bcla
On our rugged Eastern foothills.....
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2012
Yes they did -- and show me shocked (not). And believe me I fully understand the police chief's wanting to make sure people aren't misled into thinking that his officers chasing a fleeing criminal contributed to this tragedy.
But that's a slippery slope and he has to be super careful to not go any farther -- especially toward showing animus toward the defendant.
Regardless of their personal feelings (and in a small town like this, you can be sure that many of the police officers knew at least one of the victims personally), the police have to be the impartial searchers for the truth of what actually happened. That's our role in a situation like this, as hard as it can be sometimes. But the best way to serve the community, the victims, and their families is to conduct a very straight-up investigation based solely on evidence, and not on our personal feelings.
That is really tough, especially in a case like this or one where an officer has been lost. But it's the right way, and the Waukesha police seem to be doing a great job.
I thought that many of these cases are investigated by "outside" agencies to at least try to avoid the appearance of conflict of interest. Especially when it's an officer-involved shooting or use of force. In fact in California there's a new law that requires that the Attorney General's investigators handle cases of any officer involved shootings. However, I'm thinking that if AG investigators are involved in a shooting they'll find another agency to investigate such as the California Highway Patrol or perhaps local law enforcement where the shooting happens.
Ruiz did not offer any details about what led up to the shooting or why the officers needed to use deadly force. He could not say whether Chavez was armed or whether a weapon was found at the scene.
California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta announced Wednesday that he had launched an investigation into Chavez’s death.
A law passed in July requires Bonta’s office to investigate fatal police shootings of unarmed civilians to determine whether criminal charges should be filed.