[Peace-discuss] Re: Man dead in police chase

[Brian Dolinar]

Well, John, we'd like to give the News Gazoo the
benefit of the doubt.

But they also editorialized AGAINST
a CPRB in Champaign.
This was after the protest.

Now they call for more oversight in Georgetown
weeks after denouncing an oversight board in Champaign.
Just a bad case of schizophrenia I imagine.

BD

On 11/6/06, Brian Dolinar <briandolinar at gmail.com> wrote:
> An opinion in the News Gazoo:
> This death looks very suspicious.
> Anybody have connections in Georgetown?
>
> Police shouldn't get special treatment in investigation
> Monday November 6, 2006
>
> Once again, a local police agency isn't being forthright in releasing
> information about an incident in which a man died while being pursued
> by police. This time, it's a case involving a Georgetown police
> officer who reportedly fell upon 47-year-old Curtis Sloan during a
> foot chase last Wednesday night. Mr. Sloan died of blunt force trauma
> to the chest, according to preliminary autopsy reports.
>
> Vermilion County Sheriff Pat Hartshorn, whose department is
> investigating the incident, declined to release the name of the police
> officer who was pursuing Mr. Sloan. On the other hand, Hartshorn was
> eager to report that Mr. Sloan had been arrested 58 times in Vermilion
> County. With that kind of public relations spin being presented this
> early in the police probe, members of the public are left to question
> how legitimate an investigation will be.
>
> There is absolutely no reason why the name of the police officer
> should not be released. If the unnamed police officer had died while
> pursuing someone sought in a home invasion, you can be certain that
> police would have released not only the officer's name but the
> suspect's identity.
>
> This is not the first time this has happened in a local police
> investigation, but it ought to be the last. Most recently, Champaign
> police refused to identify an officer who had shot a man who was
> walking in front of his home, carrying a BB gun.
>
> Secrecy in these cases serves no purpose to anyone. But it does raise
> doubts about how thorough a police investigation of a police-related
> incident will be, and gives fuel to those who believe such
> investigations should be handled by civilian review boards.
>
> --
> Brian Dolinar, Ph.D.
> 303 W. Locust St.
> Urbana, IL 61801
> briandolinar at gmail.com
>


-- 
Brian Dolinar, Ph.D.
303 W. Locust St.
Urbana, IL 61801
briandolinar at gmail.com