Recklessly Shooting at a Random Truck, Injuring Innocent Women, Is Not Enough to Get Bounced from the LAPD
Or possibly even disciplined
The good news is that it is against Los Angeles Police Department policy for its officers to just recklessly open fire on random people after confusing them with a suspect in a crime. The bad news is a pack of officers who violated this policy may not even get so much as a slap on the wrist.
The eight police officers who a year ago, during the hunt for ex-cop-turned-killer Christopher Dorner, opened fire on two women in a truck delivering newspapers, are going back out on the field. From the Los Angeles Times:
Eight Los Angeles police officers who violated department policy when they mistakenly opened fire on two women during the hunt for Christopher Dorner will be retrained and returned to the field, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said in a department-wide message Wednesday.
The message, sent on the LAPD's internal computer network and obtained by The Times, notes his disapproval in the actions of the seven officers and one sergeant.
"While I understand supervisors and officers were required to make split-second decisions regarding the perceived threat presented before them I found it to be very concerning that officers fired before adequately identifying a threat; fired without adequately identifying a target and not adequately evaluating cross fire situations," Beck said.
But apparently none of those extremely terrible decisions should keep these officers from going back out onto the field with their guns. The Times notes that the decision to return the officers to the field doesn't prohibit Beck from disciplining them, but sources told the paper it's unlikely. No discipline at all for just lighting up a truck in a hail of gunfire.
Last year, Reason TV interviewed the lawyer for the two women, Maggie Carranza and Emma Hernandez, injured by the police in the shootings. Watch below: