Police Commission Rules Ezell Ford Shooting Not Within LAPD Policy (UPDATE)
UPDATE: The Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners ruled Tuesday that the actions of one of the police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Ezell Ford were not within department policy.UPDATE: The Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners ruled Tuesday that the actions of one of the police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Ezell Ford were not within department policy. The commission found that the second officer was justified in firing his weapon, according to KTLA-5.
UPDATE: The police commissioners have gone into closed session, where they will vote on whether to clear the two police officers in the fatal shooting of Ezell Ford, according to KPCC.
UPDATE: Police commissioners have resumed the public hearing portion of the meeting.
UPDATE: Protesters erupted in shouts of “Black lives matter!” and “Shame on you!” as the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners stopped the meeting at which it was expected to rule on the Ezell Ford shooting, according to KPCC.
The Los Angeles Police Commission meets Tuesday morning to decide whether the police were justified in shooting and killing Ezell Ford, an unarmed and mentally ill black man.
The commission is reviewing the case of the two anti-gang patrol officers who shot the 25-year-old man on Aug. 11, 2014 in South Los Angeles. LAPD officials — who have said that Ford was resisting arrest and grabbed an officer’s handgun — will decide whether the officers should be disciplined or exonerated.
From The Guardian:
Campaign group Black Lives Matter camped outside the private residence of Mayor Eric Garcetti on Sunday and Monday, calling for the resignation of the police chief, Charlie Beck, and posting large photographs of Ford on the railings. They are planning to turn out in greater numbers to await the verdict of the five-person civilian police commission, due to be announced after a closed-door deliberation this morning.
Both Beck and Garcetti have made it a priority to avoid the divisive, hostile and frequently violent style of policing that once made the LAPD notorious and played a major role in triggering four days of rioting and looting in 1992.
They have struggled, however, with a police culture that still provokes more civilian deaths than any other city in the United States. Ford was one of 18 people killed by the LAPD last year. The tally so far in 2015 is eight.
Read more.
–Posted by Jenna Berbeo
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