Innocents Killed By Police Bullets -- Unbearable Tragedies

 

The identity of the 14-year-old girl who was tragically shot and killed by a stray bullet fired by a Los Angeles Police Department officer at a Burlington store in North Hollywood on December 23 was announced by officials on Friday. They also announced the identity of the suspect who initiated the turn of events.

Valentina Orellana-Peralta was in one of the dressing rooms at a Burlington store on Thursday, when a stray bullet that was fired towards an assault suspect passed through the wall and struck her. According to The Los Angeles Times, she was trying on dresses for her quinceañera with her mother.

“LAPD officers have shot at least 36 people – 17 of them fatally – in 2021, according to The Los Angeles Times. Those figures mark a dramatic rise in cases where officers shot or killed people in either of the last two years – 27 people were shot and 7 of them killed by LA police in all of 2020. In 2019, officers shot 26 people, killing 12.

“In the last week, LA officers have killed four people – including two men in separate incidents on Saturday, the newspaper reported.”

(“LAPD kills Valentina Orellana-Peralta, 14, while shooting at man armed with bicycle lock.” Associated Press. December 24, 2021.)

Officers got to the store, which was crowded with holiday shoppers, shortly before noon Thursday after receiving 911 calls reporting an argument and shots fired, LAPD officials said.

Later, a police report filed by the LAPD declared that the assault suspect – identified as 24-year-old Daniel Elena Lopez – was approached by security within the Burlington store when he began to exhibit unruly behavior, including attacking another customer and breaking a store window – using a heavy duty bike lock.

Authorities who responded to the 9-1-1 calls of gunshots on the scene allegedly approached the suspect as he was attacking the customer, and an officer-involved-shooting ensued. The suspect was shot, and was pronounced dead by a gunshot wound to the chest on the scene shortly after while being evaluated by paramedics.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Elena Lopez has convictions for car theft, carrying a loaded gun in public and carrying a gun as a felon. They also found that he has been convicted of domestic battery and recklessly evading police in a vehicle. He had spent at least two years in state prison.

No guns were found at the scene, despite initial reports of shots fired and the police’s subsequent decision to open fire at the sight of the assault. Investigators said a "steel or metal cable lock, a very heavy lock," found near the suspect may have been used in the assault.

The officer who fired the rounds was placed on paid administrative leave as the investigation is underway.

(CBSLA Staff. “Authorities Identify 14-Year-Old Girl, Suspect Killed In NoHo Shooting On Thursday.” KCAL 9. CBS. Los Angeles. December 24, 2021.)

LAPD Chief of Police Michel Moore spoke with CBSLA reporters on Friday and disclosed that one officer fired three rounds, one of which struck Orellana-Peralta.

In that same interview, Moore said that the goal of their investigation is to be as efficient as possible.

“Just 24 hours after this, we’re doing everything we can to gather as much and be as transparent as possible,” Moore said.

He called for the immediate release of body cam footage, store surveillance footage and recordings of all 9-1-1 calls concerning the incident by no later than Monday, a process that normally takes up to 45 days.

More than one of the 9-1-1 calls indicated that a shooting was in progress in the store, even before officers arrived on scene.

In response to the incident, Moore issued a statement on Thursday evening, which stated:

“This chaotic incident resulting in the death of an innocent child is tragic and devastating for everyone involved. I am profoundly sorry for the loss of this young girl’s life and I know there are no words that can relieve the unimaginable pain for the family.

“My commitment is to conduct a thorough, complete and transparent investigation into the circumstances that led up to this tragedy and provide the family and public with as much information as possible. I have directed the release of the critical incident video by Monday, December 27th, which will include the 9-1-1 calls, radio transmissions, body worn video and any CCTV and other evidence gathered at this preliminary stage.”

(CBSLA Staff. “Authorities Identify 14-Year-Old Girl, Suspect Killed In NoHo Shooting On Thursday.” KCAL 9. CBS. Los Angeles. December 24, 2021.) 

 

Innocents Die In Police Shootings

Police officers in the United States have killed over 1000 civilians each year since 2013. The constitutional landscape that regulates these encounters defaults to the judgments of the reasonable police officer at the time of a civilian encounter based on the officer’s assessment of whether threats to their safety or the safety of others requires deadly force.

