by Jack
This is a local hot button topic and it deserves to be aired, but it’s not to judge the officers. This is only to clear up any confusion or misunderstanding the public may have over exactly when an officer can (and should) use deadly force.
To recap this story from the news and a police spokesperson, Chico police received a late night report of someone tampering with vehicles off E. 8th Steet. They responded and observed a vehicle attempting to flee the scene. During the pursuit and attempt to stop the vehicle the fleeing driver took evasive action, failing to yield and at some point losing control, striking a utility pole, then she backed up and attempted to drive away. As officers attempted to approach the vehicle the driver accelerated and swerved towards an officer in an apparent attempt to run him down. It was clear to officers at the scene the driver was making a deliberate attempt to hit the officer and as a result they simultaneous fired an the driver. This was deadly force used in an attempt to save the life of a fellow officer.
As it turned out the driver was a 19 year old female that had a history clashes with the law. She was driving a stolen vehicle and is believed to have been in the process of stealing another vehicle when police arrived at the scene.
The US Supreme Court limited the use deadly force back in 1985 when the reversed the fleeing felon rule. “Where a suspect poses no immediate threat to the officer and no threat to others, the harm resulting from failing to apprehend him does not justify the use of deadly force to do so,” Justice Byron R. White wrote for the court.
In this case the police are saying, a life was immediate danger because the driver was attempting to run over a police officer.
There’s no question that such a deliberate action is likely to cause great bodily harm or death.
The litmus test in California on the use of deadly force by police or private citizens is simeply, whenever a prudent person has a right to believe they are in danger of great bodily harm and/or death or that another is in danger of great bodily harm and/or death, then the use of deadly force is lawful. Anything less than that is technically unlawful.
The burden of proof now falls on police to show that this shooting meets the guidelines for a good shoot.
The Shooting Team: This of course will involve all evidence at the scene, such as, but not limited to, shell casings, photographic evidence, bullet holes and bullet trajectories, and eventually the relevant items will be put on a crime scene diagram. This will help show the positions of officers at the moment of the shooting in relationship to the deceased and all other relevant data will be noted, including the toxicology reports on the deceased as well as all officers who fired their weapon. This diagram may also note the lighting and the weather conditions or it will be on a seperate report. The witness statements will be taken and evaluated against the evidence, the photos, the diagram and officer statements. This takes a lot of time, but if it all matches reasonably well, the shooting team will issue their findings.
It’s typical that the Sheriff’s Office or some combination of area law enforcement conduct an officer involved shooting investigation. Investigation generally falls on the coronor’s office, which is part of the Sheriff’s Office, but it’s not unusual to have a multi-agency response team. However, whenever there is a conflict of interest this part could be handed over to the Dept. of Justice team in Sacramento.
At this early stage of the investigation the public should simply be aware there is a process and they should understand the law. It’s premature to make a definitive judgement call, but we hold that officers ought to be treated the same respect as anyone else, that they are innocent of wrong doing until proven otherwise.