Tuesday, February 08, 2000
Citizen panel winds up review
Report on Carpenter shooting due soon
BY MICHAEL D. CLARK
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A citizens' group examining a controversial police shooting heard from citizens for the last time Monday before announcing that it plans to release its final report later this month.
The city's Citizen Police Review Panel heard from nearly a dozen citizens, all of whom expressed concerns about Cincinnati Police conduct in the fatal shooting last year of Michael Carpenter.
The panel, which met in Cincinnati City Hall, heard from citizens appreciative of the panel's investigation and eager to see the group's report. It is to be released Feb. 21.
“The community desperately needs this,” Bond Hill resident Sam Malone told the panel. “We still need closure on this.”
The Cincinnati police homicide unit, internal investigations section and the Hamilton County prosecutor's office have already ruled the officers were justified in shooting.
But the Office of Municipal Investigations (OMI) — a city agency that polices the police but cannot make binding rulings — found that one of the two officers involved was unjustified in shooting.
The internal investigations report said both officers committed procedural violations and tactical errors leading up to the shooting.
The citizen panel's review has included visits to the scene and examinations of city and police investigations into the March 19 shooting during a traffic stop in Northside. The panel also has interviewed witnesses from the police and the OMI.
The seven-member panel is empowered to hold hearings, call witnesses, or simply review investigations by police and OMI in cases in which police have fired their weapons or in cases of allegations of police misconduct.
Panel Chairman Keith Borders told the audience that despite being preceded by other city investigations, the citizens panel still needs to complete its task.
“It would be worse if we were simply silent on this (matter). We still need to articulate our evaluation,” said Mr. Borders.
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