As many of these killings have begun to occur under similar circumstances, scholars have renewed a contentious debate on whether police disproportionately use deadly force against African Americans and other nonwhite civilians and whether such killings reflect racial bias.

(Jeffrey A. Fagan and Alexis D. Campbell. “Race and Reasonableness in Police Killings.” Columbia Human Rights Law Review. 2020.)

In the recent past, Chicago has seen a string of multi-million-dollar lawsuits filed by victims caught in the crossfire of police gunfire.

In their training, Chicago police officers are presented with scenarios in which they're confronted by dangerous individuals while other people are nearby. The goal is to eliminate the threat while keeping bystanders safe.

According to the Chicago police general orders, officers are not allowed to fire into crowds, fire warning shots or fire into buildings or through doors, windows or other openings when the person being targeted isn't visible. They're also prohibited from shooting people trying to kill themselves or firing at a moving vehicle when the vehicle is the only weapon being used against the cop.

David Klinger, an expert on police use of force, said officers being trained for shootings must take into account people standing behind the person they're targeting, as well as others to the side or in front of the suspect. Klinger said officers must practice what he calls "subject discrimination," getting an idea of who is the likely innocent bystander and who is the likely suspect when pulling up to a scene.

(Jeremy Gorner and Annie Sweeney. “Chicago police trained to not shoot innocent people, but it still happens.” Chicago Tribune. December 29, 2015.)

However, shootings that kill innocents still occur.

One such case happened in December 2016 and involved a 55-year old grandmother – Bettie Jones – who was killed by a police officer’s bullet intended for another person. The police officer fired eight shots at a suspect and one bullet hit the woman in the chest. Interim police Superintendent John Escalante quickly acknowledged the shooting was an accidental misfire by an officer aiming at a 19-year-old student who police said had a baseball bat and was being combative.

(Jeremy Gorner and Annie Sweeney. “Chicago police trained to not shoot innocent people, but it still happens.” Chicago Tribune. December 29, 2015.)

Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the department does not keep track of innocent bystanders shot by police officers.

In New York City on May 19, 2016, NYPD statistics and reports revealed that at least 22 bystanders had been hit by stray bullets in police-involved shootings in the city since 2010.

(Ben Fractenberg. “Nearly Two Dozen Bystanders Struck in Police Shootings Since 2010: NYPD.” DNA Info. May 19, 2016.)

In one incident in August 2012, officers injured nine innocent bystanders at the Empire State Building when they opened fire on a criminal suspect with a gun. Some of the injury victims filed lawsuits against New York City, but the city has not offered any settlements.

According to the New York Times, the state’s highest court supports police officers’ rights to make split-second decisions that may include the use of deadly force. When police shootings occur and innocent people are injured or killed, the court assumes that such collateral damage is unavoidable.

BuzzFeed News, in an investigation published in August 2021, reported on several similar cases around the country. Often in these cases, prosecutors invoked the so-called felony murder rule, which in some states allows for murder charges against someone who committed a felony that resulted in death, even if the person had no intent of killing someone.

In at least 13 states, liability for deaths under the felony murder rule is extended even further: A person can be tried for the fatal actions of a third party, such as a police officer, if the death is deemed a reasonably foreseeable outcome of the crime.

Since 2010, at least 22 people nationwide have been charged with felony murder for deaths directly caused by police, according to a BuzzFeed News review. At least 13 have been convicted.

“Charging the co-felons in these cases all too often provides police officers with cover in cases where the shootings are in violation of departmental policies or are otherwise unjustified,” said Steve Drizin, a professor at Northwestern University’s law school. “The laws are used to justify decisions not to discipline police officers.”

(Emily Wilder. “A Police Officer Killed Jacob Harris, But His Unarmed Friends Were Charged With His Murder.” BuzzFeed News. August 24, 2021.)

The results of a joint research project were published in The Washington Post on April 12, 2015, and The Washington Post was awarded the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting, in part, for this project. The Police Integrity Research Group at Bowling Green State University continues to keep the information current, and new cases are added periodically to the count of officers charged with murder or manslaughter resulting from an on-duty shooting.

