GO TO: Police Brutality | Sonoma County Free Press Home Page | Columns | Features
 

THE DEADLIEST DAY Saturday, Dec. 27, 1997: Six Die at the Hands of Law Enforcement By Karen Saari Stolen Lives Researcher

The Stolen Lives Project recently received a grant from the San Francisco Foundation to join up with Project Censored in a research project at Sonoma State University. Using sophisticated databases of on-line newspapers, I am compiling a list of people who have died at the hands of law enforcement in the US during the past 12 months.

We are now halfway through the research and have been reviewing the preliminary data for patterns of police violence. One aspect we are investigating is the frequency of the killings. It is not unusual for there to be 3 or 4 deaths in one day. But on December 27, 1997, two days after Christmas, there were six in one day. December 27 currently appears to be the deadliest day in the past calendar year.

The following accounts were taken from mainstream newspapers and reflect the editorial position of those papers. It is important to note that the papers made little or no effort to verify the police version of events with eye witnesses. In every case where we have had the opportunity to interview eye witnesses or the family, we are told quite a different version of events.

According to the police reports, here is what happened.

Detroit, Michigan: An off-duty Detroit police officer was sitting with a woman friend in his private car about 3:25 a.m. when two men allegedly approached his car and tried to rob him. When the officer identified himself and pulled out his handgun, the men ran off. Then, according to police, the first man opened fire and shots were exchanged with the officer. The officer received a minor wound, the first man got away and the second man was shot in the back (undoubtedly while running away) and was killed. If the first man is apprehended, he (not the cop) can be charged with the murder of his companion The following day, in an alleged gun accident, another off-duty Detroit police officer shot and killed a man.

Lincolnshire, Illinois: On the evening of December 26, Elaine Peterson called 911. Her husband, Charles Peterson a Chicago public school teacher, had become intoxicated and verbally abusive. She hoped the police would come by and calm him down. Things turned out very differently than she expected.

When police arrived they claim Petersen locked himself in an upstairs bedroom. Allegedly hearing him load a rifle, they called for reinforcements. The tactical squad, consisting of over 36 officers, arrived. During the subsequent six-hour standoff, officers shouted at Petersen through a bull horn and pepper-sprayed him.

At the end of six hours, police claim that Petersen fired on them. Although no one was injured, the order was given to shoot Petersen on sight. When Petersen appeared in a window, a police sniper shot and killed him instantly. Charles Petersen died of a bullet to the right cheek. He was not holding a weapon. Authorities say that doesn't matter because Petersen had fired on police and they feared for their own safety.

It is becoming increasingly common across the country for tactical squads consisting of up to 100 paramilitary troops to respond to domestic disputes. When the Iron Fist arrives, a relatively minor incident quickly becomes a state of siege.

Farmers Branch, Texas: Police in this small Dallas suburb responded to a report about a man threatening suicide. When they arrived at his home, they allegedly found the man naked on his front porch holding a handgun. According to police, the officers demanded that he drop his weapon. When he did not do so soon enough, they shot and killed him.

According to the police attorney, the victim was "waving a gun and popping off about wanting to kill someone. He wanted to die, is what he wanted. They [the police] did what they had to do." Here we have another case of police deciding within seconds of arriving on the scene that a distraught person wants to die and taking it upon themselves to kill that person.

Sacramento, California: Andrew Sorgatz was driving in North Sacramento when his vehicle was hit by a Sacramento PD patrol car speeding to a pursuit-in-progress. The patrol car did not have on its lights or sirens. Sorgatz, a well-liked employee at a local communications firm, was killed in the crash. Age 49, he left behind a wife and two children. Over a third of the people killed in high speed pursuits are bystanders like Andrew Sorgatz.

Portland, Oregon: Millman Napier, age 74, died at a Portland hospital. The previous afternoon he had been a passenger in the rear seat of a car driven by his friend Gene Tawny. Their car was passing through an intersection in Southeast Portland when it was hit at 55 mph by a driver being chased by the Portland police. Gene Tawny died at the scene. According to a police spokesperson, Portland police acted properly.

Manhattan Beach, California: According to police sources, a couple who lived across the street from a police station was followed home by four men in a Jeep Cherokee. As the couple was walking into their house, one of the men got out of the Jeep and accosted the man. The couple was able to get away and go inside to call police. The police started an immediate search for four men in a Jeep.

It did not take long for the police to find a Jeep Cherokee in the neighborhood. When they did, they initiated a high speed chase which they kept up until the Jeep crashed. Claiming they were being fired upon, police shot Furman Little, age 27, several times in the chest. Little died a short time later at a nearby hospital.

It was Saturday, two days after Christmas, and six people were dead as the result of police violence and recklessness. They are an unidentified man in Detroit who was shot in the back while running away, a Chicago school teacher, an emotionally disturbed man in Texas, a middle-aged father and communications worker in California, an elderly man from Portland, and 27-year old Furman Little in Southern California. The next day, December 28, four would die. And on it would go into the new year.

Join the fight to stop police brutality. On October 22nd Wear Black!!!

---

It appears that on any day in the U.S., at least 4 to 6 people are killed or die as the result of interactions with police. These deaths are from shootings, excessive force, intentional neglect, high speed pursuits and brutality and medical neglect in jails and prisons. In addition, according to news reports, a large number of suicides occur in the presence of police.

A word of caution: Our current search is confined to major metropolitan newspapers and the deaths in rural areas are not appearing. It is reasonable to assume that the actual figures are significantly higher than we will be able to document with this project.

Look for the completed results on the October 22nd Coalition web page at unstoppable.com on October 1, 1998. Support the National Day of Protest To Stop Police Brutality on October 22nd by wearing black. There will be a march and rally in San Francisco starting at 2:00 p.m. at 24th and Mission.

Sonoma County Free Press Home Page | About The Free Press | Columns | Letters to the Editor |
Our Supporters