It was interesting to me not only because of the number of shootings so far in 2012 from this area, but also for the absence of a weapon in at least one of them, and for the assertion by the ACLU regarding shooting as a last resort not a first resort.
Gun violence and the gun culture are not separate between legal and illegal guns; it is the obsession with guns by both groups, groups which have an overlap, that is the problem, and which we need to change. The fetish worship of firearms by the law abiding is the exact same attitude among the not legal gun nuts. That is why i paired two news stories from this source.
From WWLTV.com News:
and this one:Four officer-involved shootings in 2012 in metro area
wwltv.comPosted on January 18, 2012 at 6:15 PMUpdated Wednesday, Jan 18 at 6:22 PM
NEW ORLEANS -- There have been four officer involved shootings in recent weeks in the New Orleans metropolitan area.
The region is bucking a national trend in that dangerous category.
"Most of the national studies, there have been many of the last several decades, show that police shootings, police officer involved shootings, that is when they use deadly force, are actually declining," said Loyola Criminology Professor George Capowich.
Tuesday night, Jefferson Parish deputies shot and killed a suspected car thief in Marrero.
Last week, Jefferson Parish deputies shot a man in the shoulder. They say tried to steal a police cruiser in Metairie.
New Orleans police officers also exchanged gunfire last week with three men suspected of murder in New Orleans east.
Earlier this month, the Jefferson Parish deputies fatally wounded a carjacking suspect in Jefferson.
"Two fatal exchanges in Jefferson Parish in one fatal exchange in New Orleans in just the last three weeks I think continues to point to what we've been saying all along," said New Orleans Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas. "The data tells us a story when 40 percent of the people arrested for murder in 2011 had a prior firearms charge, and 33 percent of the victims had a prior fire arms charge. We're talking about a subset of people who have exhibited dangerous behavior, and why do we have to continue to see them on the streets?"
The ACLU in New Orleans says police should be better trained on alternatives to deadly force.
"I think officers sometimes forget that force is often not necessary to subdue somebody, and yes, it is definitely a problem," said ACLU Foundation of Louisiana Executive Director Marjorie Esman.
Capowich said officers don't have to see a weapon to perceive a threat.
"It could be the nature of the movements, the situation, the nature of the call, the lighting, how much an officer can and cannot see," said Capowich.
"It's a decision that very few officers ever have to make in their life, and when it does happen, it changes everything for them," said Serpas.
The JPSO declined further comment on this week's fatal shooting.
No gun was found in or around the stolen vehicle in Tuesday night's officer-involved shooting.
Judge doesn't follow mayor's request of $30,000 bail for illegal firearm possessions
wwltv.comPosted on January 26, 2012 at 6:09 PMUpdated yesterday at 6:22 PM
Mike Perlstein / Eyewitness News
NEW ORLEANS -- One day after Mayor Mitch Landrieu called on criminal court judges to set bail at a minimum of $30,000 for defendants booked for possessing illegal firearms, the first test case came up in court Thursday morning.
It appears the court is not heeding the request.
Magistrate Judge Gerard Hansen set bail at $25,000 for 21-year-old Thomas Riles on his arrest for illegal use of a gun, a felony charge even more serious than the gun possession charge the mayor and Police Chief Ronal Serpas asked the judges to consider.
Illegal use of a gun is a felony that carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison. Illegal possession of a gun is a misdemeanor that carries a maximum sentence of six months.
Riles is accused of shooting several rounds in front of a family member’s home following a fight with his brother over a cell phone. He also was booked for criminal damage to property for kicking and damaging his brother’s bicycle. On that charge, Hansen set an additional bail of $2,500.
Hansen declined to comment specifically on his decision in the Riles’ case, saying, “I call each case individually as I see them. It is what it is.”
After Landrieu issued his request Wednesday, a spokesperson for the judges issued a statement that acknowledged “productive dialogue” with the mayor on the issue, but also noted that judges’ are bound by existing law.
“Bonds that are set in each case will be reflective of the charge, prior criminal history of the arrested subject, and other statutory factors as set forth in the law,” the court stated.
According to court records, Riles has two prior adult convictions. He was sentenced to probation for one year after pleading to marijuana possession in 2009.
Riles also pleaded guilty to possession of crack cocaine and Ecstasy in 2009, agreeing to a five-year probation. He later was sentenced to two years in prison for violating that probation, and court records indicate that he may be held as a parole violator based on his recent arrest.
When told about Hansen’s decision in the Riles case, Serpas said he will continue to push for the bail policy on gun charges, which is based on a similar strategy adopted in St. Louis.
"We are asking to work together with the courts so that the people of New Orleans can have greater safety on the streets,” Serpas said.
Serpas said a study by the University of Chicago shows a promising correlation between year-old St. Louis policy and that city’s 20 percent drop in homicides in 2011.
“There is no question, and the data is irrefutable, of the high relationship of the illegal use and possession of firearms and those people who have been killed and those people who have killed others in our city.” he said. “We are just asking the courts and everybody to take a good hard look at this unmistakable fact."
Wow. A mayor asks a judge to set bail at $30,000 and that terrible judge that actually knows how to set bail sets it at $27,500. What injustice!
ReplyDeleteJudicial independence doesn't matter in cases like this, apparently.
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