(Philip M. Stinson, Sr. & Chloe A. Wentzlof. “On-Duty Shootings: Police Officers Charged with Murder or Manslaughter, 2005-2019.” Research Brief One-Sheet – No. 9. Criminal Justice Faculty Publications. 2019.)

Findings of the study …

“Since the beginning of 2005 (through June 24, 2019), there have been 104 nonfederal sworn law enforcement officers with the general powers of arrest (e.g., police officers, deputy sheriffs, state troopers, etc.) who have been arrested for murder or manslaughter resulting from an on-duty shooting where the officer shot and killed someone at incidents throughout the United States. Of those 104 officers, to date only 35 have been convicted of a crime resulting from the on-duty shooting (15 by guilty plea, 20 by jury trial, and none convicted by a bench trial).

“In the cases where an officer has been convicted, it is often for a lesser offense. Only 4 officers have been convicted of murder (there were four officers whose murder convictions were overturned, but the officers were later convicted of federal crimes arising out of the same incident). The 4 officers convicted of murder received incarceration sentences that ranged from 81 months to 192 months in prison, with an average length prison sentence of 150.75 months.

“As to the other officers, 9 were convicted of manslaughter, 4 were convicted of voluntary manslaughter, 5 were convicted of involuntary manslaughter, 2 were convicted of official misconduct, 2 were convicted of reckless homicide, 3 were convicted of negligent homicide, 5 were convicted of federal criminal deprivation of civil rights (including the four officers whose murder convictions were overturned), and one was convicted of reckless discharge of a firearm. The 18 officers convicted of manslaughter received incarceration sentences that ranged from zero months to 480 months in prison, with an average sentence of 78.5 months in prison.

“The criminal cases for 45 of the officers ended in a non -conviction: 23 were acquitted at a jury trial, 9 were acquitted at a bench t rial, 4 were dismissed by a judge, 7 were dismissed by a prosecutor, one received a deferred adjudication, and in one instance no true bill was returned from a grand jury.” 

(Philip M. Stinson, Sr. & Chloe A. Wentzlof. “On-Duty Shootings: Police Officers Charged with Murder or Manslaughter, 2005-2019.” Research Brief One-Sheet – No. 9. Criminal Justice Faculty Publications. 2019.) 

What To Do

Yes, we all know the peril police officers face each day. They are a group of dedicated public servants essential to the peace and welfare of our communities. “Blue lives matter” as avid supporters are bound to say. We must not condemn the brave police who keep us safe every day. Yet, when a problem is identified, we must encourage reform to insure undue death and destruction do not occur.

David A. Clinger Ph.D. is a Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and Senior Fellow at the Police Foundation in Washington, DC. He has conducted three federally-funded research projects dealing with the use of force by police officers; two on officer-involved shootings and one on police special weapons and tactics (SWAT) teams.

As an officer in south-central Los Angeles, Clinger once had to shoot and kill an assailant who had stabbed his police partner. This incident became a deadly shooting that turned the Clinger into a researcher seeking to understand the dynamics of confrontation – one who hopes to be a voice of reason in an emotional national debate, and an advocate for change.

Clinger says …

“If we are to bridge, or at least narrow, this divide and thereby ease the public’s disquiet, I believe we must learn to think about the phenomenon of police shootings from a fresh frame of reference. We must find a standpoint that permits us to move past the passion-laden medium of morality and towards a deeper understanding of the social reality of deadly force in our society.

“Such a move might well serve to enlighten police critics and other concerned citizens about the nature of police work, the dangers officers face, how this influences their attitudes and actions, and what we can realistically expect police to do when confronted with life-and-death situations. Such enlightenment could, in turn, help the public, critics included, to see that lethal force is sometimes unavoidable; that police officers must sometimes kill people to protect themselves and other innocents from harm.

“A move away from the moral plane might also help remind police and their supporters that democratic policing requires restraint and forbearance on the part of those who carry a badge and gun. This, in turn, might help officers deal with citizens in ways that minimize the odds that gunfire will erupt, for extensive evidence indicates that how the
police structure their interaction with citizens can have a marked effect on the likelihood of violence.

