The shooting in question [via abclocal.go.com]: “The two officers who opened fire on Derrick Jones say he was reaching for his waistband . . . The electronic scale Jones was carrying is silver colored and small, about 3×5 inches. Police say the two officers shot Jones numerous times in the chest when he reached for his waistband. They say the officers thought Jones was reaching for a pistol.” So far, so collateral damage. Especially when we discover “Police responded to a domestic violence call Monday evening on the 5800 block of Bancroft Avenue. Jones ran from the scene with officers in pursuit.” At night. Regrettable. But avoidable? The Chief thinks so. Or at least he says he thinks so . . .
After the shooting, Police Chief Anthony Batts said perhaps his department needs better training.
“I do want to focus on the fact that we need to better ourselves in dealing with people going for waistbands, going into clothing, going into different aspects and make sure that we give officers the proper training to address these things,” said Batts.
“They’re young officers,” said Burris. “Generally, officers within one to three, four years are the ones who generally engage in fatal shootings.”
Nice sentiment (re: the need for more training, not the “throw the greenhorns under the bus” bit). But how in the world would you do that?
The first thing I would do if I was surrounded by armed police is reach for my scale. C'mon, who is kidding who? Haven't we seen this movie before? Derrick Jones was shot for RWB — running while black. That's a serious crime, much like driving while black, combing hair while black and scratching while black, all of which can get a brother shot.
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