Salinas Police Dept, CA - Denounce Fatal Shooting of Citizen

[chipdeblock]

http://forcechange.com/124317/denoun...zen-by-police/

Denounce Fatal Shooting of Citizen by Police

Posted by Jennifer Schwager

Target: Salinas Deputy Chief of Police Terry Gerhardstein

Goal: Immediately address increasing incidences of fatal police violence

Another man has been shot dead at the hands of police officers in Salinas, California. The man was shot on a street near a storefront, in front of several bystanders as well as children.

Video evidence of the shooting shows a distressed 44-year-old man, Carlos Mejia, walking away from two armed police officers with a tree-cutting tool. Police officers were pursuing the man, trying to question him, and suddenly shot him several times when he refused to talk to police. The man was pronounced dead at the scene.

Though police officers claim that the man was threatening them, two separate videos show that the man was walking away from the officers as they followed him. At that point, he was not a direct threat to the officers and could have been apprehended with other, non-fatal methods, including tasers that both the officers carried.

With occurrences of fatal police violence becoming more common throughout many cities in America, it is imperative that police departments take greater care to reduce violence toward citizens. The police service is sworn to serve and protect, and must therefore go to every length possible to avoid escalating situations to a fatal point. Your signature will denounce police actions in Salinas, California, and demand that measures be taken to further train officers in avoiding escalation.

PETITION LETTER:

Dear Deputy Chief Terry Gerhardstein,

Recently, a 44-year-old man was shot dead in Salinas streets. Video evidence shows Carlos Mejia walking away from two armed officers when he is shot several times. Though officers claimed to have been endangered by the man’s leaf-cutting tool, the man was walking away as they followed and shot him. At that moment, the officers were under no immediate threat and could have employed a non-fatal method to apprehend the suspect, including the tasers with which they are armed. The man was pronounced dead at the scene.

Fatal altercations with police are increasing in Salinas and America in general, and must immediately and aggressively be addressed. In order to prevent further unnecessary fatalities at the hands of police, officers must be educated in how to handle and de-escalate potentially violent situations and make every effort to diffuse situations without the use of fatal armed violence. We, the undersigned, denounce the recent police violence in Salinas and demand that it be stopped immediately.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

[chipdeblock]

Yet another petition started by FORCECHANGE.COM asking potential petitioners to disregard a little thing called DUE PROCESS in the deadly shooting of Carlos Mejia by two Salinas police officers. The irony is that the very first sentence of the FORCECHANGE.COM article explains to readers that "several bystanders as well as children" were present at the time. The story goes on to state that video evidence shows that Mejia was "distressed" and walking away from armed police officers with a "tree-cutting tool". It even goes as far as to say that police were pursuing him. As a recently retired police officer with 30 years of experience, this seems to have almost all the elements for a good shooting. Is this just another opportunity for someone to steal the lime light?

I watched the video at http://www.ksbw.com/news/central-cal...oting/26132758 and, although you could not Mejia's exact actions or his proximity to potential victims, you could see people on both sides of the street (they were drawing a crowd). The FORCECHANGE.COM site downplays the threat Carlos Mejia posed, stating that police claimed Mejia was threatening them but in contrast two (2) separate videos showed Mejia walking away from police as they followed. FORCECHANGE.COM also says that Mejia "was not a direct threat to the officers and could have been apprehended with other, non-fatal methods, including tasers that both officers carried". A more accurate statement would have been that Carlos Mejia was intoxicated and brandishing garden shears as a deadly weapon towards uniform police officers. Mejia's erratic actions while retreating from pursuing police with the weapon in an environment with civilians in close proximity forced police to use deadly force. FORCECHANGE.COM seemed critical and accusing officers of not using non-fatal methods like Tasers, but in reality both officers did use their Tasers unsucessfully. I also suspect that the portion of the video we cannot see during the shooting will show Mejia taking an aggressive action towards police or coming close to a potential victim. Either of these would completely justify using deadly force.

What FORCECHANGE.COM seems to be unaware of is that the use of deadly force for police officers is not dependent on them being in fear of death or great bodily harm from the offender...they can shoot an offender who poses that threat to another also. By signing their petition they want you to "denounce police actions in Salinas, California, and demand that measures be taken to further train officers in avoiding escalation". Also, the news reporter (see above video link) who questioned why armed police officers would not surround a suspect brandishing a deadly weapon obviously has no idea of how deadly a crossfire situation could be.

While the rest of the evidence (video) is still out there and being reviewed, I see no reason to suspect that these cops were not acting within the scope of their duties in protecting the lives of citizens and themselves by using deadly force. To form such a petition at this point, prior to the outcome of any investigation that's currently underway, seems indicative of those who are seeking an opportunity to stir the pot with the Spanish community.