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Fresno Police Kill Unarmed Suspect - Community Groups Express their Outrage

by Mike Rhodes (MikeRhodes [at] Comcast.net)
Fresno has had another shooting of an unarmed suspect by the Fresno Police Department. Community Groups held a Press Conference today to protest the lack of police accountability.
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Fresno Police Kill Unarmed Suspect - Community Groups Express their Outrage
By Mike Rhodes

Joaquin Figueroa was shot and killed by police on August 3, 2006. He was unarmed. At a press conference held today in front of the old Fresno City Hall, community activists condemned the shooting. A press release, sent to the media by event organizers, said that Joaquin Figueroa was "another stolen life taken by the Fresno Police Department." The statement also said "the Community does realize that the only thing that changed in this officer involved shooting was that the suspect was shot only 2 times unlike the 20+ times in the previous incidents."

Community organizer Gloria Hernandez said the "Fresno Police Department should follow the ruling in Tennessee v. Garner, which said ‘deadly force...may not be used unless necessary to prevent the escape and the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others.’ The law clearly does not say that police officers should have this power when a person might in the future pose a threat to others."

The Fresno Police Department says that Figueroa did not have a gun when he was shot. The police also say Figueroa was the primary suspect in a shooting incident in which a Fresno Police officer was shot and wounded. Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said the shooting of Figueroa was justified because he ignored commands to show his hands and that he had a reputation for being armed and dangerous.

At a Press Conference the day after Figueroa was shot, Dyer listed a number of crimes the suspect was believed to have committed. The list included carjackings, robbery, murder, and involvement in a high profile missing persons case. According to Dyer’s statement at the Press Conference, "Subsequent investigation determined that 25 year old Joaquin Figueroa was a validated gang member and convicted auto thief responsible for a series of violent crimes leading up to the shooting of Officer Brian Nieto."

Dyer said "Additionally, the Hanford Police Department named Joaquin as a person of interest in the disappearance and murder of Debbie Hawk." Several news reports have linked Figueroa, the shooting of officer Nieto, and the Debbie Hawk case.

Dyer was quoted in The Fresno Bee, as saying "I am certain that there is a great deal of relief (in the community) that a very violent person has been removed from the street." (8/4/06 Fresno Bee)

Hernandez, the community organizer and one of the speakers at today’s Press Conference, said "we will never know if the cop's latest statistic was in fact guilty. We will never know if this ‘person of interest’ was involved in the Manchester shooting or the Hawk woman disappearing. Both cases closed! Because it's easier to blame it on the bad dead guy!"

Hernandez also announced that they were asking the Human Relations Commission to hold a Town Hall meeting to discuss this shooting. She also demanded that an outside agency investigate Figueroa’s death.

Many of the speakers at today’s event belong to the Central California Criminal Justice Committee (CCCJC), which has been working for years to establish an Independent Police Auditor (IPA) in this community. The concept for an IPA has received support from the Mayor of Fresno and Chief Dyer, but has been rejected by the Fresno City Council.

Without an IPA there is only the Internal Affairs Department to look at police actions. Rev. Floyd Harris, State President of the National Action Network and another participant at the Press Conference has said "that is like having a fox watching the hen house." Hernandez says that the "Fresno Police should develop use of force policies that address use of firearms and other weapons and particular use of force issues such as: firing at moving vehicles, verbal warnings, positional asphyxia, bar arm restraints, and the use of chemical agents. With proper training and planning Fresno Police Officers could demonstrate that the use of non-deadly force reasonably should be sufficient to accomplish an arrest or otherwise accomplish the law enforcement purpose, deadly force should not be necessary."

The Press Release from today’s press conference went on to say:

Jerry Dyer does not speak for the Community. We are not relieved to have to witness the use of deadly force on an unarmed man who was suspect of shooting Officer Nieto. The Community would have wanted the suspect to have the same access to the court system as Jerry Dyer's niece has had when she was involved in a Fowler murder case.

We are not relieved that our questions have not been answered:

Was the suspect the one who shot Officer Nieto?

Was the gun recovered? Were his fingerprints on it?

Did the police have a justified reason to use deadly force?

How come other cities are able to bring in the suspect instead of shooting him dead? (Arizona serial killers captured on 8/4/06 instead of being shot to death).

