A report issued Tuesday by the Department of Interior’s inspector general found that the officers, Lucas Vinyard and Alejandro Amaya, did not violate procedures when they fatally shot Bijan Ghaisar, 25, of McLean, in November 2017 after a chase on the George Washington Memorial Parkway. It also concluded that they were justified in chasing Ghaisar after receiving a report that he fled the scene of an accident in which his sport utility vehicle had been rear-ended.
The report said the shooting was within police policy because the officers reasonably feared that Amaya’s life was in danger when he stood in front of Ghaisar’s stopped vehicle and it began to roll forward.
The only policy violation that did occur, according to the report, was when one of the officers used his gun to strike a window on Ghaisar’s SUV.
Ghaisar’s death and the shooting was the subject of years of legal wrangling, though neither officer was ever convicted of a crime. Ghaisar’s family did receive a $5 million settlement from the government last year in a civil lawsuit alleging wrongful death.
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Strike a window = illegal.
Murder someone = legal.I’m generalizing. But the larger issue is who the heck is reviewing these “policies” to determine if they’re legal (or smart)? Would it take bringing this to the Supreme Court to determine the legality?
The report said the shooting was within police policy because the officers reasonably feared that Amaya’s life was in danger when he stood in front of Ghaisar’s stopped vehicle and it began to roll forward.
I am not familiar with the case but this statement alone appears ridiculous. What’s reasonable here is that if a vehicle is approaching you, standing in front of it is stupid and killing the person operating it is even stupider. This isn’t self defense, this is attempted suicide (or attempted lawsuit). Police Policy should be: don’t be a dumbass.
I’m generalizing. But the larger issue is who the heck is reviewing these “policies” to determine if they’re legal (or smart)?
Police union lawyers and police department administration.
I watched a video months ago of an internal deposition of an officer who reported his chief for choking a man that was handcuffed which all happened in front of him and a guy he was training.
They managed to twist it into “choking” wasn’t one of the items listed as “use of force” in their policies, therefore choking a handcuffed suspect couldn’t be considered using force and this officer was quite literally crazy for suggesting otherwise. The rest of the interview was a not so subtle threat that the officer needed to fall in line if he wanted to continue his career in law enforcement.
