NEVER Seek “Help” from the State’s Armed Enforcers --- not good advice
remember, they are the good guys, most of the time On Nov 1, 12:57 pm, "M. Johnson" <[email protected]> wrote: > NEVERSeek “Help” from the State’s Armed EnforcersPosted byWilliam Griggon > November 1, 2009 08:03 AM > Niles Leo Meservey, a 51-year-old resident of Stanwood, Washington, was drunk > and belligerent when he slumped into the seat behind the steering wheel of > his Corvette last June 10. > Meservey had been cut off by the bartender after he had inflicted his > unwanted attention on a couple of women at a nearby club, briefly dragging > one of them onto the dance floor. > Several people were worried about the prospect of the intoxicated man > attempting to drive home when he clearly presented a risk to himself and > others. One of them, Trisha Tribble,called 911. > “We’re really concerned about a guy leaving the parking lot of Chuckwagon > [Inn] on Evergreen Way in a white Corvette, he’s extremely intoxicated,” > Tribble told the dispatcher. > Several officers from the Everett Police Department soon arrived; among them > were Troy Meade, an 11-year-veteran, and Officer Steven Klocker. Meade > arrived at about 11:39 PM; Klocker reached the scene a little less than five > minutes later. > At the time Officer Meade arrived, Meservey was hedged in by cars on either > side of his Corvette, and cut off by a parking lot fence in front of him. > Meade pulled up behind Meservey’s car, effectively boxing him in. > Joanne Hancock, who was smoking outside the Chuckwagon Inn when the police > arrived, went inside to tell others concerned about Meservey that “They’ve > got him!” The news prompted a small group of people to go outside to watch > the arrest. > By the time Klocker arrived to provide “backup,” Meade had spent perhaps > five minutes trying to convince Meservey to get out of the car. Klocker > would laterreportthat Meade’s tone and attitude toward the intoxicated man > were “belligerent,” and that he “used language which made him [Klocker] > uncomfortable because of the nearby civilians.” > “I don’t know why the f**k I am trying to save your dumb ass,” Meade snarled > at Meservey, according to Klocker’s account. > Both Meade and Klocker withdrew their portable electro-shock torture devices > (more commonly called Tasers). Meade, who was closest to the driver, shot > Meservey with his Taser through the open driver’s side window, inflicting two > separate strikes one five seconds long, the other six seconds’ duration. > “Why in the f**k did you do that?” muttered the drunken man, who predictably > enough didn’t want to stick around for any more abuse. He reached for his > keys and started the car, but he had nowhere to go: It lurched over a > concrete curb and ran into an unyielding chain-link fence. > Bear in mind, once again, that Meservey was entirely boxed in. It was > possible, albeit with some difficulty, for Officer Meade to reach through the > window and seize the car keys, rather than escalating the situation by using > potentially deadly force. > But Meade’s pointless escalation didn’t stop with the two Taser strikes. > After Meservey’s brief attempt to drive away, Meade according to the official > police account took up a position near the left rear wheel of the Corvette, > and pulled his gun. > “Time to end this,” bellowed Meade, according to Klocker. “Enough is enough.” > From a distance of six to seven feet, Meade fired eight shots into the car, > murdering Meservey. > When several other police officers arrived a few minutes later, Meade was > seen pacing back and forth near the murder scene. > “I’m out of it,” he exclaimed to one of the new arrivals. “I want my Garrity.” > The“Garrity Rule”adapted from the 1967 Supreme Court rulingGarrity v. New > Jersey, which involved a ticket-fixing scandal triggers an enhancement of the > right against self-incrimination that only the government’s armed enforcers > enjoy: Any statements made after the magical Garrity incantation is uttered > can only be used for the purpose of a departmental investigation, not for > criminal prosecution. > Klocker, who witnessed the entire incident, pointed out to investigators that > when Meservey’s body was pulled from the car, the prongs of Officer Meade’s > Taser were still firmly embedded in his shoulder. > “I’m thinking as I ‘m dragging him … why didn’t we [shock] him again?”Klocker > told investigators.If escalation had been “necessary,” Klocker thought, Meade > would have used the Taser again, or resorted to pepper spray. “I would never > have shot [Meservey]… I don’t think we had reached that level of force yet,” > Klocker concluded. > What seems obvious to someone not indoctrinated in the state’s view of > discretionary killing is this:There was no reason to use force of any kind in > this situation, beyond the minimal amount necessary to take the keys away > from Meservey. Once that was accomplished, the intoxicated man had nowhere to > go, and it would have been a matter of patiently waiting for him to leave his > car, or fall asleep. > Rather that choosing an approach of that kind, Meade (who was involved in a > prior lethal shooting a few years ago) went up the escalation ladder very > quickly vaulting from confrontational and abusive language to lethal violence > within a matter of minutes. > Meade did provide an ironic service of sorts by offering such a compelling > display of the fact that citizens face the risk of lethal violence > ineveryencounter they have with law enforcement personnel. Making that point > was obviously not worth the price of a man’s life. > Meservey’s daughter has filed a $15 million wrongful death claim against > Everett.Meade has been charged with first-degree manslaughterand placed on > paid vacation (aka “administrative leave”); unlike a private citizen charged > with lethally shooting an unarmed man six times in the back, Meade is loose > on his own recognizance.Meade’s attorney defends the murderas the result of a > “split-second decision” (it wasn’t, as we’ve seen) and predicts, with > tragically justifiable confidence, that the officer will be acquitted in > court.It’s entirely likely that Meade wouldn’t have been indicted if it > weren’t for rising public concern over recent police shootings in Everett. > Trisha Tribble, who called 911, was mortified by the death of Meservey, whom > she described as “this drunken guy, [who] was obviously out of his mind.” > “There was no reason for him to die,” she commented after the slaying. > And that was the trouble with Tribble’s actions the night of June 10: Any > time we seek “help” from the state’s armed enforcers, we’re effectively > inviting them to use lethal force. > (Thanks to LRC reader J.C. 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