The increasing number of fatal police shootings, including the shooting death of a Waldoboro teenager in 2007, and a subsequent legal justification by the Maine Attorney General’s Office have caused local legislators to propose the formation of a police shooting review panel.
Rep. Elizabeth Miller (D-Somerville), one of two legislators to propose the new bill, said citizen concern over the separate investigations prompted this recent development. Miller said there are similar review panels in other cities and counties. She said the response from citizens has been that the investigations concluded by the Office of the Attorney General seem limited.
The Sept. 23, 2007 fatal police shooting of Whitefield resident Gregori Jackson by reserve Waldoboro police officer Zachary Curtis prompted Miller and another state representative to pursue this bill. The Jackson family, upset over the death of their relative, asked Miller to establish the proposed review panel for police shootings.
Millard Jackson, Gregori’s father, said he had requested the attention of officials around the state, calling on representatives, the governor and other officials.
“She’s (Miller) the only one that’s got involved and actually cared,” Jackson said. “The whole thing is really bizarre. I feel the panel would make all the difference in the world.”
Jackson said he didn’t think Curtis was adequately trained. He didn’t think it was fair that his daughter has to have 1500 hours of hair stylist training to wield a pair of scissors, while a reserve police officer needs 100 hours of training to possess and use a firearm, he said. Jackson maintained there were several points about the case surrounding his son’s death that did not make sense.
People want to look at the individual situations surrounding these shootings and look for improvements in policies, according to Miller.
“If they had an independent panel on Gregori’s case, Mr. Curtis would not be walking around free,” Jackson said. “I think every homicide should be treated equally.”
According to Bill Stokes, Head of the Criminal Justice Division, the Office of the Attorney General has investigated 75 cases of police officer use of deadly force since 1990. In all of these cases, the officers were found by the Attorney General’s Office to be legally justified in the shootings.
“That may be true, but I think the public wants to look at ways the shootings could have been prevented,” Miller said.
During an investigation of an officer’s use of deadly force the Criminal Justice Division tries to determine if that use constitutes a crime that can be prosecuted, said Stokes. He added the Division does not take into consideration disciplinary issues or departmental policy.
“Being legally justified doesn’t mean it was the best option,” Stokes said, adding that his Division does not look at a case from the standpoint of whether or not the officer could have done something else.
Not all of the 75 cases investigated by the Attorney General’s Office ended in the death of a victim. According to office documents, there have been 22 cases of police involved shootings in the past three years. All of the shootings in 2007 were fatal, while five out of nine shootings in 2008 were fatal.
According to Maine law (Maine Revise Statutes Annotated Title 17-A, section 2, subsection 8), deadly force means the use of physical force to knowingly cause or to create a substantial risk to cause death or serious bodily injury. Stokes said police use of deadly force usually involves firearms. Additionally, an officer could fire at or in the direction of a person without causing injury and the action is considered use of deadly force.
He said the Director of Investigations, Brian MacMaster, conducts the investigation with members of his team, which include detectives and might also include members of the state police. They investigate the circumstances of the case; interviewing the officer involved, other officers and any witnesses. They also conduct ballistics inquiries to determine such details as how many shots were fired and where.
The information gathered from this investigation is provided to the Chief of the Criminal Division, where Stokes, who is an attorney, determines if the use of deadly force was justified under the Maine Criminal Code (Title 17-A of the Maine Revised Statutes).
Following this investigation, the individual police department conducts an internal investigation. The police department investigates whether or not its police officer followed proper protocol.
Stokes said civil lawsuits following these internal investigations are weighed with the duty of proving negligence on the part of the police department and/or officer.
“Simple negligence is not sufficient for criminal liability,” Stokes said, indicating that Criminal Division investigations, restricted to the criminal code, do not take into consideration training issues.
People involved in the internal investigations of a police department look at whether or not other avenues could have been pursued to avoid the use of deadly force.
As it was with the case involving officer Curtis, a panel consisting of Damariscotta Police Chief Steven Drake, Lt. Mike Murphy of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and a private citizen from Nobleboro investigated whether or not the officer followed state and departmental policy, according to Waldoboro Police Chief Bill Labombarde.
“At some point we need to put some trust in our policies,” Labombarde said, adding that Curtis exceeded his required training of 100 hours for reserve officer certification.
Whether or not people agree with the level of training officer Curtis had at the time, he was following the continuum of force protocol, Labombarde said.
Circumstantial evidence, police continuum of force protocol and the Maine Criminal Code were used to address any investigator doubts about the testimony of officer Curtis and his version of what happened on that night in 2007.
The Criminal Division has to disprove the officer believed his or her life was threatened and had to use deadly force, according to Stokes. They look at circumstantial evidence to help decide whether or not the officer was fearful for his or her own life or fearful for the life of a third person in the situation. The prosecution in a civil suit would have to negate the officer’s self defense beyond a reasonable doubt, Stokes added.
The panel proposed by Miller might address hours of training in addition to ways in which uses of deadly force by police officers could be prevented. It will not only look at past instances, but will establish areas of discussion for future scenarios.
Miller said the skeleton of the proposed bill would have to be submitted by Jan. 16. She and another representative who filed the title have met with Commissioner of Public Safety Anne Jordan. Miller said she would also meet with MacMaster to make sure all aspects of this proposal are considered.
“It’s very important who would be on this panel,” Miller said, also expressing the importance of including people with public safety expertise and other citizen input.
She said she and other legislators are looking at panels in other places to use as reference in the formation this proposed review panel.
“We want it to be thoughtful and balanced,” she said.
