, too. But shootings, especially killings, by police officers are a different matter. There are things that can and should be done to bring down the numbers, as a matter of public trust, public safety and public money. The millions of dollars the city shells out to settle police-shooting lawsuits would be far better spent on enhancing and refreshing the training of police officers to handle crisis moments without firing their guns unless absolutely necessary. In a series this week, the Free Press has reported that Detroit leads America's large cities in the rate of fatal shootings by police officers. The city's rate of about 10 shootings a year is double New York City's. The series showed that officers are cleared after perfunctory investigations, some of which draw conclusions contradictory to plain facts. Nonfatal shootings went

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Document Page: DEADLY FORCE MORE CAN BE DONE TO BRING DOWN POLICE SHOOTINGS

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essentially uninvestigated for possible disciplinary action for five years after a departmental reorganization. Lawsuits over shootings have cost the city millions of dollars. One former high-ranking police official acknowledged in a statement that was given for a lawsuit that the department "sanctioned in numerous cases the unjustified use of deadly force" and "created a custom of failing to objectively and thoroughly investigate cases of excessive force." Yet with all this money flying out the window, the Detroit Police Department has not even been analyzing shootings by officers to see if there are patterns or problems to address. Nor did officials have national statistics to see if Detroit's numbers were unusually high. Napoleon blames clever lawyers for the damage settlements and brazenly invites a federal investigation of how Detroit police handle the shootings. This is not a federal problem. But however you read the numbers, it is a city problem. Mayor Dennis Archer has taken a step in the right direction by moving the responsibility for police shooting investigations out of the overworked homicide section and into internal controls. Now it falls to Napoleon to beef up that section with tough, fair investigators who answer to an autonomous commander. Let there be no taint or suspicion of it. When outside investigators are warranted, use them. But that's the after-the-fact stuff. The city has a much bigger stake in making sure that deadly force is truly the last resort of its police officers. Clearly, officers who are asked to do the city's toughest job can never have
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Document Page: DEADLY FORCE MORE CAN BE DONE TO BRING DOWN POLICE SHOOTINGS

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too much training and refresher training. Clearly, the city needs to track its police shootings and look for problem officers. Clearly, the department needs to be open with the public about the results of shooting investigations. Detroit police officers do a very difficult job that, too often, puts them in life-and-death situations. Some things really can't be helped. Yes, it is a tough town. But working in a climate of public fear, instead of trust and respect, will just make it tougher. MEMO: IN OUR OPINION DISCLAIMER: THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION MAY DIFFER SLIGHTLY FROM THE PRINTED ARTICLE. Copyright 2000 - Detroit Free Press - All Rights Reverved

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"DEADLY FORCE MORE CAN BE DONE TO BRING DOWN POLICE SHOOTINGS." Detroit Free Press; Detroit, Mich.. 18 May. 2000: A14. eLibrary. Web. 11 Aug. 2013.

"DEADLY FORCE MORE CAN BE DONE TO BRING DOWN POLICE SHOOTINGS." Detroit Free Press; Detroit, Mich.. 2000, May 18: A14.

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