The following letter was sent to the mayor by Councillors Noel, Humphrey, Bowman and Ryan in response to the statement the mayor released yesterday about the shooting. Here’s the text of the mayor’s statement that this letter is responding to … and here’s the D/A’s summary of the report and here’s a link to the full report that both statements refer to
Dear Mayor Fuller,
Your recently released summary of the inquest and report of the Conlon shooting paints a misleading picture of the facts and conclusions in the report from the judge. In addition, we were most disheartened to read the out–of–context salacious findings about blood toxicology, mentioned but not emphasized in the report, which seemed to only serve to smear a victim in crisis, at a low moment in his life that does not fully represent his humanity. The lack of empathy for the victim and his family is stunning, but it is also a troubling message to send to other families and individuals struggling with mental health and addiction challenges.
The District Attorney’s press release elides or glosses over key contextual details. Both press releases do not fairly represent the full context of the report’s overall conclusions. During a period in our history when trust between our community, our elected officials, and those charged with protecting and serving the public is fragile and being rebuilt – to misrepresent the report’s findings seems a poor choice at best and destructive to the community trust we are working to re–build.
The inquest report’s narrative strongly suggests (and the report actually outright says twice) that non–violent de–escalation was working, despite a seemingly frightening environment for the victim, until he was provoked by a misfired beanbag shotgun, deployed opportunistically when the victim had put down the knife. “The on–scene commander…issued the order to abandon efforts at de–escalation and engage Conlon with the less–than–lethal, an effort that was unsuccessful and resulted in Conlon’s death.” He only picked up the knife again and began charging in response to unsuccessfully being fired on by the beanbag shotgun. The original plan was to wait him out until a professional negotiator could arrive. This approach had been working until then.
The inquest report does not actually exonerate the shooting, but rather simply finds that it was lawful and “reasonable” within the extremely generous bounds of the law in the exact moment it occurred, isolated from the decisions leading to that moment. It notes the unsuccessful escalation (instead of two other scenarios: continuing to wait or an inherently risky but instead successful beanbag shot) led to the fatality. The report only determines that the exact moment of lethal force was legally permissible – but makes a strong case that that moment only happened because of other decisions leading directly to that during the incident.
‘We the undersigned have compassion and sympathy for all involved in this tragic event in our beloved city. Compassion can exist simultaneously with the acknowledgement that better choices could have been made which could have prevented the death of Mr. Conlon. It is not necessary to exonerate all involved and disparage the victim for the city to move forward. What is necessary to move forward is the truth, as complex and as unsettling as it may be. This report was not an exoneration. It was a legal finding. The public relations spin is an injustice to the victim, and the political insistence on “unequivocal” “support” for personnel who made an avoidable bad call in the field with deadly consequences, per the report, does not improve public trust, healing, or future responses to similar crisis situations.
Sincerely,
Brenda Noel, Ward 6 Councilor
Bill Humphrey, Ward 5 Councilor
Alicia Bowman, Ward 6 Councilor–at–Large
Holly Ryan, Ward 8 Councilor
It is so nice to hear such supportive words from the Mayor to the NPD.
Chief Carmichael’s consistent support of his officers is exactly what Newton needs.
Their letter was very well written.
The Village14 link is only to the 5/17/22 one-page press release announcing the Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan’s decision not to prosecute, based on the inquest report. Mayor Fuller and Police Chief Carmichael’s letter refers to content in the 3/14/22 15-page full inquest report at:
https://www.middlesexda.com/sites/g/files/vyhlif4691/f/news/inquest_report_-_conlon.pdf
Interested residents should read the entire 15-page full inquest report and not just the one-page press release – in order to understand what happened at the Michael Conlon shooting. The full inquest report is thorough in examining all aspects of the shooting, and, in my opinion, it completely exonerates the police.
[The only complaint is that the report was so late. The Conlon shooting occurred on 1/5/21 – with the autopsy being performed the next day. And yet the inquest was not even STARTED until 11 months later on 12/6/21.]
