http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/police-shooting-oklahoma-city_us_59c23f23e4b0f22c4a8dce68?ncid=inblnkushpmg 00000009

http://newsok.com/police-officers-involved-in-fatal-oklahoma-city-shooting/article/5564788

Really sad that HuffPo has more details than newsok.com.

Here's hoping that body cam footage is available and shows that the action was defensible. Is there any information on what hit-and-run this person was suspected of? Any chance it was one of the several recent fatality hit-and-run incidents? We've had a rash of them over the past few months.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/police-shooting-oklahoma-city_us_59c23f23e4b0f22c4a8dce68?ncid=inblnkushpmg 00000009

http://newsok.com/police-officers-involved-in-fatal-oklahoma-city-shooting/article/5564788

Really sad that HuffPo has more details than newsok.com.

This is, sadly, commonplace these days. Outside of an increasingly small group of reporters, the Oklahoman's reporting is god awful and, in many cases, can hardly be called reporting. I don't want to say they're lazy, but it comes off that way when I read stories and they often leave out key details that are readily available.

I get more details, background, and higher quality information on real estate and downtown development on OKCTalk and when it comes to political/government reporting, NonDoc does a great job uncovering and reporting relevant details to the story that the Oklahoman either glosses over or entirely ignores.

I know that's not the main topic of this story, but since you mentioned it, it triggered that growing dissatisfaction I have with reporting in traditional Oklahoma media.

Here's hoping that body cam footage is available and shows that the action was defensible. Is there any information on what hit-and-run this person was suspected of? Any chance it was one of the several recent fatality hit-and-run incidents? We've had a rash of them over the past few months.

I'm on a work PC, so can't see twitter, but not sure there's more info out there yet. I'm also not sure that body cams were on (or they were even wearing them or if they're required to be turned on), since I don't think OKCPD is very amenable to the whole body cam thing yet (but I haven't kept up with the status of the project). And if one officer fired a taser, why did the other one shoot and kill? Don't know all the details yet, but unless the guy was on PCP or the stick was loaded, almost no reason to shoot to kill (which *soooooooooooooo* many officers all over the nation just do, without any thought of de-escalation first), unless the officer "feared for his life", which will be his defense, and will most likely get him off.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/crime/2017/09/police_officers_need_to_accept_the_risk_that_comes _with_showing_restraint.html

Just one quote from a really good article:

"The facts on the ground are that, according to the Washington Post, 963 people—including 44 who had toy weapons, 48 who were unarmed, and 241 who were known to suffer from mental illness—were shot and killed by police in the United States last year. It may be true that some of those shootings happened because well-intentioned, well-trained officers were forced into impossible situations. It’s also true that a lot of those shootings might have been avoided if American police officers weren’t trained to be so afraid of the citizens they’re supposed to be protecting."

Cops NEED to be trained to not use their gun as the first resort, and they're not being trained that way.

OCPD & FOP only recently resolved their body worn camera issue, and not all officers wear them. I'm told that they're required of more junior officers, and optional for those with greater seniority. Also, scout cars aren't equipped with dashcams due to budget concerns, so that video won't be forthcoming.

As to officers discharging different weapons - a sidearm and a Taser - it demonstrates the complexity of law enforcement. If a third officer was present, he might have chosen NOT to discharge a weapon of any kind. All three could be justified in their actions based upon what they saw at the time. And if a case like this goes to a jury trial, the judge is required to instruct the jury to NOT use information learned after the fact in making their decision. It avoids hindsight and "Monday morning quarterbacking" with facts unavailable to the officer(s) at the time of the incident.

Prayers to the deceased's family and the officers involved.

Outside of an increasingly small group of reporters, the Oklahoman's reporting is god awful and, in many cases, can hardly be called reporting. I don't want to say they're lazy, but it comes off that way when I read stories and they often leave out key details that are readily available.That's what happens when upper management and ownership are no longer local, and have absolutely no interest in local happenings aside from the bottom line of net profit.

Many of us had no love for the Gaylord empire, but it did at least keep in touch with its local roots. And even when The Great Moral Daily (as Times writer Roy P. Stewart dubbed the Oklahoman) was at its height, the actual reporting staff numbered fewer than a dozen men and women. After being sold to an out-of-state publisher, downsizing was inevitable. Now in new quarters less than a tenth the size of its former castle, with editorial decisions coming from out of state and printing taking place in Tulsa, the firm is doing well to produce even eight pages to bring us daily grocery ads with only half as many writers!

Economy of scale applies to many areas, but never to the dissemination of information.

I'm on a work PC, so can't see twitter, but not sure there's more info out there yet. I'm also not sure that body cams were on (or they were even wearing them or if they're required to be turned on), since I don't think OKCPD is very amenable to the whole body cam thing yet (but I haven't kept up with the status of the project). And if one officer fired a taser, why did the other one shoot and kill? Don't know all the details yet, but unless the guy was on PCP or the stick was loaded, almost no reason to shoot to kill (which *soooooooooooooo* many officers all over the nation just do, without any thought of de-escalation first), unless the officer "feared for his life", which will be his defense, and will most likely get him off.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/crime/2017/09/police_officers_need_to_accept_the_risk_that_comes _with_showing_restraint.html

Just one quote from a really good article:

"The facts on the ground are that, according to the Washington Post, 963 people—including 44 who had toy weapons, 48 who were unarmed, and 241 who were known to suffer from mental illness—were shot and killed by police in the United States last year. It may be true that some of those shootings happened because well-intentioned, well-trained officers were forced into impossible situations. It’s also true that a lot of those shootings might have been avoided if American police officers weren’t trained to be so afraid of the citizens they’re supposed to be protecting."

