BCSO motorcycle incident needs to be re-examined

“DEPUTIES IN motorcyclist incident cleared, ”Aug. 2

Having completed a 25-year career as a street cop, I thought I had heard and seen just about everything. But I have never heard such a load of manure as the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office shoveled in an attempt to justify the unjustifiable.

I understand from personal experience the frustration the deputies felt watching the motorcyclists flaunt their ability to flout the law with impunity. Certainly their actions created a danger to other motorists and — mostly — to themselves. But frustration does not justify an escalation of force level. Perhaps a more productive action would have been to photograph riders and license plates for followup action. One of the strengths of the law enforcement profession is that if we can’t catch you now, we can come for you later.

The BCSO report is quoted as saying that the deputies feared an “impending battery.” N.M. Statutes § 30-3-4 defines battery as a petty misdemeanor. I have never before heard it suggested that deadly force used to prevent the commission of a misdemeanor. It is also stated that they feared the motorcyclist would ram their cruiser. We need to apply a reasonableness standard here: was this a reasonable fear? Is it reasonable to resort to deadly force to prevent an action that might take place?

I can say with some confidence that when I was a serving officer, had I been photographed in the same situation, it would have cost me at least a day off without pay; probably more. And I.A. would not have taken nine months to reach a conclusion, either. My department considered shooting from or at a moving vehicle justified in only the most extreme circumstances. I submit that a bunch of hooligans showing off is not sufficiently extreme.

The sheriff should take another look at this incident.

W. ERIK MASINCUP Placitas