The four City Councilors say the following about the Mayor’s statement:
“In addition, we were most disheartened to read the out–of–context salacious findings about blood toxicology, mentioned but not emphasized in the report, which seemed to only serve to smear a victim in crisis, at a low moment in his life that does not fully represent his humanity.”
The blood toxicology findings are contained in the medical examiner’s testimony in the full inquest report. The testimony, quoted by the Mayor and Police Chief, states that Conlon tested positive for 10 drugs, including a high dose of crystal meth. Stating the toxicology of someone in a police shooting smears no one and is relevant in describing what police were dealing with in the situation.
The four City Councilors are way off-base in their criticism of the Mayor and Police Chief Carmichael’s letter and the Mayor’s belated support of the police. I say “belated” because the Mayor’s earlier behavior regarding the Tim Duncan incident and former Newton Police Chief MacDonald was not supportive in the least.
Thanks for adding the link to the full report Debra. I’ve now added it to the post above.
Ha ha ha ha ha talk about misinformed the truth hurts “actions justified”. I hope that someday you four don’t need the police, that you don’t call them if you or your families are in danger The support for the Newton police is a disgrace, from all local leaders. the Newton police that put their uniform on every day to protect this city that you “SERVE”. Your fake compassion is an embarrassment you should be a shamed. Are any of you originally from Newton….perhaps that’s why there is no loyalty to The City Of Newton and those who serve.
It is very clear that not one of you has read the report or inquest transcripts in full. The findings of the toxicology report were in no way out of context. The medical examiner is not only a 10 year veteran of a Methamphetamine Strike Force, but has also conducted almost 5,000 autopsies throughout her career. During her testimony, she states that crystal meth levels of 20-30 nanograms per millimeter are considered fatal. She also states that in all of the autopsies she has conducted, the levels of crystal meth were typically under 100 nanograms per millimeter. Mr. Conlon’s autopsy found that his levels were 507 nanograms per millimeter. In other words, the levels found during this autopsy were 25 times higher than levels that are considered fatal, and more than 5 times higher the typical levels seen by a medical examiner with extensive experience. An individual must have an incredibly high tolerance to methamphetamine to survive the levels presented in this toxicology report.
Along with the extreme levels of Methamphetamine in his system, the medical examiner testified that 10 additional drugs were detected within Mr. Conlon’s bloodstream.
While you express your concern about the “lack of sympathy” for the family, are you aware that many of his family members stopped attending the inquest following the medical examiner’s testimony? Aside from the toxicology report, are any of you familiar with Mr. Conlon’s very long history of violent behavior that his family and other law enforcement agencies were aware of? If so, have you questioned why he was living alone, 30 minutes away from his parents who knew what he was capable of? Do you think there is a possibility that they were burnt out, and isolating him was the easier solution for them?
At the end of the day, the only people that showed up for Mr. Conlon on this tragic day were the officers of the Newton Police Department, and they did everything in their control to try to help him. Classifying this incident as a mental health crisis is a huge disservice to those battling mental illness. While Mr. Conlon could have very well been battling mental illness himself, the fact still remains that he was under the extreme influence of a mind altering drug and made an attempt to end the life of an innocent man. An addiction to crystal meth is a choice, not a disease.
Thank you for your WONDERFUL insight. We weren’t present during the medical examiner deposition or for the autopsy photos because we did not want to see our family member BRUTALLY MURDERED.
Also, to have this information about my family, I am guessing this is from one of the obnoxious, incompetent police officers that was present in the trial. Thanks for hiding behind a keyboard.
You clearly didn’t read through the inquest. Its okay though. The cops were not found to be criminally responsible…but much more to come against the whole department. Cheers fuckers.
