FBI studies Garland police shooting - use of force against minorities cited as the reason

The Dallas Morning News ^ | January 25, 2003 | The Dallas Morning News Staff

[MeekOneGOP]

FBI studies Garland police shooting

01/25/2003

From Staff Reports

Garland Police Chief Larry Wilson asked the FBI on Friday to investigate his officers' fatal shooting of Jorge Cruz.

The request comes in response to complaints about the department's use of force against minorities.

On Wednesday, a Dallas County grand jury declined to indict the four officers who fired at Mr. Cruz on Aug. 31.

The officers also have been cleared by a Garland department shooting review board.

According to police reports, Mr. Cruz had threatened neighbors with a knife and attacked the officers after ignoring their commands in English and Spanish to drop the knife.

FBI spokeswoman Laura Bailey confirmed Friday that the bureau has initiated a preliminary civil-rights investigation.

The League of United Latin American Citizens, the Garland Association for Hispanic Affairs, the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP had a town hall meeting last week to address grievances against the Garland police, including concerns about the use of force.

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Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/localnews/stories/012503dnmetgarland2.51c0c.html

[Marauder]

Is this about right?
1. Suspect has a weapon.
2. Cops tell suspect - in two languages - to drop the weapon.
3. Suspect advances on cops with weapon in a threatening manner.
4. Cops drop suspect.
It's just another case of suicide by cop. It also serves as another example of Darwin's principle in action.

[SwinneySwitch]

Doubt if any threatened neighbors complained!

[MeekOneGOP]

That just about says it all. They are callin' in the FBI just to shush the liberal whiners I think...

[Shooter 2.5]

On the 25TH Anniversary program of "Cops", they had a deranged woman with a knife threatening the officers. I thought this one cop was going to shoot her because he kept backpedaling away and she was only eight feet away. Another cop body slammed her to the ground and saved the other police officer.

She fell on the knife. Even after all of that, she was still hurt. Kudos to two officers that tried to stop anyone from getting hurt.

On the other side, I counted three incidences on the show where the officers didn't have to punch the bad guys.