We are not relieved to know that cops in Fresno are using submachine guns against suspects, we are not at war with suspects. (Fresno Bee news briefs 8/08/06)

Who will be accountable if all the cases are jeopardized because of the Fresno Police Department's lack of training and control?

Why were more than 200 officers involved in the search for a cop shooter, used to investigate the case of the woman who was wounded at Manchester Center? Does she not deserve the same level of attention that has been given to Officer Nieto's case?

In addition to the information from the Press Release (above), community activists at the Press Conference cited statistics showing that the crime rate in Fresno is significantly higher than the national average. Some of the statistics cited:

* According to what was reported by Fresno PD to the FBI, Fresno had 53 murders (11.6 per 100,000 people), yet the national level was only 5.5.

* Fresno experienced 181 rapes (39.6:100,000) compared to the national level of 32.2:100,000

* Fresno had 2030 aggravated assaults (444.5: 100,000persons) with the national level being at 291:100,000 persons).

* We can also compare statistics with San Jose which has double the population of Fresno but only had 24 murders in comparison to the 53 in Fresno. One wonders if its because they have an independent police oversight mechanism that keeps the cops on their toes?

Groups at the Press Conference included the National Action Network, MEChA, Books not Bars, California Prison Moratorium, Peace Fresno, Fresno Copwatch, October 22, and the Hmong American Coalition for Justice and Human Rights.

###

§Rebeca Rangel
by Mike Rhodes
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Rebeca Rangel (far right) read the statement at the Press Conference.
§Gloria Hernandez
by Mike Rhodes
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Gloria said there will be a Know Your Rights training at the Hinton Center on August 30, in conjunction with a meeting by the Prison Moratorium group. All photos by Mike Rhodes.
§Rev. Floyd Harris
by Mike Rhodes
600pressconference4.jpg
The Rev. Floyd Harris is looking at a statewide march in Fresno to protest the lack of police accountability.
§Mai Summer Vue
by Mike Rhodes
600pressconference5.jpg
Mai Summer Vue said people in her community were having their rights violated by the police. She said “we need an Independent Police Auditor in Fresno to sustain the democratic system.”
§Good Question
by Mike Rhodes
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Add Your Comments

Comments (Hide Comments)
by bb
to remind everyone chief dyer as much as admitted to statutory rape in the bee during the process of appointing him chief. He had been investigated for sexual acts with a minor, and when the bee asked him about it he said-- I had to talk to my wife a lot, and we had to pray a lot, but that's now behind us.

The bee asked him straight up and not only did he never deny any allegation, he as much as confessed without putting it explicitly.

So there you go, your chief is likely a felony sexual offender.
by JQP
First, not sure if the lady is intentionally lying to people or just does not understand "Tennessee v. Garner." That case specifically ALLOWS an Officer to use deadly force of an unarmed person to prevent FUTURE injury (in certain circumstances).
Second, What are the facts of this shooting? Why are they not included in the article?
Third, as far as the Chief goes (I don't know him or support him), give us the facts regarding the statutory rape. There are many people who when they turned eighteen still had a girlfriend or boyfriend who was under eighteen.....that makes for a lot of statutory rapists, should they all be in prison?
by Mahtin
"We are not relieved that our questions have not been answered:

Was the suspect the one who shot Officer Nieto?

Was the gun recovered? Were his fingerprints on it?"

The police tend to not release details about things like this. Or when they do, they release enough to make it clear that there's a cover up.
It is good to see that the people of Fresno organized and had a press conference demanding answers as to why an unarmed man was murdered by the police. The people in Fresno are calling for an IPA and referencing San Jose as a good example. Sad to say that the IPA has NO power in "officer involved shootings" here in San Jose. The IPA can't come to the crime scene to investigate when the crime scene investigators are called in. They have no power to tell the police to change their policy. The IPA is another form of the police investigating the police. We the people need to form community organizations which have the power to investigate the police and also have the power to charge the police with commiting crimes. As far as I know, there are no examples of this in the United States of North Amerikkka. Even Civilian Review Committes or Community Review Committes have no power or teeth to really investigate police shootings of civilians and then be able to charge the cops with a crime. We have a LOT of work to do to change this police state system.
by junya
> We can also compare statistics with San Jose which has double the population of Fresno but
> only had 24 murders in comparison to the 53 in Fresno. One wonders if its because they have
> an independent police oversight mechanism that keeps the cops on their toes?