First of all, the police would not have been there if your family member was not brandishing a knife in public, or telling a store owner that if she didn’t go with him he was “going to go apeshit.” Secondly, have you looked at the picture of the door he was stabbing? It’s a very good thing that door was locked and he wasn’t able to do that to the resident of that apartment. Third, not a police officer, just a citizen who has done their due diligence before making absurd comments about a situation that your family member caused. Where was his father when he was looking for him? With your family member’s long history of violent tendencies, I can’t imagine how any parent would feel comfortable having him live alone in a different city. It’s extremely unfortunate that he did not have the proper support, and was isolated from the rest of your family. If that wasn’t the case, no one would be suffering today. There is nothing more devastating than losing a family member, but the responsibility does not fall on the police department. There are many things that led up to the actions of your family member on that day that could have been avoided.
Addiction isn’t a choice
To “in Support of NPD”: I did not see any reference to a “history of violence” in the inquest report. Was it in the testimony transcripts? The transcripts, while publicly posted, do run hundreds of pages.
If the legal system presented no public evidence about a “history of violence,” then you shouldn’t be posting that information anonymously in a public forum. Similarly, I did not see any public evidence presented that Michael Conlon was a meth addict, only that he had a high dose of meth in his system at the time of the shooting. If the legal system did not present evidence of addiction, then you shouldn’t anonymously post that Conlon chose to be an addict.
It was grossly unfair of the public to spend 17 months condemning the police for the 1/5/21 shooting based on no evidence. Fortunately, an inquest was held and evidence was carefully presented that eventually exonerated the police. This evidence was presented by named individuals under oath. The public shouldn’t repeat their mistake now and condemn Michael Conlon on charges with no evidence, especially when these charges are made anonymously.
Debra,
I urge you to call Medfield PD and request all records regarding incidents involving Mr. Conlon. Everything is available to the public. Secondly, the reason I am able to state that Mr. Conlon was a Meth addict is because if he was not and he had that much meth in his system, he would have died of an overdose prior to the incident. Finally, one of the main reasons that none of this information was relayed to the Newton Police Department and this process took as long as it did, is because Mr. Conlon’s father is on the personnel board in Medfield. Not only was information about Mr. Conlon hidden, there were many attempts made to seal every single one of these records and keep all of this information away from the public eye. Can you think of any reasons why anyone would like to keep these documents sealed? I can.
To “In Support of NPD”
I’m sorry, but I still don’t think it’s ever acceptable to make anonymous accusations against private citizens, especially citizens who are no longer here to defend themselves. Anonymous accusations also undercut the credibility of the inquest. This inquest exonerated the police, and it is not helpful to the police, or the public, to mix-up the inquest results with new anonymous accusations.
But you think that all of these anonymous comments in regards to the actions of the police officers that day, from citizens that were not present are acceptable? He made his actions public when he decided to take crystal meth and run around Newton Highlands with a knife.
How many of those councilors have accompanied police officers during nights in high crime areas?
Or perhaps worked at a job which involves not being shot dead at any time?
Really relevant since he had a knife, not a gun.
Does the mayor honestly believe the police did a good job handling this situation? They did not. Because a good job would not have resulted in Mr. Conlon’s death. The Mayor should have thought about that more carefully before writing her letter, which struck me as both rushed and insensitive.
Were the two police officers correct in shooting Mr. Conlon? Of course they were. He had a knife in his hand and was reportedly preparing to stab a third officer. The two officers had no other choice.
Both these things are simultaneously true. The police failed to manage the incident to what should have been a peaceful conclusion. The officers who shot Mr. Conlon made the correct decision, given the circumstance they faced.
This incident took a decisively bad turn when the bean-bag shotgun police attempted to deploy failed to fire, and the officer holding that inoperable weapon was left in a vulnerable position. The four City Councilors critical of the Mayor’s letter should focus on this specific point. Non-lethal alternatives like bean-bag shotguns cannot help save lives if they don’t work properly in the field, or if police are not adequately trained in their use. It is imperative to understand exactly what went wrong with the shotgun, so it can be addressed through either better equipment or more training.
