Condemn Attorney General Whitewashing of Police shooting of a Furloughee.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Candidate for Lt. Governor Condemn Attorney General Whitewashing
of Police shooting of a Furloughee.
Charleston, Vermont
August 8, 2014
I condemn the Attorney Generals decision to justify the shooting of a furloughed
prisoner in Barton. Sadly i see Vermont going in the dangerous direction of the
rest of the country where deadly force by law enforcement is routine. In the
last year a mentally ill person wielding a shovel was killed in Burlington when
any competent martial artist with a cane could have disarmed him harmlessly.
In another distressing incident police tased a mentally ill person to death in
2012. This incident was also whitewashed by the police and AG.
It is time for Vermont to take a long hard look at how it values life. Rather
than rushing to justify official use of force we should be seeking to avoid the
use of force that might cause death or injury to anyone. The Furloughee shot
was in possession of a stolen jeep. The police pursued him at excessive and
extremely dangerous speed. This not only endangered everyone in the chase but
caused an unacceptable risk for the public. Recovering a stolen car is not worth
anyones life nor is it worth shooting anyone.
I propose a policy that would create an automatic 10-25% salary loss for any
official involved in any act of violence. Rather than putting an officer on
paid leave (a vacation to anyone else) they should loose some income to give
a strong incentive to seek nonviolent solutions to problems. Life is too
precious to throw away.