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Police Abuse

Cop Arrested for Murder in Montgomery, Ala., City Opens Own Investigation to Placate Police

Aaron Smith was arrested for murder after shooting an unarmed man he said looked "suspicious."

Ed Krayewski | 3.8.2016 3:48 PM

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The mayor of Montgomery has vowed to have the police department's internal affairs unit review evidence in the shooting of an unarmed Gregory Gunn by Officer Aaron Smith after Smith was arrested for the murder of Gunn.

The city handed the case over to the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), and Mayor Todd Strange still says that was the right decision. "We will not interfere with investigation," Strange said, according to the Montgomery Advertiser, which has been covering the shooting. "This is simply a review that can be done now to hopefully provide our people—our officers who are out there every day—provide them with some answers."

The city's other "people," actual residents, staged protests over the shooting. Police apologists insist the case should have went to a grand jury but the district attorney, Daryl Bailey, points out what happened "followed the normal pattern.

"If people will stop and think about this, there are many, many crimes, and several murders, every year, and in pretty much all of them, when the police identify a suspect and find probable cause to charge that person with a crime, they make the arrest," Bailey said. "It doesn't wait and go to the grand jury. This followed the normal pattern. We said we were going to treat this like any other case and that's what we've done."

City investigators won't have access to body camera footage or other recordings, which were handed over to SBI, and will rely only on written reports and testimony available to the department.

"(Cops) are unhappy, they are concerned, they are upset," the mayor said. "One of their brother officers has been arrested and they have no answers. They are accustomed to gathering the answers and solving these sorts of questions, and so they're in a very difficult position of not knowing.

The Advertiser also reported on rumors that the chief of police, Ernest Finley, was close to resigning. Mayor Strange addressed those too. "I called him and asked him," Strange said. "He was in the field walking neighborhoods. He asked how could these people be so vindictive. He told me he was taking notes on things that could be done to fix some problems once all of this died down."

Strange did not specify the kind of "fixes" Finley had in mind for strained community-police relations but steps by the Montgomery Police Department (MPD) so far don't offer much hope. The mayor, the police chief, and the city's director of public safety held meetings with Smith as well as the Gunn family. A photo of a smiling Finley meeting with Smith made its way to MPD's Facebook page with the hashtag #itsoktohitthelikebutton. The photo was removed after backlash, then returned without the hashtags in the description.

"Look through the archives at your paper and see if you can find a photo of the chief of police standing and smiling beside any other person who has been recently arrested for murder," the Gunn family's attorney told the Advertiser.

The unarmed Gunn, who was 58, was walking home late at night from a card game when Smith shot him in front of his neighbor's house. Smith insisted Gunn was acting "suspiciously" but did not elaborate. There will be a probable cause hearing on March 24.

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NEXT: More Than 400 Arrests in 'Operation Traveling Circus'

Ed Krayewski is a former associate editor at Reason.

Police AbuseAlabamaCriminal Justice
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  1. Lee G   9 years ago

    (Cop) are unhappy, they are concerned, they are upset," the mayor said. "One of their brother officers has been arrested and they have no answers. They are accustomed to gathering the answers and solving these sorts of questions, and so they're in a very difficult position of not knowing.

    They're pissed they're not in the position to whitewash the incident.

    1. Millennial Hipster Vanguard   9 years ago

      They don't have answers. It's not like they keep the public in the dark when they do an investigation.

    2. R C Dean   9 years ago

      Oh, they have an answer, in black and white:

      "This cop is being treated like any other citizen."

      They just don't like the answer they have.

  2. Millennial Hipster Vanguard   9 years ago

    Dude looks like a psychopath. Also, where muh alt text?!?

    1. Hugh Akston   9 years ago

      Have you tried hovering your mouse over the image? Because that usually does it.

      1. Millennial Hipster Vanguard   9 years ago

        I comment on a phone. Usually when I press on the image, it gives me alt text. This picture does not.

  3. Thisisalongname   9 years ago

    "One of their brother officers has been arrested and they have no answers. They are accustomed to gathering the answers and solving these sorts of questions, and so they're in a very difficult position of not knowing."

    So you are saying they are now getting a taste of what it feels like to be a civilian under police investigation?

    "He asked how could these people be so vindictive."

    An innocent man is dead, I don't think wanting to make him stand trial counts as vindictive.

    I think this police dept isn't putting good reasons forward of why it shouldn't be investigated and put under better management.

  4. Irish Breaks Up W/ ESB   9 years ago

    ""(Cops) are unhappy, they are concerned, they are upset," the mayor said. "One of their brother officers has been arrested and they have no answers. They are accustomed to gathering the answers and solving these sorts of questions, and so they're in a very difficult position of not knowing."

    The level of entitlement on display here is astonishing.

  5. Jerryskids   9 years ago

    "I called him and asked him," Strange said. "He was in the field walking neighborhoods. He asked how could these people be so vindictive. He told me he was taking notes on things that could be done to fix some problems once all of this died down."

    I'll just bet he was walking through the town coming up with a list of problems to be fixed and how to fix them once all this dies down. I'm guessing the Gunn family is items 1 through 10 on that list of things he's planning to fix.

