Video shows San Diego cop killing homeless man from nearly 20 feet — but DA won’t prosecute
Source: RawStory
Arturo Garcia
22 Dec 2015 at 23:00 ET
San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis released footage on Tuesday of a local police officer fatally shooting a mentally-ill homeless man almost instantly upon spotting him, while defending her decision not to press charges in connection with the incident, KGTV-TV reported.
Warning: the video included with this story contains graphic footage.
The footage shows Officer Neal N. Browder firing at 42-year-old Fridoon Rawshan Nehad on April 30 while responding to a complaint that Nehad was threatening customers inside an adult bookstore with a knife. But the “knife” actually turned out to be a pen. Browder was wearing a body camera at the time of the shooting, but did not turn it on.
As the San Diego Union-Tribune reported, Dumanis released the surveillance footage a week after a federal judge lifted a protective order she obtained blocking media outlets from gaining access to it, and a month after she determined that Browder was not criminally liable in Nehad’s death.
She also released audio of Browder’s conversation with police dispatchers before the encounter, as well as security camera video showing Nehad inside the bookstore, saying that footage of the shooting alone would not put it in the proper context.
Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/2015/12/video-shows-san-diego-cop-killing-homeless-man-from-nearly-20-feet-but-da-wont-prosecute/
Note: The linked article did not have a video that could be posted here, so I went to YouTube.
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joshcryer
(62,276 posts)happyslug
(14,779 posts)Police, like soldiers, are trained to kill, but are also like soldiers are train to provide first aid. Notice the officer first secure the person he had shot and then provided the first aid.
I am not saying what the officer did was correct, just pointing out calling for an ambulance and providing first aid should be automatic do to training in any shooting.
truedelphi
(32,324 posts)Parkinsons' patients and Alzheimer's patients.
I have no idea why it is that police do not possess the type of training to get a knife a way from a person. They also lack the ability to de-escalate a situation when someone is ranting and raving and maybe is a real threat. Instead they usually escalate it.
brer cat
(24,598 posts)times a million.
tazkcmo
(7,300 posts)They're delicate flowers and should be handled with care.
valerief
(53,235 posts)happyslug
(14,779 posts)For centuries, the preferred "weapon" of a police officer was the billy club. Yes, it could be used to knock someone in the head, but mostly it was used to disarm people by hitting the weapon with the club and then using the club to hit the victim on the trunk of his body. Such hits to the truck caused the lease damage to the body BUT applied the most force and pain causing people to STOP FIGHTING. The club could also be used to push someone away if that person had a knife. The Billy Club was and is a very useful tool for the police.
The billy club should be the first choice of weapon of any police officer. I my opinion for officers new to any police force the ONLY weapon. If an officer can not control a situation with the use of a billy club, he is over his head and should retreat or call for backup. An older officer with experience in such situation can be given a pistol for would have faced situations where he had to retreat and thus will not feel like he has to stand his ground and shoot someone. Many a younger officer do NOT want to retreat when it is called for, but giving them a gun, the gun because they first choice in situation when they should be backing down.
I have to agree with the British, first line police officers should NOT have firearms. Billy clubs, yes, Tasers maybe, but no firearms. After five years of service, they may be given the right to take a pistol if they think they need one, but only if they have been on the streets for five years dealing with people (i.e. NO behind the desk positions would count for the five year requirement).
Stargleamer
(1,990 posts)it was a pen!!
truedelphi
(32,324 posts)So they are no longer trained on how to take a knife away from someone - they aren't
even trained on how to take a pen away!
Live and Learn
(12,769 posts)I am so sick of seeing this happen.
Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)
ManiacJoe
(10,136 posts)If the prosecutor has other evidence supporting the shooting, she need to release that.
Live and Learn
(12,769 posts)Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said Tuesday she decided to release surveillance video of a disputed police-involved shooting from April because she wanted to provide the public with everything people needed to know about the incident. In two days, because of Voice of San Diego and other local media’s efforts in court, the deceased’s family would have been allowed to make the video public. Releasing the video on its own, Dumanis said, would have been irresponsible.
“The video in and of itself does not tell the complete story and I think it’s important for the public to see, in evaluating that, the complete picture of what happened,” Dumanis said.
But Dumanis’ own presentation did not live up to her words. She showed the surveillance video at an hour-long news conference along with a litany of other information carefully curated to back her perspective that Officer Neal Browder’s shooting of 42-year-old Fridoon Rawshan Nehad in an alleyway in the city’s Midway district was justified. She didn’t release significant evidence from the case, including Browder’s initial interview with homicide investigators after the incident.
The entire strategy, including the release of video footage and selective release of other evidence, could be an indication of what’s to come after future police-involved shootings in San Diego. Dumanis said she and other top local law enforcement officials were revising their stance that no shooting videos should be made public outside a courtroom.
http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/topics/public-safety/das-selective-release-of-shooting-evidence-could-signal-a-new-trend/
Live and Learn
(12,769 posts)and shoots him within seconds. That is the story, period.
NobodyHere
(2,810 posts)Not saying he was right or wrong but there is more to the story than what you posted.
newfie11
(8,159 posts)
Scuba
(53,475 posts)
SwankyXomb
(2,030 posts)I mean, it was just another mentally-ill homeless man, right?
valerief
(53,235 posts)november3rd
(1,113 posts)Time to reopen the State mental hospitals. These people should be treated with the respect due any person suffering from an illness, and not imprisoned or left to wander the streets or be murdered by cops.
PatSeg
(47,583 posts)The guy was just walking casually, I didn't think HE was the "suspect" until he was shot.
Edit to add, I didn't hear the cop say or demand anything of the suspect, just shot him like a rabid dog.
LiberalLovinLug
(14,176 posts)You know, where the suspect is even more confrontational than this guy seems to be. The TV cop always first tried talking him out of it, then would use his physical take-down training and wrestle the suspect to the ground. Or simply order him to the ground hold a gun on him until back-up arrived.
In reality, it seems like its now a cowardly shoot first, and not in the leg or arm, but fatally, then ask questions...to a corpse.
PatSeg
(47,583 posts)And those cop shows where an officer shoots someone and finds out the person didn't have a gun, though it appeared he did. The cop is mortified and Internal Affairs is right there jumping all over everyone. The whole precinct goes nuts. How could this happen, blah, blah, blah. Meanwhile, the viewer can see the cop's point of view, but the cop will never be the same again (remorse, nightmares, etc).
Cut to reality - Evidently Internal Affairs is not like TV and though the police may watch a lot of cop dramas, they apparently don't emulate what they see on screen.
I know police brutality has been with us always, but it does appear we have a new breed of cop overall and they seem to be rather spineless.