Mike: I appreciate your post a great deal. I agree that it can be simultaneously true that the police were justified at the end in firing at Conlon, while still believing that the situation that led to that point was handled poorly. We have a policy of escalation in these incidents which leaves officers with little choice but to employ deadly force and as a result people are dying. It is not an attack on the police to say that this needs to change.
Tell me where I can find the text of this “policy of escalation” with the police department.
Unless you’re just talking out of your…..
This irrelevant group again. Terribly misinformed virtue signaling once again by people who have never seen a police call like this.
It’s not like Humphrey has a job to get to, maybe he should stop living in his mother’s basement and take some Newton Police calls to see what real life is like.
These jerks don’t deserve our time. I only feel for our Newton Police Officers who have to risk their safety, and make tough decisions every day while city councilors like these to protect a city council that continually demeans them.
This group also organized a protest at the police station after this and had their friends spit on Newton Police Officers(their own Covid virtue signaling was on break that day).
We can’t tolerate this from these people.
When did “stewards of the City’s moral compass” top the list of responsibilities in the City Councilor job description?
While we all struggle with runaway inflation, shrinking tax revenues, cuts in education, and crumbling streets and sidewalks, these councilors choose self promotion over solving problem they were elected to solve.
https://twitter.com/aliciafornewton/status/1527084015857160192?s=21&t=DBzztuJT_Wpk5NQfYPF0Ag
But hey, you voted for them.
It takes a very special skill set to come out on the wrong side of every single issue.
Hopefully, this group of 4 Councilors will face strong challengers next year.
Hopefully you will be a better real estate agent next year.
Something must be said about the role of the Boston Globe in deliberately spreading false information about the Conlon shooting. The Globe has published numerous stories about the shooting since it happened and these Globe stories almost always have the slant that the shooting proves that police reform is drastically needed.
In their 5/18/22 story about the Conlon Inquest report publication, the Globe fails to publish the link to the inquest report or the DA’s judgement not to prosecute, based on the report. The Globe then allows no comments so that no one else can publish the links. In addition, the inquest story begins with a large smiling photo of Michael Conlon and the caption “Michael Conlon, 28, was shot and killed by Newton police on Jan. 5, 2021. His family is calling for greater mental health and crisis training for police officers.” The Globe is just not a reputable newspaper anymore.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/…/judge-newton-police…/
This story was picked up not just by the Patch and Boston Globe, but also by the AP. And why? Because like the Boston Globe, Newton is known nationally as a toney, affluent, self-righteous suburb of Boston. Yet despite the long history of villages with strong, working class origins like Upper Falls and Nonantum, we continue to elect officials that perpetuates the stereotype… time and time again. Sadly this letter is a reflection on all of us, we put them there.
https://apnews.com/article/health-government-and-politics-police-shootings-massachusetts-3dcf1fafaa7d0cf92b42e13baafd8549
As for the Boston Globe, they have definitely taken a biased view to their reporting…every bit the recirpocal equivalent of what the left accuses of Fox News. Just calling it like it is.
Hey…… How about…10 drugs in his system, including, CRYSTAL METH, TOXICOLOGY REPORT (done by coroner)
WHAT part didn’t you 4 get…..!!!!!!
which then in turn Compromised his Mental Illness. Maybe you 4…should do some READING….before opening your Mouths.
Have a nice day….
Hey Caruso,
I would love to sit down with you and educate you how to correctly write in English. Let me know.
-Everyone
. Oh excuse me English Professor!!
Ideally the crisis would have been resolved with non-lethal force. Tragically, for Conlon and his family, it was not.
I think the mayor’s statement was quite appropriate. I cannot say the same about the councilors’ letter.
Perhaps the lack of local news pressure on the mayor’s office/DA is a reason it took so long to get these answers. That’s also really sad.
Prayer’s up for the young man’s family; I’m sure they are still suffering. And I also hope the cops involved are keeping their chins up. What a tough situation to be put through.
