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This was a tragic case of a man contemplating suicide, and before I continue this:
This story has 2 officers who did great work, they did everything their city has provided to them to help people in mental problems who take the time to call the police, which is in all honesty a cry for help. The man in this story had called the police and had a gun/weapon to his head when the officers arrived. The first 2 officers did great work, they took the time to connect with the man to try and talk him of the "edge". Because cases like this can easily escalate into suicide by cop. So the officers harked back to their training and the protocol in dealing with potential suicide by cop situations.
They are taught to first ensure their own safety (by taking cover) and the public's safety. That is step 1.
Step 2 is easy, don't make the situation worse by not pointing their weapons at the person who wants to commit suicide because this will increase the tension, the anxiety of the suicidal person and can exacerbate the situation.
They have been taught to use their communication skills as this has the best results, in 341 of 419 cases the LAPD needed not to use any violence to resolve the situation. In the other cases 71 were solved by less than lethal force and just in 7 incidents lethal force was used.
Then there is a whole slew of further things that need to be done. NONE OF THAT HOWEVER IS running into a house, placing yourself in danger by running into the room with the suicidal patient, point your weapon at them and then gun the down.
This is sadly exactly what officer William Ben Darby did when he arrived at the scene. 2 officers were doing what their training said, deescalating the situation when officer Darby arrived. He took his rifle, ran to the door, ordered the female and male officer to ignore their training to not point their gun at him and when they did not do that he walked past them, pointed his rifle at the man and then shot him DEAD. All within one minute after he parked his car at the scene.
He then did some very shifty stuff. Worried about his car and side arm being taken and investigated, he asked a fellow officer if he would hold on to his personal backpack in his car. The officer that shot than put something over his camera so that nobody could see what he retrieved from his car and handed over to his fellow officer.
When he was charged, the city decided to pay for his legal costs because the city saw no problem with him violating all policy rules and regulations and killing a man who could have been saved (most likely). So the city voted to use 125 thousand dollars to pay for his lawyer because they of the opinion that the killing was within the line and scope of his duty. HOWEVER they did not see the bodycam evidence.
The jury found the officer guilty of murder and still the convicted killer was on the city pay role.
The footage of the body cam was still being kept under wraps by the city, they did not want to release it. that is until the judge of this case issued an order to release the body cam footage. But the lawyer of the city argued that the cam footage was the "property of the city, not of the parties to this case". The city maintained it was not their duty to release the cam footage because according to the Alabama open records act it was non-public privileged law enforcement records. But as these video's were part of the case, they were still released.
But even after the videos were made public and the officer had been convicted of murder, the mayor, chief of police and inmate Darby refused to admit any wrongdoing. The judge sentenced him to 25 years and cannot bond out during the appeal process. The city has been hit by a lawsuit for the killing of the man.
PLEASE NOTE, this is not an anti police officer story because 2 of the officers were EXCELLENT and performed their duties with great professionalism.
This story has 2 officers who did great work, they did everything their city has provided to them to help people in mental problems who take the time to call the police, which is in all honesty a cry for help. The man in this story had called the police and had a gun/weapon to his head when the officers arrived. The first 2 officers did great work, they took the time to connect with the man to try and talk him of the "edge". Because cases like this can easily escalate into suicide by cop. So the officers harked back to their training and the protocol in dealing with potential suicide by cop situations.
They are taught to first ensure their own safety (by taking cover) and the public's safety. That is step 1.
Step 2 is easy, don't make the situation worse by not pointing their weapons at the person who wants to commit suicide because this will increase the tension, the anxiety of the suicidal person and can exacerbate the situation.
They have been taught to use their communication skills as this has the best results, in 341 of 419 cases the LAPD needed not to use any violence to resolve the situation. In the other cases 71 were solved by less than lethal force and just in 7 incidents lethal force was used.
Then there is a whole slew of further things that need to be done. NONE OF THAT HOWEVER IS running into a house, placing yourself in danger by running into the room with the suicidal patient, point your weapon at them and then gun the down.
This is sadly exactly what officer William Ben Darby did when he arrived at the scene. 2 officers were doing what their training said, deescalating the situation when officer Darby arrived. He took his rifle, ran to the door, ordered the female and male officer to ignore their training to not point their gun at him and when they did not do that he walked past them, pointed his rifle at the man and then shot him DEAD. All within one minute after he parked his car at the scene.
He then did some very shifty stuff. Worried about his car and side arm being taken and investigated, he asked a fellow officer if he would hold on to his personal backpack in his car. The officer that shot than put something over his camera so that nobody could see what he retrieved from his car and handed over to his fellow officer.
When he was charged, the city decided to pay for his legal costs because the city saw no problem with him violating all policy rules and regulations and killing a man who could have been saved (most likely). So the city voted to use 125 thousand dollars to pay for his lawyer because they of the opinion that the killing was within the line and scope of his duty. HOWEVER they did not see the bodycam evidence.
The jury found the officer guilty of murder and still the convicted killer was on the city pay role.
The footage of the body cam was still being kept under wraps by the city, they did not want to release it. that is until the judge of this case issued an order to release the body cam footage. But the lawyer of the city argued that the cam footage was the "property of the city, not of the parties to this case". The city maintained it was not their duty to release the cam footage because according to the Alabama open records act it was non-public privileged law enforcement records. But as these video's were part of the case, they were still released.
But even after the videos were made public and the officer had been convicted of murder, the mayor, chief of police and inmate Darby refused to admit any wrongdoing. The judge sentenced him to 25 years and cannot bond out during the appeal process. The city has been hit by a lawsuit for the killing of the man.
PLEASE NOTE, this is not an anti police officer story because 2 of the officers were EXCELLENT and performed their duties with great professionalism.
