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When you read the full article it doesn't seem so biased...

When veteran San Diego police Officer Phillip Bozarth shot and killed a 24-year-old man with a handgun in a Stockton neighborhood June 25, it marked the fifth person he has killed on the job in his 20-year career, police confirmed yesterday.

The four other shootings were ruled legal and justified – and the latest involving the death of Ricardo Morales Carbajal remains under investigation. But the number of fatal incidents involving Bozarth, as with any officer-involved shooting, has raised concern.

"We don't want to see a sixth," said Mary Powers, national coordinator for the National Coalition for Police Accountability, a Chicago-based organization of religious, community, legal and progressive law enforcement representatives working to hold police accountable to their communities.

Despite being what some might consider a cowboy cop, San Diego police officials call Bozarth one of the department's best officers, citing his strong work ethic and the numerous awards and citations to his credit.

Bozarth, 42, is a respected field training officer and works the front lines, usually in high-crime areas, his colleagues say. After the latest incident, Bozarth was assigned to administrative duties.

"He is an excellent and tenacious officer, a compassionate, caring man with a stellar record and a strong work ethic," said Executive Assistant Chief Bill Maheu. "He really loves and respects the community he serves."

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Maheu also praised Bozarth's tactical work as an officer.

With that said, Maheu added that the department has concerns after any officer-involved shooting, first and foremost to determine whether the use of deadly force was reasonable under the circumstances. (Maheu would not comment on the latest shooting because it remains under review.)

Officers who fire their weapons also go through a psychological evaluation. Internal affairs, homicide and field training officials analyze the actions that led to the shooting and whether anything could have been done differently.

Maheu said Bozarth passed those benchmarks and "functioned very well" after each of the four other fatal shootings, always returning to patrol work.

Maheu added that in separate recent incidents, Bozarth disarmed a man wielding a loaded, AR-15-type rifle and another with a loaded 9 mm pistol – both without firing his weapon or causing injuries.

In February, Bozarth and another officer grabbed a man before he could jump from the San Diego-Coronado Bridge.

In 1996, Bozarth arrested a man trying to strangle a woman with a rope inside a car and also arrested a woman wildly waving a gun at motorists and pedestrians.

"It was an example of police being in the right place at the right time to save lives," police Lt. Bill Howell said of the incidents at the time.

Powers, the official with the National Coalition for Police Accountability, is concerned by any officer involved in five fatal shootings.

"Perhaps the officer should be reassigned – and I'm not necessarily talking about anything punitive here," she said. "This just needs special attention."

Powers said the shootings should be addressed on a case-by-case basis. What shift was the officer working? How many shifts in a row? What part of town? Was it a high-crime area?

John Firman, a director with the International Association of Chiefs of Police, warns against knee-jerk reactions to officer shootings.

"There are too many variables," Firman said. "Any specific comment on a case is something for the local authorities. Each case is different."

Firman said that whatever the public perception, the vast majority of officers never fire their guns.

"In a study two years ago, we found that nationwide, police appear to use force in less than 1 percent of more than 9 million calls for service," Firman said.

A preliminary check of police records showed that Bozarth's five fatal shootings were the most by a San Diego police officer over the past two decades.

Bozarth could not be reached for comment yesterday.

In a 2003 interview with The San Diego Union-Tribune, when he had four fatal shootings on his record, Bozarth said he was prepared for the powerful emotional aftermath of shooting someone, but the reaction of his 8-year-old son broke his heart.

Under a picture he drew at school, the boy wrote, "My dad's a San Diego police officer, and I'm really worried about him."

Bozarth said that five years earlier, in 1998, he began to struggle with the morality of killing after his third fatal shooting. He no longer enjoyed his work and went on a two-week vacation to Israel.

"I went there to do some soul-searching," Bozarth said. "At that point in my life, I felt like I was drowning and I couldn't keep my head above water. I retraced the footsteps of Jesus. It was the most moving experience I've ever had. I was able to do a lot of healing."

Bozarth said he found solace in an interpretation of the Sixth Commandment – "You shall not murder," instead of "Thou shalt not kill."

Bozarth's most recent fatal shooting involved a man he found asleep in the driver's seat of a car parked on Island Avenue in Stockton, in front of his estranged wife's house, about 4 a.m. June 25.

Police said the man grabbed a gun from the passenger's seat after the officer tapped on the car. Bozarth, fearing for his safety, fired several shots at the man.

A news release said the officer then tried to retreat to a safe position as the man stepped out of the car.

"Unable to see the suspect's right hand, which was concealed behind his right leg, the officer fired several more rounds at the suspect," the release said. "The suspect walked to the passenger side of the patrol vehicle and collapsed."

He was pronounced dead 15 minutes later. A handgun was found on the car seat, police later said.

The fatal shooting by Bozarth of a man with a fake handgun April 14, 2001, brought protests from the community.

District Attorney Paul Pfingst later wrote that the shooting by Bozarth and Officer Jeffrey Sterling was justified.

The letter said witnesses and police reported that Rene Lopez-Vizzuett was carrying a handgun and appeared very angry. When ordered out of the car, he raised what turned out to be a toy gun at the officers. The officers fired five shots each, striking Lopez eight times.

"Only a close examination would reveal that the toy gun was not a real firearm," Pfingst said in the letter.

In 1998, Bozarth also was cleared in the shooting death of a 17-year-old boy who ignored shouts by officers to surrender and was fatally wounded when he pointed a gun toward one of them.

Bozarth fired from about 3 feet away as the two came face to face in the living room of a small apartment in Mountain View about 5 a.m. Jan. 17, 1998.

"He was charging toward me and had a gun pointed at my chest," Bozarth said. "I thought I was dead. He had me dead-on. I didn't expect him. It was a total surprise."