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StumbleInquest into police shooting to be broadcast on cable TV
Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2010 | 11:11 p.m.
Sun archives
- Inquest set for Sept. 22 in police Costco shooting (8-12-2010)
- Metro mails Costco customers to find witnesses in police shooting (8-18-2010)
- Candlelight vigil held in memory of man killed by Metro Police (8-11-2010)
- Planning for a situation like recent Costco shooting not easy for police (7-19-2010)
- Man killed by police in Costco shooting honored at memorial (7-17-2010)
- Metro IDs officers in fatal shooting at Summerlin Costco (7-12-2010)
- Officers fatally shoot armed man at Summerlin Costco (7-10-10)
A coroner’s inquest into the July 10 police shooting of Erik Scott outside a Summerlin Costco store will be shown on Clark County’s cable television station, and county commissioners asked county staff to broadcast all future inquests.
Commissioners on Tuesday approved the broadcast. They needed to give their OK because the Sept. 22 inquest conflicts with a commission meeting, which is normally shown the station.
Commissioner Steve Sisolak requested the inquest be shown after receiving phone calls and e-mails from constituents following a recent inquest into the police shooting of Trevon Cole, he said.
Cole’s shooting was found justified by the coroner’s jury, but the case drew even more public interest about the shooting of Scott. Metro Police said he pointed a gun at officers, but family members dispute the police version.
The commission’s zoning meeting will still be held Sept. 22, but it will not be shown on television so the inquest, which is scheduled to run Sept. 22-24, can be broadcast in its entirety.
Cox Communications has agreed to help with the technical setup for the event at no cost to the county, Sisolak said.
Commissioner Lawrence Weekly said he was concerned the inquest was only being shown because of interest in the case of Scott, who is white, while the cases of Cole and other blacks were treated differently.
“The sad part about it, it’s become a black and white and brown issue. It really has,” Weekly said. “You hear from the brown and black community: Well, what happened in our community? We’ve had a number of these cases. It’s a white male now, and because it’s become so public and so many people are talking about it, it’s become such an emotional issue, whereas in our community it comes and it goes away and nobody knows where to go and who to talk to.”
Sisolak said the interest in the last case is what brought it to his attention to suggest the change.
“It’s because I got so many calls and complaints about the last one that this came forward,” he said.
Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani said she hopes people don’t use the inquests to make emotional judgments. Perhaps there should be some sort of an introduction or explanation broadcast with the inquest, she said.
Lisa Mayo, a spokeswoman for the Scott family, said the family supports the broadcast. But the family hopes viewers will be a catalyst for changing the inquest process, she said, before reading a letter from the Scott family to the commissioners.
“We support televising Erik Scott’s coroner’s inquest hearing on Sept. 22 and 23, not because we support or have any confidence in the current inquest process but because we know Erik would want his fellow Las Vegas citizens to see for themselves just how one-sided and unfair this process and the investigation into officer involved shootings really is,” the letter said.
In addition to the county station, which broadcasts on Cox Communications Channel 4, KLAS-TV plans to broadcast the inquest on digital cable Channel 128, and KSNV-TV will carry the inquest live on Cox Cable 123.
Discussion: 3 comments so far…
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Who cares if they put this on TV, what would be the point?
Of course we care. Why? because "WE" the public should always demand that our government to be held accountable to "US" the people who hold the power over all things that is government related.
Its time we make some policy changes with how "Metro" does business and treats the citizenry of Las Vegas and Clark County.
The beatings and the killings must stop.
If the sheriff will not correct the problems, then the people will always retain the power to make them changes themselves.
We need to lay off some police officers anyways...we are heavily over policed right now. The population of Las Vegas and Clark county has decreased at a dramatic rate but yet the Las Vegas police department has not downsized to reflect that population change.
I would be curious to know how other large cities handle the inquest process.
@soloeforsenate: Obviously you have not been a victim of a crime lately or you would not have the opinion you do. We need more police officers, not less. To make this city a pleasant place to live, crime must be reduced more than it already has. Police are not the enemy here. When was the last time you heard about a police beating in the news? Seriously, this is not LA in the early 1990's. It is the actions of these individuals that have been getting them shot. Many of the police shootings latley have been a result of people trying suicide by cop. In the Scott case, Metro said Scott was reaching for his gun. The inquest will happen in two weeks and either this will be proven, or disproven. Until then, we cannot make a factual statement about that case because none of us have any facts. Just because it was a white West Point graduate in Summerlin does not automatically mean the police were wrong. The facts will be presented Sept. 22nd at which point we can make an intelligent comment based on facts instead of assumptions and opinons. This is what I would hope any senator of mine would do.
