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Officer-Citizen Deadly Force Encounters
Procedure
To provide more predictable, uniform, and transparent responses to officer-involved deadly-force incidents, the District Attorney’s Office, together with every local police agency in the County, the Orange County Sheriff, and the New York State Police, has developed a uniform procedure for handling those incidents.
For purposes of the protocol, an “involved agency” means a police agency whose member has used deadly physical force resulting in death or serious injury to a suspect or bystander. The procedure, in general, requires the following.
Notification
The involved agency must notify the District Attorney’s Office, the State Police, and, if appropriate, the Orange County Medical Examiner, immediately after an incident occurs. The involved agency will also be responsible for maintaining the integrity of the scene and of the investigation until relieved by the State Police.
Investigation
The District Attorney’s Office will be the lead investigative agency, with investigative support and on-the-scene forensics provided by the State Police. The District Attorney’s Office will consult with the Chief of the involved agency, including the Sheriff, if the case involves Sheriff’s personnel. Only at the request of the District Attorney’s Office will the involved agency provide investigative support.
The involved agency will be responsible for conducting any separate administrative investigation into whether the personnel involved violated departmental policy during the incident. The District Attorney-State Police investigation will take precedence over any such administrative investigation.
Public Information
The District Attorney, the State Police, and the head of the involved agency will coordinate the release of information to the press and to the public. Efforts will be made to release the most accurate and up-to-date information available that will not compromise the integrity of the investigation, within ethical limits.
Video
The following video was prepared by law enforcement authorities in Lane County (Eugene), Oregon, concerning the dynamics of police-involved deadly-force encounters. The excerpts have been used with the permission of the Lane County District Attorney’s Office.
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David M. Hoovler
District Attorney
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District Attorney
Physical Address
255-275 Main Street
Goshen, NY 10924
Phone: 845-291-2050
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Special Projects & Community Affairs Bureau
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Immigrant Affairs
- Time is on the side of the police, right? They are trained for these types of encounters, aren’t they?
- Why didn’t the police just talk the distressed aggressor into submission?
- The subject only had a knife. Why didn’t the officer just disarm the subject, rather than shooting him?
- Why not just shoot the gun or knife out of the aggressor’s hand? Why not just shoot to wound the subject?
- Why didn’t the officer use non-lethal tools, such as bean bag or sponge rounds from a shotgun?
- The suspect was shot in the back. He must have been retreating, right?
- Why was the assailant shot so many times? Doesn’t that mean the officer overreacted?
- Why won’t video from a police camera or a bystander’s camera tell the whole story?