A new round of questionable police shootings have occurred the last few days. The one that least passes the smell test is the shooting of Ryan Keith Bolinger, who was shot after a low-speed chase by a Des Moines police officer. The excuse for shooting -- Mr. Bolinger "walked with purpose." He was not armed.
According to police, the incident began on Tuesday night when Bolinger pulled up his Lincoln sedan to a Des Moines police patrol car helping to make an unrelated traffic stop of another vehicle. Bolinger was allegedly so close to the pullover that the officer inside could not open his door.
In a press conference on Wednesday, Des Moines police sergeant Jason Halifax said Bolinger then got out of his car and began “dancing in the street or making unusual movements in the street”.
Halifax said that Bolinger then got back into his vehicle and led police on a low-speed chase before making a U-turn, giving officers an opportunity to block his path with their patrol cars.
It was at this point, Halifax said, that Bolinger got out of his Lincoln and rushed toward the officer’s vehicle. Officer Miller, a seven-year veteran, fired one shot at Bolinger’s torso, who died on the scene.
This, of course, is the Official Story (TM). However, the officers were not wearing body cameras. Therefore, the Des Moines Police Department did not meet the burden of proof that this shooting was justified. All we have is their word for it. And since Mr. Bolinger is no longer here to defend himself, we don't know how accurate this version is.
Some uses of police force, like this one, are justifiable because the subject was armed and presented a clear and present danger to to the officer. This is not an argument for less policing, as the Baltimore Police Department seems to think in their passive-aggressive response to the indictment of six of their officers. This is an argument for more accountability for our police officers. While body cameras will not solve all problems regarding police accountability, they are the first step in reigning in police forces and officers which have become too out of control.
Another questionable shooting was the shooting of Quandavier Hicks, a 22 year old Black man who allegedly pointed a rifle at police when they knocked at his door so they could arrest him after they were called to a dispute. The reason that this does not pass the smell test is because the people closest to him say that Mr. Hicks' alleged actions as described by the Official Story (TM) were totally out of character based on the man that they knew.
A crowd of about a dozen gathered into the early morning outside Hicks' apartment and some shouted at police as they gathered evidence at the scene. Two were arrested for disorderly conduct.
"Obviously, it's an emotional situation, a stressful situation, any time you have something like this that goes on in the community," said police spokeswoman Lt. Danita Pettis. "We certainly understand that and try to be sensitive to that."
Blackwell and his staff moved quickly Tuesday night and throughout the day Wednesday to assure the community that the officers involved didn't initiate the conflict with Hicks.
"None of us want to come to work and have to do this," Blackwell said. "Our officers, when they use deadly force, are forced to use deadly force."
Neither the Cincinnati Enquirer nor the
WCPO account state whether the police were using body cameras. Consequently, all we have is the word of the police against the word of the people who knew Mr. Hicks the best.
In Findlay, Ohio, the police shot a 30 year old unarmed white man, Jeremy Linhart, who could not walk without crutches and whose ankle was in a cast.
Linhart was a passenger in a gold Ford Focus stopped by police about 3 a.m. The officer ordered both the driver and passenger out of the car, Horne said. Both got out, but Linhart tried to get back into the car and was shot in a scuffle with the officer, Horne said.
Police found a gun in the car. At a news conference, Horne would not say where the gun was in the vehicle.
The driver of the car was not arrested, police said.
Linhart died at 4:07 a.m. at Blanchard Valley Hospital, police said.
Linhart’s family said he couldn’t walk without crutches because his ankle was broken and in a cast.
The fact that these police were not using body cameras and the fact that the police department would not say where the gun in question was does not pass the smell test. All we have is the Findlay Police Department's word for what happened.
Finally, there is the police killing of a Black man, 25 year old Ross Anthony in Dallas by a taser.
Dallas police said a man died Monday evening after an officer used a Taser in an attempt to subdue him.
According to investigators, 25-year-old Ross Anthony was "exhibiting erratic behavior" when he was found inside a parked vehicle in the 5400 block of Jim Miller Road around 7:30 p.m.
After officers ordered the man to exit the vehicle, there was a struggle, and extra help was requested.
Police said Officer Paul Kessenich deployed his stun gun to subdue the suspect.
The reason that this does not pass the smell test is because a single taser should not have been sufficient to kill someone who was 25 years old. The fact that Mr. Anthony, a 25 year old man, could die in police custody at the hands of four officers suggests that excessive force was used in his arrest. If he was in fact sitting in cars that did not belong to him and showing "erratic behavior," then he should have been arrested. But no reasonable person is arguing that such actions should warrant the death penalty. And this matter was made even worse by the fact that Mr. Anthony was unarmed. Neither the WFAA account, the
CBS affiliate's account, or the
Dallas Morning News account says whether body cameras were used. Therefore, we only have the Dallas Police Force's word for it regarding what happened.
In all these cases, we do not know what actually happened. All we have is the police force's word for what happened. As of right now, there are too many unanswered questions on whether or not the officers involved acted appropriately. Much more work is needed to be done to restore public confidence in its police forces.