Pasco Shooting Update: Police Chief Says He Doesn't Know 'Exact Words' on Lethal Force Policy Following Shooting of Unarmed Man [Watch]
Following the death of an unarmed Hispanic man who was fatally shot by police in Pasco, Washington last month, Pasco Police Chief Robert Metzger admitted that he does not know the policy that liberates an officer to use of deadly force.
The shooting death of Antonio Zambrano-Montes occurred on Feb. 10 when he was gunned down by police in Pasco, which is about 200 miles away from Seattle. Video footage of the incident shows the 35-year-old Mexican migrant running away as police appear to open fire. Zambrano-Montes was then fatally shot after he stopped running and turned toward the cops.
An investigation revealed that three officers fired 17 shots and the victim was hit by five or six bullets.
Police said Zambrano-Montes was throwing rocks at police cars at a busy intersection in Pasco before the shooting and then refused to drop the stones. They also claim that they initially used a stun gun on Zambrano-Montes twice, but it failed to subdue him, reports The Associated Press.
During a recently published interview with MSNBC, Chief Metzger revealed that he cannot recite his police department's policy on lethal force.
He described the policy saying an officer has to sense "a threat of imminent bodily harm. In other words, can this person do harm to them or others?" He then went on to say, "I don't know the exact words. I'd have to get out the policy. I don't have it right here," adding that it states that they have to be "in jeopardy of some kind."
In response to his troubling confession, an interviewer questioned how the chief expects his officers to follow the policy when he is unclear about it, himself.
"But if you don't know off-hand what the specific wording of that policy is, how can you expect officers out in the streets to know how to behave?" said the interviewer off camera.
"Because they're trained on that on a regular basis," Metzger replied. "My job is more administrative, so I know what the levels are, but in terms of being able to articulate to you right now--I may not get it out the way that I would. But it terms of when it happens, we're trained so that our reactions and things that we do is based on what our policy is."
Felix Vargas, the Chair of Consejo Latino, a group of local businessmen in Pasco calling for justice for Antonio Zambrano-Montes, stated that protesters have not been able to review the policy.
"We don't have a copy of the police use of force. We requested this 10 days ago," said the retired U.S. diplomat and Army colonel in the video. "We want to see what they're using."
Since Zambrano-Montes' death, there have been a number of protests in the city, where the majority Hispanic population lacks representation in the police force and political system. Protesters and the American Civil Liberties Union are also calling for federal officials to step in and investigate the case.
Watch the video interview below.
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