  6. Juvenile Bluster   9 years ago

    This paragraph from the linked article is telling:

    Strange also said the information gathered, should any be revelatory, will be offered for use in any court proceedings. The first foray into a courtroom for the case is scheduled currently for March 24, when Montgomery County District Attorney Daryl Bailey and SBI will have to provide evidence of the probable cause that they say led to Smith's arrest.

    So basically they're going to be playing defense investigator, and looking for anything they can to help him get acquitted. Which of course they do for any non-cop, right

    1. sarcasmic   9 years ago

      Cops are in a unique position when they go to court. Not only are they presumed innocent, but both the prosecution and their defense are acting on their behalf.

      1. Hank Phillips   9 years ago

        ... acting on their behalf. And scared of being murdered by the perp and/or other cops in the unlikely event justice is accidentally served.

  7. Microaggressor   9 years ago

    The dude's name is Gunn. Does it get any more suspicious than that?

    1. GILMORE?   9 years ago

      He had a name! He made a move!

    2. MSimon   9 years ago

      Peter.

  8. Diane Reynolds (Paul.)   9 years ago

    "(Cops) are unhappy, they are concerned, they are upset," the mayor said. "One of their brother officers has been arrested and they have no answers. They are accustomed to gathering the answers and solving these sorts of questions, and so they're in a very difficult position of not knowing.

    I can understand how frustrating all of this must be. Hopefully the foxes will eventually get some sort of answers as to what's going on inside the hen house.

  9. Diane Reynolds (Paul.)   9 years ago

    The unarmed Gunn, who was 58, was walking home late at night from a card game when Smith shot him in front of his neighbor's house. Smith insisted Gunn was acting "suspiciously" but did not elaborate.

    I presume union rules don't demand he has to elaborate.

    1. R C Dean   9 years ago

      Technical question:

      Typically, making any statement under oath regarding a crime of which you are accused is a waiver of your right against self-incrimination.

      Cops make statements under oath all the time, or at least in an official capacity. I wonder if that statement that Gunn was acting suspiciously is a waiver of his rights?

      1. Diane Reynolds (Paul.)   9 years ago

        It's a good question. My problem is that in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, the details and statements made by officers appear (to me at least) to be made in an employer/employee context, under which Union rules are in full force. Because higher standards.

      2. sarcasmic   9 years ago

        Silly wabbit. Rules don't apply to the people who enforce them.

  10. Juvenile Bluster   9 years ago

    As for Montgomery's Facebook page: There are 4 comments to the picture with the murdered man's mother, 3 of which laud the police. There are zero comments to the picture with the cop/murderer, and 62 reactions, either "like" or "love". Seems like someone's been sanitizing their page.

    1. R C Dean   9 years ago

      Any facebook members care to leave a comment or two, and see what happens to them? The comments, I mean.

      1. Juvenile Bluster   9 years ago

        I just left this totally non-sarcastic comment:

        MPD, I'm looking around, and I can't see any other pictures of the chief smiling with someone who's been arrested for murder. An oversight, I'm sure. Can you help?

        I'll let you know what happens to it.

    2. Hank Phillips   9 years ago

      Imagine that!

  11. Agile Cyborg   9 years ago

    A salivary spectacle of cowardice foams at the face hole of this pithless Mayor who marvelously expresses the weak-kneed governmental bullshit beloved by the suited sobbing whiners who run the F.O.P.

  12. Rt. Hon. Judge Woodrow Chipper   9 years ago

    Smith insisted Gunn was acting "suspiciously"

    So, good shoot. Smooches, hth.

    /derphy

  13. Juice   9 years ago

    The Advertiser also reported on rumors that the chief of police, Ernest Finley, was close to resigning.

    Sounds good. Don't let the door hit you.

  14. JoWaDat889   9 years ago

    And I am sure he will get off scott free, they always do!

    http://www.Anon-Net.tk

  15. Hank Phillips   9 years ago

    Um... Alabama? Freckly white trigger-happy cop. Just out of curiosity, was the murder victim dark-skinned?

    1. Juvenile Bluster   9 years ago

      You had to ask?

  16. MSimon   9 years ago

    UCMJ. Court marshal. The military is far from perfect but these days killing civilians directly (aimed bullets) is against policy. It invites civilians to support the other side. The Brits worked out the rules for insurgent warfare in Burma IIRC.

    It takes about 10 years and the object is good policing.

  17. Millennial Hipster Vanguard   9 years ago

    Bless you and no, I never feel better.

  18. ATXChappy   9 years ago

    "I guess what I'm asking is the cops' mentalities similar to those of people in actual war zones?"

    I suspect that it is, but it really shouldn't be. Unfortunately, LEO's have been training with military style tactics for a while now. Add that to the emphasis on officer safety and the mantra of "EVERY ENCOUNTER CAN TURN DEADLY" and you end up with an LEO who thinks he's on patrol in Fallujah when he's really on traffic duty in Flint.

  19. sarcasmic   9 years ago

    Cops' mentalities are "I can do whatever I want. Who is going to stop me? The cops?"

    Why?

    Because it's true.

  20. Hank Phillips   9 years ago

    George Orwell was a British Imperial Policeman in Burma. The Brits banned his book, Burmese Days, for many years. Pity he didn't have an encrypted cellphone in 1930.

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