@TomD1228: Most large cities do not have an inquest process like this one does. Cities that do have an inquest usually make it a private event. The inquest in Las Vegas was designed to be transparent.
three words...
CIVILIAN REVIEW BOARD!!!
All points are correct on the issue of the openness of the inquest. Since the legislature is in session next year this would be a good time to reexamine the issue to see if there can be laws and regulations that can guide future inquest of the coroner. Will it bring clarification? The possibility is there, but something must be done to protect all citizens fore those who carry a badge and those who don't.
@TomD1228: Other large cities don't have an inquest process. Most large cities have external law enforcement agencies investigate officer involved shooting and the regular adversarial judicial process is used for officers, just as the process is used for other citizens. The inquest process is a Las Vegas concoction.
Some cities that are larger than Las Vegas have gone even further. For example, New York City has a Civilian Complaint Review Board that is a fully independent civil agency with a staff of 142 investigators. Officers are REQUIRED to answer questions from CCRB investigators and dishonesty in the process results in termination from the force. You may want to check this link out: http://www.nyc.gov/html/ccrb/home.html
If there is an officer-involved shooting, an NYPD officer can expect: 1.) an independent investigation from the Manhattan DA using the grand jury process; AND 2.) an internal affairs investigation; AND 3.) a regular police investigation; AND a CCRB investigation.
On top of all this, many large cities track police shootings and behavior by individuals officers. For example, the NYPD uses a Central Personnel Index that assigns points to an officer's conduct in an effort to identify those officers that are the most aggressive, as it found that officers in shootings have been shown to be younger and have an abnormally large number of complaints filed against them. Once an officer receives reaches 20 CPI points, they are monitored to ensure that they're not overly-aggressive in their behavior.
It should be noted that the chances of an NYPD officer being involved in a shooting is less then 0.26%. On the other hand, Metro has about 2,600 officers and the chances of a Metro officer being involved in a shooting this year is estimated to be nearly 1.2%, a rate that is between FOUR and FIVE TIMES HIGHER than that of NYPD's.
"We need to lay off some police officers anyways...we are heavily over policed right now. The population of Las Vegas and Clark county has decreased at a dramatic rate but yet the Las Vegas police department has not downsized to reflect that population change."
Our population has "decreased at a dramatic rate"? This is hearsay and speculation. People are leaving, yes, but others are arriving. Until the population of the Las Vegas metro area decreases by 100,000 it won't be "dramatic."
Further, our metro police force has traditionally been larger than other cities of similar size. Why? Because our residential population is small compared to our visitor population. We have about 17 times as many annual visitors than we do permanent residents. And where do you think most local police work happens? In areas heavily visited by toursists.
Comments are chock full of unedited, anonymous, agenda-driven misinformation. Read wisely.
Considering how the last inquest played out, why even bother with the next one. The entire process is a waste of time and money.
Chunky says:
Why are they making an exception by broadcasting this case? PR?
As long as the proceedings / coroners inquests are normally open to the general public (Chunky doesn't know... are they?) there's no reason to broadcast this. Let the interested parties go to the inquest along with media and they can invest time in what is important to them. Chunky doesn't watch a lot of TV period but he thinks the entire community is better served by broadcasting the business of the city council that affects everyone.
As to the shooting, Mr. Scott brought the entire chain of events on himself:
1. Costco didn't instigate his behaviour
2. The cops didn't instigate it
3. Mr. Scott had a CCW so he was at some point taught how to carry / handle a weapon.
4. If he was having a bad day he could have left the gun at home.
5. If he was on medications or had a buzz he surely shouldn't have had the gun in his possession.
6. If he didn't like whatever was happening at Costco he could have left without creating a problem.
7. When he found out the cops were on the way or in the building he could have holstered or sat his gun on the floor in open view.