Cops NEED to be trained to not use their gun as the first resort, and they're not being trained that way.
I understand the issue and agree with all of this. The reason I said that I hope cameras were on and that they support the officer's decision to shoot is that - since the outcome is now irreversible - it is the best possible situation. Meaning first and foremost that I hope that this individual was not needlessly killed, but also hope this for the sake of OCPD, the City of Oklahoma City and the officer, who even if he/she made an APPROPRIATE choice will likely face consequences and anguish.

My hope is that the incident fits this description from your quoted article:


It may be true that some of those shootings happened because well-intentioned, well-trained officers were forced into impossible situations.

That said, if the shooting was NOT justified, my hope is still that this too was clearly shown on body cam and that it leads to any appropriate discipline/prosecution and policy changes. As we have seen from the Holtzclaw case, OCPD has shown a willingness to deal with bad cops when they become aware of them. I can also say from personally witnessing a number of BLM rallies in Bricktown that OCPD is generally respected by those advocating for better policing. Those rallies have been markedly different to date (knock wood) than they have been in other cities, with lots of cooperation between BLM organizers and OCPD, and with both groups having positive things to say about one another. That is something that we should not take for granted here and I would hate to see that level of respect change for the worse.

THIS is why I say I hope the shooting was appropriate, and proven to be so.

Also, regarding body cams, OCPD has been very much on board with using them. They were implemented and only removed for a a few months after protests from the police union. The concerns of the union were addressed, and OCPD now has body cams back in the field and has plans to implement them on a much more widespread basis.

^^^ Yep, agree with all the above, OKCPD does tend to appear to be one of the better forces out there, from what I've seen, and glad to hear that the body cam issue is being settled and implemented, I just hadn't been keeping up with it. Still, I believe *every* PD needs more de-escalation training, even the good ones....

There was kind of a joke going around that when OCPD would announce themselves when they showed up on a scene,
it was "Boom, Halt, Police!"

There is a reason they don't like body cams, and why they don't use dash cams.

"An Oklahoma City police officer fatally shot a man on Tuesday night despite pleas from neighbors that the man was deaf and could not hear the commands to drop a metal pipe he was holding, the authorities said....

Julio Rayos, a neighbor who lives a few homes away and knew the man was deaf, said he saw the confrontation unfold and sensed trouble.

He said that he ran toward the officer with his wife and his 12-year-old daughter, all three of them screaming that the man could not understand the officer.

“Don’t kill him, he’s deaf,” his daughter yelled. “Don’t do it!”

About six other neighbors joined in, frantically trying to get the officer’s attention. But less than a minute after the episode began, a second officer arrived and immediately pulled out his handgun, Mr. Rayos said. While people continued to scream, the first officer fired his Taser at Mr. Sanchez, while the second fired his handgun, the police said....

Mr. Rayos said he heard more than six shots in rapid succession. “They seemed like they just came to shoot him,” he said. “It happened so quickly.”..."

Ugh... this sounds bad.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/20/us/oklahoma-city-police-shooting-deaf.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur

I would never want to be a cop

Wait... The driver of the truck in the alleged hit and run was literally in the driveway during this?

I hope we get some sort of video for this, although it was probably close to dark. Such an odd situation.



^^^ Yep, agree with all the above, OKCPD does tend to appear to be one of the better forces out there, from what I've seen, and glad to hear that the body cam issue is being settled and implemented, I just hadn't been keeping up with it. Still, I believe *every* PD needs more de-escalation training, even the good ones....

I'm not sure if you were being sarcastic or not, but OKCPD is one of the most violent PDs in the country. In fact, If they aren't #1, they are usually in the top 3 for killing people per capita depending on the data range.

There is no body cam footage as neither responding officer was wearing one, according to the news. Not sure if there will be dashcam footage. Unfortunate.

Wait... The driver of the truck in the alleged hit and run was literally in the driveway during this?

I hope we get some sort of video for this, although it was probably close to dark. Such an odd situation.




I'm not sure if you were being sarcastic or not, but OKCPD is one of the most violent PDs in the country. In fact, If they aren't #1, they are usually in the top 3 for killing people per capita depending on the data range.

I knew they used to be bad, but thought they had improved, just poked around and saw stats from 2015 and yeah, they were #2 per capita, can't find newer OKC stats easily, but seems like there haven't been that many I've noticed (but maybe I haven't been paying attention).

This is from a Salon article (poorly written since they don't explain who "Matthews" is - he's the PD spokesman):

"Matthews also added that he wasn't sure why officers deployed different weapons. "You can get tunnel vision or just get locked in on the person with the weapon," he said, the Times reported. "I don’t know what the officers were thinking. They very well could not have heard everyone yelling around them.""

Um, aren't cops SUPPOSED to be aware of ALL their surroundings when responding to a call and NOT get "tunnel vision"? Training needs to be way better if cops just focus on a guy with a pipe and can't see/hear anything else around them, including multiple people screaming that he's deaf and not to shoot.

There is no body cam footage as neither responding officer was wearing one, according to the news. Not sure if there will be dashcam footage. Unfortunate.

They did release footage of the crash the man's father caused and why they went to house in first place....http://www.koco.com/article/surveillance-footage-shows-hit-and-run-crash-that-led-to-fatal-officer-involved-shooting/12441815