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Prosecution Of U.S. Police For Killings Surges To Highest In Decade
Stuart Slotnick, a former state prosecutor in New York, said getting a conviction in cases involving police is difficult since officers are empowered to use weapons.
Police cases generally involve split-second decisions made during interactions with civilians that go tragically wrong, he said. That can make prosecutors reluctant to bring charges and judges and juries to appear to second-guess officers.
“Most of the cases are not clear-cut incidents where a police officer goes totally rogue and commits a clear-cut crime,” said Slotnick, a partner with Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney.
Stinson, the Bowling Green professor, said 11 of the 47 officers charged from 2005 to 2014 had been convicted.
Former Eutawville, South Carolina, Police Chief Richard Combs is the most recent officer to be convicted. He pleaded guilty in September to misconduct in the 2011 death of a black man over a traffic ticket.
Prosecutors dropped a murder charge against Combs after two mistrials. He received a suspended sentence of 10 years in prison, with one year of home detention and 5 years of probation.
James Pasco, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police, the biggest police union, said officers face unjustified criticism as they carry out a crucial job.
Source: Reuters
