Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Black Police Association president backs department’s firing decisions

Black Police Association president backs department’s firing decisions

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Dallas Police Chief David Brown announces that Officer Cardan Spencer has been fired and charged with aggravated assault during a press conference at Dallas Police Headquarters in Dallas on Thursday, October 24, 2013. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)
The president of the Black Police Association echoed Dallas Police Chief David Brown’s rationale for his firing two officers in two months for shooting men without apparent provocation.
Cletus Judge’s statement starkly contrasts with the Dallas Police Association officials’ public criticism of Brown’s quick firings of Senior Corporal Amy Wilburn and Officer Cardan Spencer.
Police officials said Wilburn and Spencer violated their training in the moments that led to them shooting Kelvion Walker and Bobby Bennett, respectively. Judge backed the official line, and seemingly agreed with Brown’s recent decision to modify reality-based training for officers.
“The last two Officer Involved Shootings showed that both officers deviated from their training and the departmental policies and procedures,” Judge said in the news release. “I personally viewed the Dash Cam Video from the last shooting. I cannot speak to what the officer was ‘feeling’ but I do know what I saw in the video was a total disregard for the policies and procedures set in place to handle that situation.”
Retired Dallas police Sgt. Keith Wenzel, who trains law enforcement across the country and criticized Spencer publicly, said recently that he believed “a set of circumstances” were more at fault than training procedures in the Wilburn shooting. For instance, she approached the car without her gun drawn after the driver fled — a clear signal that she thought nobody was in the car.
Pinkston said Judge is “wrong and is blindly following the chief.”
“I have bigger issues, though, with him being allowed to view the dash cam video that is evidence in an ongoing investigation that nobody else is allowed to view,” he said. “And he is not part of the investigation.”
Judge is a sergeant who handles assault cases. Pinkston was able to see the dash cam video because he attended Wilburn’s disciplinary hearing in his capacity as DPA president.
Judge was not present at the hearing. He did not respond to a request for comment.
Pinkston also slammed Brown for failing to give the officers due process. He said that the Wilburn firing, especially, sends the wrong message to officers and muddles their ability to determine when and how to use deadly force.
The Texas Municipal Police Association, which represents 20,000 officers statewide, also recently wrote in a statement that its officials are concerned over Brown’s decisions.
That followed a letter from Pinkston to interim City Manager A.C. Gonzalez that the officers involved in a Jan. 2 shooting in Uptown didn’t immediately return fire because the department has made them afraid to use deadly force.
Judge alluded to Pinkston’s letter in his statement.
“When officers are involved in Deadly Force Confrontations thoughts about termination and questions about employment should not be at the forefront,” he said.
The Black Police Association claims to have roughly 600 members. The Dallas Police Association has 2,700.
Continue reading to see the whole BPA news release and the TMPA letter.
FOR IMMEDIATE PRESS RELEASE:
BPA PRESIDENT STATEMENT ON RECENT POLICE SHOOTINGS.
I know there has been a lot of talk regarding the last two Officer
Involved Shootings. I understand that many officers have been conflicted
about the two incidents in which both officers were terminated. I want to
give my personal input on both incidents and provide the members with some
clarity on the last shooting in which an officer was terminated.
I want officers to understand that I am well aware of the split second
decisions that must be made in the field. I understand that when bullets
are flying and officers are involved in life threatening situations they
don’t have the luxury of time when making decisions. The one thing that I
do know is that officers should rely on the training that was received in
the academy and beyond. I was a Defensive Tactics Instructor for nine
years at the Dallas Police Academy. I know that the DT staff spent many
hours, days and months on tactical training in regards to armed suspects
and felony stops. The DT staff constantly trained on these tactics not
only to ensure safety but to embed these responses into the minds of every
officer. Has training changed? Have we moved away from that? The last two
Officer Involved Shootings showed that both officers deviated from their
training and the departmental policies and procedures. I personally viewed
the Dash Cam Video from the last shooting. I cannot speak to what the
officer was “feeling” but I do know what I saw in the video was a total
disregard for the policies and procedures set in place to handle that
situation. My advice to officers is to rely on your training and reflect
back on the time you spent at the Police Academy. The use of the term “I
was in fear for my Life” is not a catch all phrase that will save you when
bad decisions are made. The fear that you speak about must be
“Reasonable.” The Deadly Force Policy is very clear. Justification for the
use of deadly force must be limited to the facts reasonably apparent to
the officer at the time the officer decides to use the force. When
officers are involved in Deadly Force Confrontations thoughts about
termination and questions about employment should not be at the forefront.
I urge every officer to first, rely on your training and secondly, do
whatever is necessary to go home to your family.
In conclusion, I want each officer to recall your oath of office. We all
vowed to defend the rights and the lives of the citizens of Dallas and our
fellow officers. We acknowledged that we were willing to be held to a
higher standard and to be judged on a higher standard. I have been a
member of the Dallas Police Department for more than 26 yrs. I have
traveled across the United States, being involved in training with regards
to police officers. The one fact that I’ve heard over and over again is
that the Dallas Police Department is one of the best trained departments
in the country.
I invite any member to contact me personally to discuss the Deadly Force
policy or any statements made in this letter.
Cletus Judge
BPA President

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