Obey or Die seems to be the modus operandi for “law enforcement” these days.
Cops and Robbers
Video: Unarmed “Bad Dude” Fatally Shot by Tulsa Police
Obey or Die seems to be the modus operandi for law enforcement officers these days.
The latest example is that of Terence Crutcher, a 40-year-old, who was fatally shot by police in Tulsa, Oklahoma last Friday.
The incident began with calls to 911.
Betty Shelby, the officer identified by police as the one who shot Crutcher, was not the only one who drew a weapon on him. Any commands she received from her superiors before shooting Crutcher are unknown at this time.
Shelby fired a single shot at close range that video footage indicates hit Crutcher in the upper right chest. Another officer, Tyler Turnbough, tased Crutcher at around the same time he was shot.
The initial moments of Crutcher’s encounter with police are not shown in any video footage. Shelby’s patrol car’s dashcam was not activated, said police spokeswoman Jeanne MacKenzie. The ground-level video released Monday came from the car of a second officer who arrived at the scene.
But that dashcam video is not the only footage of the shooting that was captured on tape: A helicopter was recording from above the scene – one which Shelby’s husband (who is also a cop) was riding in. Police told a Tulsa World reporter that his presence there was “a happenstance.”
Even from the sky, Crutcher was assumed to be a threat (based on apparently nothing but his appearance)…take a listen to the commentary from the helicopter.
Warning: graphic and disturbing footage
A records search using Crutcher’s license plate turned up no information regarding any criminal history, according to dispatch audio, so why did officers assume he was a threat?
After Crutcher was shot, it took the officers nearly two minutes to check the man’s vital signs.
When asked why police did not provide immediate assistance once Crutcher was down, MacKenzie said, “I don’t know that we have protocol on how to render aid to people.”
Warning: graphic and disturbing footage
None of the officers on the scene were wearing body cameras, despite the fact that the Tulsa PD received a federal grant of nearly $600,000 to purchase them for the department.
During a press conference yesterday afternoon, Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan said officers found no gun on Crutcher or in his SUV, Tulsa World reports. He called the video footage “very disturbing” and “very difficult to watch” and called for an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.
“I want to assure our community, and I want to assure all of you and people across the nation who are going to be looking at this, we will achieve justice, period.”
The footage reveals discrepancies in the department’s initial statements from the scene Friday night, reports Tulsa World:
Police initially said Crutcher approached officers from the side of the road after Turnbough arrived. However, video footage from Turnbough’s patrol car shows Crutcher walking to his vehicle with his hands raised and that Shelby had her gun pointed at his back.
After Crutcher reached the driver’s side of his vehicle and turned toward the window, Shelby, Turnbough and a third officer each had either a gun or a Taser pointed at him.
The officers’ position on Turnbough’s dash camera video footage obscures much of the shooting, but Crutcher can be seen falling to the ground after one gunshot. Shelby then says, “Shots fired!” over the radio, telling dispatchers, “I’ve shot a subject who won’t show me his hands.”
Police showed the videos to Crutcher’s family and attorneys, the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office and north Tulsa community leaders on Sunday.
Jordan said that the first time he watched the police-cam footage was when he viewed it with Crutcher’s family, to give his relatives a chance to see the video before anyone else.
“After watching the video and seeing what actually happened,” said Tiffany Crutcher, Terence’s twin sister, “we’re truly devastated. The entire family is devastated.”
Crutcher called for charges Monday, reports the Chicago Tribune.
“The big bad dude was my twin brother. That big bad dude was a father,” she said. “That big bad dude was a son. That big bad dude was enrolled at Tulsa Community College, just wanting to make us proud. That big bad dude loved God. That big bad dude was at church singing with all of his flaws, every week. That big bad dude, that’s who he was.”
According to a database Tulsa World maintains, since 2007, Oklahoma law enforcement officers have fatally shot 162 people — 24 of those by Tulsa police officers. Of those shootings, two resulted in the criminal prosecution of the cop.
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