Salinas Police Silent After Fourth Officer Involved Killing

From the Monterey County Weekly:

"UPDATE (12:50pm): District Attorney Dean Flippo identified the man as Frank Alvarado, who was 39 or 40 years old. Flippo said officers responded to a civilian calling in a complaint, though he was unable to provide details as to the nature of the complaint or the subsequent deadly encounter."

http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/blogs/news_blog/da-investigates-fourth-fatal-salinas-police-officer-involved-shooting-this/article_c7af3fc8-0860-11e4-83ce-0017a43b2370.html


From the Californian:

"Flippo couldn’t say whether Alvarado, who is either 39 or 40 years old, was armed or what he was doing."

http://www.thecalifornian.com/story/news/local/2014/07/10/da-investigate-fourth-officer-involved-fatality/12490973/

Frank Alvarado speaking in Santa Cruz on May 14, 2014. Screenshot from video by Alex Darocy.

Increases in Prison and Jail Spending in Governor's Revised Budget Opposed in Santa Cruz
by Alex Darocy
Thursday May 15th, 2014

Residents and representatives of community organizations in Santa Cruz rallied outside of the court house on May 14 to voice their strong opposition to the Governor's May revise budget, which calls for an increase in spending for jail and prison expansion. According to Californians United for A Responsible Budget (CURB), spending on corrections in the state will rise 2.9%, and total spending on prisons will top $12 billion if the budget revision is adopted. Similar rallies were also held in San Francisco, Bakersfield, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and San Diego.

[Video: Courtney Hanson of Sin Barras, Tash Nguyen of Sin Barras, former inmate Frank Alvarado (at 3:55 - 4:50), Simba Kenyatta of the NAACP, and Willow of Sin Barras speak.]

[S]peaking at the rally was Frank Alvarado, a former inmate who described making it through eleven years of "hell" while incarcerated. He cautioned that building more prisons at the sacrifice of schools and parks would lead to devastating results for California.

"You will have your hell if you build those prisons," he said.

https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2014/05/15/18755833.php

Monterey County District Attorney Flippo provided details of the killing today. Salinas Police say they received a report Alvarado was threatening his family in an attempt to "commit suicide by cop". They were also made aware over an emergency call that Alvarado was on meth and that he was threatening to "commit suicide by cop" by holding a cell phone like it was a gun. When they arrived he did that and police say two officers fired, finding the cell phone after shooting him.

From the Monterey County Weekly:

"Two officers fired, and Alvarado was transported to Natividad Medical Center, where he died."

"Flippo said he is not aware of any non-lethal attempts to stop Alvarado other than verbal command."

http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/blogs/news_blog/first-details-emerge-about-the-salinas-police-shooting-death-of/article_b0a2eb5a-094f-11e4-a14c-001a4bcf6878.html