How about a letter from councilors congratulating Newton police from preventing/solving countless cases of burglarly, assaults, rape, thefts for Newton residents?
I am embarrassed by the councilors response and hope they are voted out in the next election. I am happy that the mayor and chief supported the findings. We should appreciate and thank the men and women who risk their lives on a daily basis.
Completely disagree. Read the report, there was incompetence from start to finish. And you can google their salaries, it’s outrageous how such idiots can make so much money.
Too much negativity is being directed at the four City Councilors who took issue with the Mayor’s letter. They are right to question the report and the Mayor’s interpretation of that report. The health and safety of the public should always be the first concern of any elected official, and these Councilors are fulfilling their obligation by asking questions that may prevent a similar tragedy in the future.
I’m not suggesting that the four Councilors are capable of drawing correct conclusions. In fact, I take serious issue with the use of the term “provoked” in their description of the police decision to deploy the bean-bag shotgun. Also, I don’t think these four Councilors fully understand the tactics of deescalation. “Deescalation” does not require shaking the perpetrators hand at the end of the incident, or everyone singing Kumbaya.
Deescalation is a tactic used as part of the process to bring an incident to a close. In the Conlon case, the police did use deescalation techniques, until they had an opportunity to bring the incident to a close by using a non-lethal shotgun. Unfortunately that weapon did not fire when it was deployed, either from mechanical failure or human error. Mr. Conlon, armed with a knife, then attacked the officer holding the inoperable shotgun, causing the other two officers to use deadly force.
Again, I respectfully suggest that the four City Councilors who have legitimate questions about this shooting, focus on the failure of the non-lethal shotgun, rather than the tactical disposition of police during the incident. If the shotgun had worked when it was deployed, Mr Conlon would likely still be alive, and the police officers would not have to live with this horrible memory for the rest of their lives.
Btw, the title of this post is wrong. It should read:
“Newton residents take issue with 4 councilors statement on Conlon shooting”
Shame on these councilors. The sheer audacity to suggest there is anything close to broad mistrust of the Newton Police Department when there absolutely is not. This group clearly wants to live out their despicable defund the police fantasies on the backs of honorable women and men who risks their lives to keep our community safe.
Shame.
Truly remarkable how newton citizens jumped to the popular conclusion of the moment! The tension about how evil the npd police officers were after this unfortunate incident was palpable.. If only we all had the actual open minds that we claim to possess!
As a longtime newton resident too many so called decent liberal folks threw these poor officers under the bus and that is just not fair… Such hypocrisy!
Perhaps think again about how these responding officers will deal with shooting a dangerous person and how that affects them…guilt, anxiety, sleepless nights, etc. Is this really how you want to treat people who work on our behalf?
I encourage Bill, Brenda, Holly, and Alicia to go and speak with the Officers that were involved that day. Ask them about the “avoidable bad call in the field” that was made when two Officers had no choice but to save the life of another when a man high on 10 different drugs including meth charged at them with a knife and came inches away from killing someone. It’s easy to spew your anti police rhetoric from behind a computer screen.
The conduct displayed by these four individuals is divisive and detrimental to the safety of the citizens of Newton, and they should resign from their positions as members of the City Council effective immediately. They believe that their opinions supersede our judicial systems. If you demand accountability, then you need to be accountable yourself. Your actions are negatively impacting the citizens of Newton and you need to be held accountable. Resign.
I guess we know which four councilors need to lose their jobs the most. What a disgrace.
