Pueblog USa
Saturday, February 05, 2005
Mutual Respect Requires Honesty
The police department’s efforts to win the trust of the citizens will be in vain if it is not willing to examine actions in the public light.
Juan Espinosa, of the Pueblo Chieftain staff, has a good ‘editorial’ in today’s edition. He’s addressing last Thursday’s efforts at public relations efforts conducted by the city with regards to the growing concern that the Pueblo Police Department has an attitude problem.
This segment of the article caught my attention….
Pino’s family questioned why police have been reluctant to release reports on the incidents that led to the young man’s shooting. A lawyer for the family said Police Chief Jim Billings had not returned calls from the family. Chief Billings countered by saying the family had missed an appointment with him to discuss the case. He offered to set another date. Pino’s mother said she was not ready.
The question that it brought to my mind is, where is the official police and coroner’s report on the shooting of Daniel Pino? Surely they have been completed and are on available. What does it take to see the reports? A Freedom Of Information Act law suit?
I remember my days living in Lincoln, Nebraska, in the 70s. I recall two incidents where the police had to kill someone in their contacts with the citizens. One incident was right out of Clint Eastwood’s Play Misty for Me. A mentally unstable man came out of the door of his room with a kitchen knife and attempted to stab one of the detectives who had come to question him about a reported criminal activity. In the other incident a guy started shooting at the officers. In both instances, the LPD held a public hearing to explain their official reports on the incidents. The citizens respected the police department’s actions in both instances. The public hearing to brief the citizens worked very well in accomplishing that.
I would suggest that it would be in everyone’s interest if the PPD adopted the same policy. If someone is shot by an officer, then the PPD should hold a public hearing to explain the exact circumstances surrounding the incident.
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