The answer is: No, No, No.

No - the low murder rate has nothing to do with the IPA.
San Jose has long had a relatively low murder rate for a city of its size - long before the IPA was created, so there's no correlation. Check the crime statistics on the FBI website.

No - San Jose does not have "an independent police oversight mechanism".
The SJ auditor:
- can sit in on questioning during the investigation phase but cannot question.
- can recommend policy or procedure changes, but the recommendations are not binding.
- does not discipline police and cannot appeal the chief's decisions.

No - there is no existing mechanism "that keeps the cops on their toes" in San Jose (or any other large US city I know of), if you mean a mechanism that acts as an effective deterrent to murders by police.
After over 10 years of SJ auditor existence, fatal shootings by police are near record levels, In 2000 San Jose ranked #1, among the 50 largest US cities, in rate of fatal shootings by police relative to the overall murder rate - and that rate has continued to climb. Fatal shootings spiked after Tasers were given to all police. While the killings have not gone down, police routinely use Tasers on people who are neither armed nor violent. SJPD Taser usage is blessed by the SJ auditor's office each year in its annual report.

In http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2005/11/16/17840671.php?show_comments=1#17841331 asked why Fresno wants to follow the bloody trail of San Jose. We're still waiting for an answer.

San Jose is not the way.
I have to admit that I too am really tired of officer involved shootings, especially within my own community. Its a sad day when an officer whose job is to protect each and everyone of us is shot doing just that. What gets me in reading through some of the postings is that people tend to lose site of the actual issue at hand. Was Joaquin Figeroa a suspect in the shooting of Officer Nieto as well as other crimes? Yes he was. Would a person not guilty of said crimes contact authorities upon seeing his face on the news? One would think so. Figeroa very clearly had no intention of surrendering to police on the day he was killed, otherwise he wouldn't have tried to get back in the car in which he ran from. He didn't follow commands made by the police. How were they to be certain that he was not carrying a weapon or that he did not have access to a weapon, afterall he did rush back to the vehicle. So does that mean, that since they were not 100% positive that he was armed, that they should have to risk their lives? I say no, and I know for a fact that there are way more people who agree with me than that don't. What does the shooting of Joaquin Figeroa have to do with the personal life of Jerry Dyer? Regardless of whatever past he may have had, he was still made Chief of police. And it was a fine choice. Crime rates in Fresno have nothing to do with him, what they have to do with are violent criminals like Figeroa who are protected by those people who really have thier priorities backwards. Why is it that when a criminal is killed by a police officer, so many people stand up for that criminal? I have a feeling that they would be singing a very different tune if it was someone close to them that had been harmed at the hands of a criminal. Yet we lose site of that, because instead of offering our support and appreciation to a police department that every day makes our lives safer, we turn our backs to them and scold them for being "too mean" to violent criminals. Ignorance is apparantly contagious. I propose that instead of a day to protest this so-called police brutality, maybe the community come together and offer support and say thank you to those who put their safety on the line for all of us, even those out there that speak against them. Its a shame Joaquin Figeroa isn't around to read all the supportive letters he is getting, no wait...I take that back. Thank God the s.o.b. is dead. We are all a lot better off.
by Dan
When Dyer was in his 20s and a police officer, he was having sex with a 16 year old girl. At the time he was "dating" the underaged girl, he was also married. He was well known in the department for his partying and other activities. He suddenly "found" Jesus and cleaned up his act. Frankly, his religion is probably what got him the chief's job.

During the recent primary campaign for Sheriff, it became public that out-going Sheriff Richard Pierce ran for the office in 1998 to keep then-Assistant Chief Dyer from running. Shortly before this year's primary, Dyer announced that he was going to run for Sheriff while remaining Fresno's police chief at the same time. The Attorney General's office rendered an opinion that Dyer could not hold both positions without the permission of the City Council and the Board of Supervisors. The Board members publicly made it clear they would not grant permission, so Dyer's brief campaign for Sheriff died.
by janie leal figueroa (janieloka [at] aol.com)
the way i see it is everyone has a right no matter what they are accussed of doing. police should be there to bring justice for the people. who can we turst if they dont bring justice all they do is commit a crime against the people I know my brother-inlaw he should have had the same right everyone else gets, even jerry dyer who was accussed of being with a minor but he part of fresno pd and only the say what goes.what happen to serving the people of fresno or do they
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