8. When the cops gave him whatever orders they gave he could have simply complied.
What he did through a series of his own actions was got himself killed and now he's wasting the taxpayers and Chunky's dollars via the bleeding hearts of his friends.
Whether the shoot was 100% right or wrong is somewhat irrelevant, particularly at this point.
People create their own problems and Mr. Scott created this one. Plus he had ample opportunity to back-off, chill, leave, lay down on the floor, put his hands up, keep the gun concealed and any number of things he failed to do. His own personal decisions got him killed.
That's what Chunky thinks!
Chunky - Its called EGO. Most people with guns carry it to feed their EGO.
Chunky says:
Chunky has his CCW and carries as do hundreds of his friends / acquaintances. As a CCW holder you're taught the responsibility to carry requires a high standard of behavior and tolerance. Mr. Scott must have not learned that part of the lesson.
Ego may have been involved with Mr. Scott but ego comes from within. So if you're claiming ego that would add to the list above as #9.
Besides, of all the people Chunky knows who carry, none of them have yet to be shot by police much less because they caused a ruckus and failed to follow the orders of armed police officers.
Believe what you want, blame who you want but the bottom line is Mr. Scott created his problem and now we all have to pay for it via our tax dollars.
That's what Chunky thinks!
Chuncky: Have three people with guns surround you. The first person orders you to "Stop"; The second persons order you to "Drop it"; The third person orders you to "Put it down". You get killed if you don't follow all three command simultaneously.
They'll be scraping chunks of Chunky off the pavement.
That's what Summerlin thinks!
Witnesses reported that Mr. Scott DID NOT have a weapon in his hands before, during or after he was shot down like a dog. Witnesses reported police barking conflicting commands to Mr. Scott. Costco video footage of the event mysteriously and conviently dissapears. Police refuse to release the 911 call to them from Costco. Police ambushed Mr. Scott as he was leaving Costco after he finished shopping there, they shot him 5 times in the back as he lay dying on the ground. RIP Erik Scott
What you folks don't understand is that officers give commands based upon the actions of the suspect. If the officer says "stop," and the suspect doesn't stop and pulls a gun, the officer yells "put it down," or "drop it," (which would lead me to believe the suspect had something in his hand resembling a gun,) and the suspect does not put it down, then what do they do?
All of these commands could very well be yelled in a couple of seconds.
No officer is taught to tell a person who has a gun on them to pull it out...The "drop it" should be a hint that the gun was out, and in the suspect's hand.
Some of you would have the police begin a conversation with a person with a gun, that was reported to be acting erratic....And just refused to put down a gun.
When the gun was pointed at an officer, they defended themselves.
And MG, Scott not only had a gun, but another on his person that was found later, and I'm sure he was not shot in the back on the ground...Unless he was reaching for the gun that dropped on the ground.
Beware of believing only the things printed in the paper, they only get a enough of the facts to sell papers.
Did both weapons recovered appear on his CCW permit, and did the serial numbers and weapon descriptions match? The fact whether or not he pointed a weapon at officers is a matter of debate, there are witnesses on both sides. The only definitive proof is "corrupted". The only report of erratic behavior is based on the 911 call from Costco, and based on the dispatch tapes, there does not appear to be any other 911 calls. There are several reports of different officers yelling different commands at the same time.
Chunky says:
He'd never get himself into any situation where the cops would need to draw their weapons on him unless just had to defend his life or the life of a loved one. If he were, he'd simply freeze with his hands wide open and let the weapon fall to the ground.
Besides, pavement is very unflattering and it makes Chunky look fat!
That's what Chunky thinks!
@Chunky -- Angel2k thinks you are the smartest person in the room! Scott besically got what he did due to his actions, pure and simple. Don't try and steal stuff from Costco and they won't call the police...don't act like a jerk to a manager when they ask you to leave...don't disobey orders when there are several cops around you with guns because right or wrong, you are GOING TO LOSE...
Oh, and would the media PLEASE stop printing that angelic picture of Scott everytime they post an article? Obviously, that picture is as fake as the image his family is trying to portray...
More to come on this, I am sure.
I also agree STRONGLY with Lawrence Weekly, Councilman (and I am not normally someone who cries racism) - WHY did they not start televising these things until some pretty WHITE boy got killed? Not smart at all...