Although, and I am speaking to you ward 5 people, how could you elect Bill? Please dont do this again! And if you voted for him you should have known he was going to act this way. It is not the first time, he has a blatant bias against cops because the extreme idiot pundits tell him to think that way. (And no, it seems he cannot follow fact and make an honest judgement)
Remember in 2018 bill tweeted “ACAB”. What a nice man and steward for our city.
https://turtleboysports.com/newton-cops-killed-an-unhinged-man-charging-at-people-with-a-knife-and-now-city-councillors-pushing-school-closures-are-organizing-a-massive-defund-the-police-protest/
Frank, I fully understand that you and I don’t always agree and I’m not trying to start an argument here. But I clicked on the posted link you sent, and read the article, including the comments posted to that article. Leaving the article aside, the comments to that article are beyond awful, some of the most racist, anti-Semitic, sexist, homophobic comments I’ve seen online in a long time. Many of them are directed at Newton residents by name and religion. I’d ask you to remove the link and make your point another way. Jerry can edit at your request. I realize you aren’t responsible for the comments, but by linking to it and posting here you are spreading the reach of the article. Quite a few kids read this forum, including my own.
Maybe bill humprhey should resign for making the comments on his twitter.
I hate turtleboy. But boy do i hate people who say “acab” more. Dont make it about this site, make it about the despicable city councillor.
I think I agree with Mike Striar, who I believe is striking the right balance here. You can be supportive of the police and still want better outcomes than what happened here. You can understand that the police officers in question had to make a life and death decision, but also understand that there were ways, with the benefit of hindsight, to make this less likely to end with the death of a member of our community. You can ask why the non-lethal shotgun misfired, why the state officer was using a tazer and not a gun, why the mental health professional wasn’t permitted to engage (and should those rules of engagement be adjusted or the police be trained in similar techniques). That isn’t meant to disrespect the police or the job they do. It is a hard and sometimes impossible job. Split second life and death decisions are difficult to adjudicate after the fact. But any death caused by police needs this type of examination, and in an ideal world, our police would be looking to see what they can change so that the result will be different next time.
I have sadly had several situations in my life when the police were involved to assist mentally ill family or close friends. Some of the most painful moments in my life to be honest. The police did an excellent job both times, but it was easy to see how the situation could have escalated, especially when the person involved was contemplating suicide. I distinctly remember one of the times being grateful for the police, but also beyond worried and frightened about the reaction of the person they were there to help. I also remember wishing there was a mental health specialist who could have stepped into the gap between the police and the ill individual. I’m not trying to decrease police resources, but I would gladly support any additional mental health professionals the police might need, and perhaps those mental health professionals could be trained to enter into dangerous situations like the one here (or be police officers specially trained to deescalate).
As councilors, they could have access to speak to ALL the people who witnessed the event after the report was released.
Did they even bother to “talk” to those involved before posting their agenda? One would expect councilors to be mature enough to speak to those involved before coming to conclusions.
Not a good look
Bugek, I don’t think that is true. The report wasn’t commissioned by the city council. Why would they conduct separate hearings to interview witnesses? Would you even want them to do so?
Even if I don’t fully agree with their conclusions or rhetoric, I don’t have an issue with the Mayor or the 4 councilors here commenting on what happened or the report. That is what our elected representatives are supposed to do. It happens a lot on different issues.
I 100 percent disagree with Bill Humphrey’s statements about police — from a few years ago when he was a candidate and as a regards the mayor’s recent statement on the Conlon tragedy. He’s posturing as a way to express political purity, in my opinion. The same could be said for the councilors who signed the letter.
That said, Turtleboy is absolute filth, a sicko, and the comments on his page were so vulgar they could have been found in the Daily Stormer.
Agree regarding turtleboy.
I keep coming back to this post – like a moth to a flame – because it’s everything that’s wrong with Newton politics.
Look no further than Twitter. These 4 are among the most active Tweeters on the City Council. 3 of the 4 proudly Tweeted the their role in the letter (and the 4th retweeted). If they spent 1/2 of their time trying to solve this City’s problems, instead of propping up their personal brand, we wouldn’t have to endure eroding streets or lay off teachers.
They need to stick to the job for which they were elected instead of attempting to extending their 15 mins of local fame at the expense of making NPD villains.