“In-depth case studies, practical experience, and empirical research have demonstrated that police will need to use deadly force less frequently if they adhere to a few simple, tactical principles. James Fyfe, for example, has written and spoken extensively during the past quarter century about how officers can use the principles of tactical knowledge and concealment to reduce the likelihood of having to resort to deadly force when handling potentially dangerous situations (Fyfe 2001; Scharf and Binder 1983).”

(David Clinger. “Social Theory and the Street Cop: The Case of Deadly Force.” Police Foundation Number 7. June 2005.)

Clinger advocates for the principle of tactical knowledge – that view holds that officers should develop as much information as they can about each potentially violent situation they are called upon to handle before committing themselves to a particular course of action. As a result, officers need not shoot when potential threats fail to materialize, and they may have enough time to decide how to resolve those situations that do involve danger without resorting to gunfire.

Testifying at a U.S. Civil Rights Commission hearing on deadly force, one topic Clinger discussed was "tactical positioning," a strategy in which officers keep a safe distance, unless there is imminent danger.

"Often times, officers find themselves in too close, too quickly, and they don't have any option other than to shoot their way out of it," Klinger says. "That's where I really think we fall down in American law enforcement."

Maria Haberfeld, a John Jay College professor who researches police use of force, spoke of New York and said that currently recruits must be at least 21 years old on or before their date of hire. Haberfeld believes that instituting an older age requirement of 25 for NYPD recruits could help officers handle intense situations because, "(You have) emotional maturity at an older age."

Haberfeld says …

“For over two decades, research has shown a direct correlation between the emotional maturity of officers and their problem-solving capacity. Yet, as if deliberately ignoring the scientific research finding, most police departments in the United States continue to recruit and select their officers at the very young ages of 19 or 20.

“Instead, we should be hiring older officers and putting them through a standardized, mandatory curriculum of training for all our law enforcement agencies. This training must cover a minimum number of hours that will approximate, at the very least, a two-year college degree. Don’t we owe it to our communities to give the officers we charge with guarding our lives at least as many hours of training as beauticians and hairdressers?”

(Maria (Maki) Haberfeld. “Police recruits are too young, not well enough educated.” San Francisco Gate. July 29, 2016.)

Still, Haberfeld said it would be difficult to institute any additional rules governing exactly how and when officers use deadly force since the situations are very complex. "(An officer's) primary focus is on someone else’s life or (their) life is in danger," Haberfeld said. "(There's) never enough time to asses properly what’s happening around you."

"(There is) tremendous stress that impacts the way officers see things, perceive things," Haberfeld said, adding that the NYPD could teach additional coping mechanisms to help officers deal with the daily strains of the job.

"We don’t give police officers any stress management training," she said. "This is exactly where we are paying the price.”

Conclusion

No one can imagine the killing of Valentina Orellana-Peralta, an innocent victim of police shooting. No one can imagine the pain felt by her family or the loss to Valentina's community. We can help insure her tragic death is not in vain.

Whether those in charge label the death as accidental or as an unfortunate but reasonable outcome of necessary deadly force to stop a criminal, we must take steps to prevent such a tragedy – one that happens far too much – from occurring again.

Limiting the shooting of innocents is within our power to control. No one expects every death to be avoided; however, just consider the lives that would be saved if better policing practices were initiated. In no way am I advocating putting officers at greater risk. I believe they are in dangerous straits already. I simply want to address the issue to create a better educated and more talented force.

Being a police officer today is a noble profession. I hope not one more of them has to live with the guilt of shooting an innocent civilian. These are tragedies that cause lifelong scars in the people and in the institutions of our nation. God bless a new and wiser direction that stops needless loss.

TEARS OF A COP
Author Unknown

I have been where you fear to be.
I have seen what you fear to see.
I have done what you fear to do.
All these things I've done for you.

I am the one you lean upon.
The one you cast your scorn upon.
The one you bring your troubles to,
All these people I've been for you.

The one you ask to stand apart.
The one you feel should have no heart.
The one you call the officer in blue.
But I am human, just like you.

And through the years I've come to see
That I am not what you ask of me.
So take this badge and take this gun.
Will you take it? Will anyone?

And when you watch a person die,
And hear a battered baby cry.
Then so you think that you can be
All those things you ask of me?