Shootings prompt Metro to study use of force

Keith Paul

Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2000 | 11:19 a.m.

Sheriff Jerry Keller has ordered a review of Metro Police training procedures in the wake of three shootings this year that violated the department's use-of-force guidelines.

Metro officials say they are concerned that current police tactics could be leading to unnecessarily dangerous confrontations.

"We want to determine tactically what it was that caused these officers to think it was critical that they shoot," Keller said Tuesday. "We want to see if it was a glitch in training, a policy that we have not stressed or just isolated incidents."

Undersheriff Richard Winget said the department needs to determine if a different tactical approach could help officers avoid violent situations.

"It concerns me that officers may be using tactics that could not only get themselves hurt but also involved in shootings that may be justifiable, but not wise," Winget said.

The review was ordered after Monday's determination by Metro's use-of-force board that Detective Don Evans violated department guidelines on Aug. 19 when he fired two shots at a suspect in a moving vehicle.

Evans told the board -- composed of four citizens and three officers -- he saw the driver fumbling for something in the front seat and that prompted him to fire his weapon. The driver was not hit by the shots, and he eventually crashed during a car chase. A hypodermic needle was found in the car along with some drugs, but no gun was found.

The board has ruled in recent months that Officer Darren Hecker's shooting at a car on May 7 and Officer Nathan Chio's shooting into a pile of clothing while checking a car for suspects on April 19 were in violation of policy. Deputy Chief Ray Flynn said the officers' actions were not criminal.

So far this year there have been 13 hearings involving use of force by officers . Last year there were 10, and all were ruled within Metro guidelines, Flynn said.

Gary Peck, executive director of the local American Civil Liberties Union, said the number of officer-involved shootings is cause for concern, but he is encouraged by the department's review.

"While we are heartened at some of these recent use-of-force board decisions and see the decision for the review as a positive development, the number of shootings obviously concerns us," Peck said.

According to Metro's policy manual, officers are authorized to use deadly force to "protect themselves and others from what is reasonably believed to be an immediate threat of death or serious bodily harm."

But the policy also states that officers are not authorized to fire at "moving vehicles, unless it is absolutely necessary to do so to protect against imminent threat of life" of the officer or others.

The manual also states that officers have to "attempt to move out of the path of an oncoming vehicle, if possible, rather than discharge their firearm."

Fleeing suspects are rarely trying to hit an officer when an officer fires at a vehicle, said Geoff Alpert, a criminal justice professor at the University of South Carolina, who has studied police use of force and pursuit driving.

"A fleeing suspect is doing just that: fleeing," Alpert said. "The (suspects) we've talked to said they weren't trying to hit the officer and thought the officer would get out of the way."

Police finding themselves in the path of a car may have made a tactical error that landed them in a position that forces them into using deadly force, Alpert said.

"It doesn't make sense to put yourself in the path of the car, and your best bet is to jump out of the way," he said. "But we've seen too many times that officers fire and then use the traditional excuse of self defense."

David Harris, a University of Toledo Law School professor who has researched police misconduct and accountability, said Metro's self-imposed review is positive step, "but it's the follow-up that will tell you if something is going to be done."

Harris said quick and proper punishment for shootings that violate policy is needed to change police officers' mindsets.

"Police are like everybody else, human beings, and respond to rewards and punishment," he said. "If we tell them to go out there and catch criminals, and we really don't care how you do it, we shouldn't be surprised if they do something worse."

Keller agreed with the need of discipline when officers violate policy. He has doled out discipline to Hecker and Chio in the two previous cases that include retraining. The use-of-force board recommended Evans be disciplined and receive additional training. Metro did not reveal how he was disciplined.

"We want our process to be corrective," Keller said. "I'm a firm believer in remedial shooting and driving training for officers."

The same night the use-of-force board determined Evans' actions were not within policy, it cleared four officers in a July shooting and killing of a robbery suspect fleeing in a car.

Sgt. David Schvaneveldt, Detective Chris Tomaino, Officer Joseph Lepore and Detective Michael Game were cleared in the shooting of 19-year-old Frakelin M. Hardy of Bakersfield, Calif. The armed teen was seen by two of the officers running out of a bar after a robbery. Hardy attempted to escape in a car and fled from police.

During the escape Hardy tried to ram a several cars when he was surrounded by officers in traffic on Tropicana Avenue and Swenson Street. The officers fired 26 times at the car. A Clark County coroner's inquest ruled last month that the shooting was justified.