As a prior commenter alluded, the officers are people too – just like you and me – and take no pleasure in the events and outcome that occurred. Where is the outpouring of support and compassion for them and their families?
This whole situation sucks.
Matt, these 4 don’t care. They look at police as less than human, because they live their sheltered existence where they don’t have to see what Newton police deal with on a regular basis. Just look at their history and past statements. It’s terrible what they have said about our neighbors.
Humphrey is like the Ted Cruz of the Newton City Council. Vote them out
One thing that made the inquest credible and fair is that the inquest process allowed the questioning of the witnesses by attorneys for Mr. Conlon’s family and by attorneys for the police. This was in addition to the questioning of witnesses by the D.A. The witness questions and answers are available in the 15-page inquest report written by the judge and in the hundreds of pages of inquest transcripts, all of which are now publicly available. This makes the process both transparent to the public and yet protective of everyone’s legal rights.
I think this type of inquest process is the best we can hope for. This isn’t a TV episode where we are going to know everything and where the actors go home at the end with no consequences to themselves. The idea that four City Councilors should arbitrate what gets quoted from the inquest records is wrong. Even worse is the idea that the City Council should now conduct a post-inquest “investigation” of some sort. That isn’t their job, and, frankly, the poor integrity of both the Newton records system and the Newton Law Department makes the City Council the last place on earth to judge the guilt or innocence of anyone.
The use of police body cameras in situations where weapons are used (by civilians and/or police) “might” have supplemented the inquest testimony about some remaining unknowns, such as the reason that the less-than-lethal gun failed to fire. Advocating for the future use of body cameras would be an appropriate action by the City Council. In addition, there was an 11-month gap between the shooting and the start of the inquest. Shortening that gap “might” have diminished the out-of-control public speculation about the shooting. Advocating for an earlier start to the inquest would have been an appropriate action by the Mayor. In the end though, we are still going to have to rely primarily on witnesses and a process that is, again, transparent to the public and yet protective of everyone’s legal rights. In supplying this process, I believe the inquest was a success.
Does anyone have any information or links to initiatives these 4 councilors have promoted or been involved with to make mental care or resources more accessible within the City of Newton?
Seems like a more productive direction they could take their positions in than blaming for police for handling a situation that should never have been their responsibility in the first place.
Don’t expect any initiatives from these 4 after the spanking that they got for sending such a stupid letter. I sympathize with the police because after witnessing the training they go through I realized that they are in a job that can pit them in a life or death moment at any time without warning. Yes upon review improvements can be made but lets not devalue those that put their lives on the line to protect us to the best of their ability.
Do people really want to live in a city where elected public officials do not question a police shooting? Those people are responding from their gut and not their brain.
The DA’s inquiry found that the shooting of Mr. Conlon was lawful and reasonable. Personally, I concur with that assessment. But the inquiry itself raised other questions. In particular it raised a question about the failure of a non-lethal shotgun the police attempted to use in order to bring the incident to a close. As of yet, no cause has been attributed to that failure, which could only be mechanical or human error.
The statement issued by the Mayor and Police Chief makes no mention of the non-lethal shotgun, or the police attempt to deploy it. It makes no mention of the fact that one of the two officers who handled the shotgun, asked the other to “confirm” that it was properly loaded, indicating some uncertainty about that procedure. The statement from the Mayor and Police Chief focuses instead on the seconds after the shotgun failed, when Mr. Conlon rearmed himself with a knife and attacked the police officer who was holding the inoperable weapon.
Was it simply an oversight that the Mayor and Chief Carmichael did not mention the non-lethal shotgun and its failure to fire? I seriously doubt it. They may be posturing for the inevitable civil litigation resulting from this shooting, but I don’t want to guess at their reasoning. I would prefer that the Mayor and the Chief address the cause of the shotgun’s failure in a public-facing way.
Our police need non-lethals that actually work. Officers need to be thoroughly trained in the use of those weapons. The public needs to be assured that the cause of the shotgun failure has been identified and addressed.