L.A. Police Commission Says Officer Violated Policy in Shooting
LOS ANGELES
BY KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG
Photo: LAPD Police Commission President Steve Soboroff explains the commission's ruling in the shooting of unarmed black man by two patrolmen, after a Los Angeles Police Commission meeting, June 9, 2015.
Los Angeles police commissioners on Tuesday issued a mixed ruling in the shooting of unarmed black man by two patrolmen, largely approving of one officer's actions while finding that the other had violated department policy.
The decision followed a tense administrative hearing into the shooting death of 25-year-old Ezell Ford last Aug. 11. The five commissioners briefly walked out of the hearing after activists began chanting and holding signs.
One man was arrested in a hallway outside the meeting room for interfering with a police officer, according to a Los Angeles Police Department spokesman.
Los Angeles police officials say the two policemen shot Ford, who has been described by a family lawyer as mentally challenged, after he struggled with one of them and tried to grab an officer's holstered gun.
Ford's death came days after the fatal shooting of black teenager Michael Brown by a white officer in Ferguson, Missouri, and touched off demonstrations outside Los Angeles police headquarters.
The commission's ruling sends the matter back to the LAPD's Internal Affairs division for further investigation. A decision on discipline would ultimately rest with Chief Charlie Beck.
The Los Angeles Times reported last week that Beck and an inspector general who acts as an independent watchdog had determined that the two officers who shot Ford were justified in their actions.
Department investigators found evidence indicating Ford had struggled for control of the gun of one of the patrolmen, the newspaper cited two sources as saying.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office is conducting its own investigation into the matter and could decide to press charges in the case.
Ford's family has filed two lawsuits over the incident, which came during a time of heightened national scrutiny of police use of force against minorities and the mentality ill.
During emotional remarks at the meeting, Ford's mother, Tritobia Ford, asked the commission to find against the officers in the administrative proceeding.
"I'm asking you, I'm begging you, please. My son would never grab a gun, he wanted to live. That's all he wanted.
He didn't deserve to die for it," she said.
Commission members found that one of the two officers involved in the shooting violated policy in several areas: tactics, drawing of his gun, and use of lethal force.
The commission said the second officer mostly adhered to policy but should not have drawn his gun during the altercation.
(Reporting by Katherine Davis-Young; Writing by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Peter Cooney and Sandra Maler)
BY KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG
Photo: LAPD Police Commission President Steve Soboroff explains the commission's ruling in the shooting of unarmed black man by two patrolmen, after a Los Angeles Police Commission meeting, June 9, 2015.
Los Angeles police commissioners on Tuesday issued a mixed ruling in the shooting of unarmed black man by two patrolmen, largely approving of one officer's actions while finding that the other had violated department policy.
The decision followed a tense administrative hearing into the shooting death of 25-year-old Ezell Ford last Aug. 11. The five commissioners briefly walked out of the hearing after activists began chanting and holding signs.
One man was arrested in a hallway outside the meeting room for interfering with a police officer, according to a Los Angeles Police Department spokesman.
Los Angeles police officials say the two policemen shot Ford, who has been described by a family lawyer as mentally challenged, after he struggled with one of them and tried to grab an officer's holstered gun.
Ford's death came days after the fatal shooting of black teenager Michael Brown by a white officer in Ferguson, Missouri, and touched off demonstrations outside Los Angeles police headquarters.
The commission's ruling sends the matter back to the LAPD's Internal Affairs division for further investigation. A decision on discipline would ultimately rest with Chief Charlie Beck.
The Los Angeles Times reported last week that Beck and an inspector general who acts as an independent watchdog had determined that the two officers who shot Ford were justified in their actions.
Department investigators found evidence indicating Ford had struggled for control of the gun of one of the patrolmen, the newspaper cited two sources as saying.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office is conducting its own investigation into the matter and could decide to press charges in the case.
Ford's family has filed two lawsuits over the incident, which came during a time of heightened national scrutiny of police use of force against minorities and the mentality ill.
During emotional remarks at the meeting, Ford's mother, Tritobia Ford, asked the commission to find against the officers in the administrative proceeding.
"I'm asking you, I'm begging you, please. My son would never grab a gun, he wanted to live. That's all he wanted.
He didn't deserve to die for it," she said.
Commission members found that one of the two officers involved in the shooting violated policy in several areas: tactics, drawing of his gun, and use of lethal force.
The commission said the second officer mostly adhered to policy but should not have drawn his gun during the altercation.
(Reporting by Katherine Davis-Young; Writing by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Peter Cooney and Sandra Maler)
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