Sunday, September 30, 2012

Officer-involved shootings - how investigated?

When a law-enforcement officer is involved in a shooting, as happened yesterday afternoon north of Marengo, to what extent is the incident totally investigated by a different agency.

In the case of the warrant service/arrest of Edward P. Bolen, 49, of 2905 NW Road, Marengo-area of McHenry County, the McHenry County Sheriff's Department has said that the Illinois State Police will investigate.

OK, so do they investigate the entire incident or only the portion that involved the shots fired? Are they interested only in the shots fired by deputies after Bolen allegedly pointed a gun at them, or will they also investigate the shooting of Bolen with the beanbag shotgun? The Northwest Herald is reporting that Bolen was shot after he brandished a knife at SWAT team members who were trying to arrest him in his basement.

Beanbag shotguns are often described as non-lethal weapons.

The last time a beanbag shotgun was used by a deputy, to my knowledge, involved the call to the home of David Maxson, of Wonder Lake. That shooting, which resulted in a fatal injury to Maxson as he rushed with a knife toward a deputy, was investigated by the McHenry County Sheriff's Department. I read all the reports and I don't recall ever seeing one by the Illinois State Police or any other agency.

What's different about this time?

It will be interesting to learn what Bolen's movements were with his gun and how many shots were fired by deputies? Were there two deputies there to arrest him? Did both deputies fire at him? How many rounds were fired by the two deputies? What were the positions of Bolen and the deputies? Why didn't they hit him?

And when SWAT found Bolen in his basement, what were his movements when he "brandished" the knife? Did he move toward deputies with his knife? Or did he just refuse to drop the knife when ordered to do so?

7:23PM Still no media release on the MCSD website. Does this mean that Nygren and Zinke are out of town or that there won't be any media release because the Illinois State Police is investigating?

3 comments:

Know better said...

Instead of trying to find fault with the police how about praising the officer who shoot some dirtbag who dares challenge the man with the badge and the gun. The law says you must obey and comply, even if the officer is mistaken.

good job officers.

Gus said...

Well, first of all, your choice of wording is worrisome. Your words "dares challenge the man with the badge and the gun" would be a dangerous philosophy as a general concept. That is how law-abiding citizens were disarmed in New Orleans.

Deputies and officers know that I wish them no harm. Theirs is a dangerous job - much more so than it was 30-40 years.

Having so that, officers are allowed to use only such force as is necessary. If Bolen threatened them with a gun on Saturday, they were right to shoot.

Now, define "threaten".

Steve said...

Screw that, gus. If the moron had a knife as was later reported, he was bought and paid for. They'd have been within the use of force guidelines to punch his ticket with lead rather than the beanbag rounds. I think the rule of thumb is if the knife wielder gets within 18 feet of you, you're going to get cut if he so desires and it matters not if you brought the only gun to a knife fight.

Oh, and beanbag rounds are described as non-lethal weapons only by ignorant people who think they know what they are talking about. The correct term is less than lethal (sometimes) as Maxon learned when Seipler shot him with one. It was a shame but Maxon caused his problems (mentally off key or not) not Seipler, not the sheriff, not the supervisors.