|
Attorneys:
City
handling
of
police
shooting
a
national
model
Bruce
Smith,
Associated
Press
NORTH
CHARLESTON,
S.C.
(AP) --
North
Charleston,
South
Carolina,
did not
erupt in
violence
- as
other
cities
in
similar
circumstances
did -
after a
white
police
officer
fatally
shot an
unarmed
black
man.
Attorneys
for both
the city
and the
family
say that
is
because
of the
quick
actions
both
sides
took to
preserve
the
peace
and to
come to
an
agreement.
The
results
of those
efforts:
The
North
Charleston
City
Council
unanimously
approved
a $6.5
million
settlement
Thursday
with the
family
of
Walter
Scott.
Scott,
50, was
shot
April 4
by North
Charleston
police
officer
Michael
Slager.
A
bystander
captured
the
shooting
in a
dramatic
cellphone
video
that
showed
Slager
firing
at
Scott's
back as
Scott
ran
away.
Immediately
after
the
video
became
public,
Scott's
family
called
for
calm.
And
within
days,
North
Charleston
Mayor
Keith
Summey
contacted
the
family
about
reaching
a
settlement.
Attorneys
worked
on the
settlement
for
months
before
the
measure
was
brought
before
the city
council,
which
voted
10-0 in
favor of
it
Thursday.
"People
mention
Baltimore.
People
mention
Ferguson.
People
mention
New
York,"
North
Charleston
City
Attorney
Brady
Hair
said,
noting
places
where
violence
broke
out when
blacks
died
after
encounters
with
police
officers.
"What's
different
here is
there
were no
acts of
violence.
There
were no
buildings
burned."
"None of
us did
anything
to
escalate
this
into an
uncontrolled
environment,"
he said.
"It is a
different
template
from
what you
have
seen
around
the
country."
Chris
Stewart,
an
attorney
for the
Scott
family,
agreed
with
Hair
that the
actions
taken by
both
sides
have
been
"almost
a
blueprint
of how
these
situations
should
be
handled."
"Governments
are
listening
now and
they are
not
tolerating
this
type of
behavior,"
Stewart
said.
Mayor
Keith
Summey
said he
was
pleased
with the
settlement.
"The
family
took
steps to
keep the
community
calm,
and for
that the
city is
thankful,"
he said.
"This is
a very
difficult
period
for the
Scott
family.
I know
they are
glad to
have
this
part
behind
them so
their
healing
process
can
continue."
The
mayor
said
that
since
the
shooting,
North
Charleston
police
have
been
outfitted
with
body
cameras.
Slager
was not
wearing
one.
Summey
also
noted
the
police
department
will be
working
with a
division
of the
Department
of
Justice
that
helps
local
communities
resolve
issues
involving
race,
color,
national
origin
or
gender.
Hair
said
that
within
days of
the
shooting,
Summey
met with
the
Scott
family
and
their
attorneys.
Hair
said
both
sides
felt
that it
was in
everyone's
best
interest
to reach
a
resolution
and
avoid a
lawsuit.
"We knew
we had a
police
officer
charged
with
murder.
We have
a video
tape
that
quite
frankly
might be
the most
played
video
tape in
the
history
of
modern
media,"
he said.
"It was
played
all day,
every
day
around
the
world,
so from
our
perspective
the city
had
great
exposure.
The city
also
wanted
to do
the
right
thing by
the
family
and for
its
citizens."
Stewart
said a
number
of
issues
had to
be
considered
in
reaching
the $6.5
million
figure.
Noting
that
North
Charleston
is no
New
York, he
remarked,
"There
is no
way this
city
could
pay $50
million."
He said
attorneys
also had
to
consider
the
damage
that a
drawn-out
legal
battle
might do
to the
city and
its
residents.
Hair
said the
$6.5
million
represents
the
largest
settlement
for such
a case
in the
state's
history.
Before
the
video
was
brought
to the
attention
of
authorities,
Slager
had told
investigators
that
Scott
tried to
grab his
gun and
Taser.
But
prosecutor
Scarlett
Wilson
said
Scott
was
running
away and
the only
time
Slager
could be
seen
running
was to
go back,
pick up
the
Taser
and then
drop it
by
Scott's
body.
"We have
seen
that
incidents
like
this
have
happened
across
the
country
and
we've
seen how
those
situations
have
been
handled,"
said
Justin
Bamberg,
a state
representative
and an
attorney
who
represents
the
Scott
family.
"I truly
believe
... we
have set
a
prototype,
a
standard
for how
these
types of
situations
can be
handled."
He said
such
cases
need to
be
resolved
by
reaching
common
ground.
"When
you keep
faith
and
respect
one
another
and you
don't go
to your
corner
based on
whether
you are
black or
white or
rich or
poor,
things
can work
out," he
said. |