SCPD officer Erik Bailey named as killer of Sean Arlt; DA won't press charges

A Santa Cruz Police Department press conference followed the DA's press conference. Video justifying the killing of Sean Arlt with: SCPD Chief Kevin Vogel and deputy chiefs Rick Martinez and Dan Flippo.

District Attorney Jeff Rossell had a press conference that I attended Thursday morning. An audio of that conference plus some commentary is at http://radiolibre.org/brb/brb170216.mp3 (15 minutes into the file).

Commentary outside the SCPD Press Conference which I was excluded from, but some videoed (See prior comment on this thread) is at http://radiolibre.org/brb/brb170216.mp3 (1 hour and 4 minutes into the file). Enjoy.

Since when is a rake a described as a "weapon." They kept referring to it as a weapon only one person called it a rake. Was there really a rake or just an umbrella? To a person in an altered state saying "weapon" over and over is not understandable or rational. I get that he felted threaten by them. He was not seeing what the same way they were saying it, That is the main thing about dealing "mentally ill" in crisis. They aren't going to be rational.

Why was the RP so uncooperative! He didn't sound at all scared for his life like they tried to portray. I wonder if there is more to the story of the house like maybe illegal activities going on there. Why would Sean be drawn there? Maybe the neighborhood drug dealer?

A lot of the timeline of events couldn't have happened as fast and as slow and we are led to believe. Also I am sure the ride-along has more to say.

Plan made by officers sealed Sean Arlt’s fate

In Nicole Pifari’s Feb. 18 op-ed, she speaks against drawing uninformed conclusions. Yet her article is one of uninformed hyperbole. She writes of terrified residents calling for help on a “dark, stormy night.” Listen to the 911 recording. The caller is exasperated about the “crazy kid” next door, not terrified. The 911 dispatcher asked him if he was worried, and he told her, “No, he’s just crazy.” We had four officers against one person in a mental-health crisis holding a non-projectile weapon. Did they decide to surround him, using the parked cars for cover if necessary? Maybe use their billy clubs as shields/weapons to subdue him? No. They decided to taze him, and if that didn’t work, to kill him. The officers then engaged with Mr. Arlt. They began by shouting at him to drop the weapon. These shouted commands were ignored and Mr. Arlt advanced on the officers, and they followed their plan. A person in a mental-health crisis will not respond like a normal person.


http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/opinion/20170220/letters-feb-21-2017-sean-arlt-didnt-have-to-die

DA's Press Release - February 17, 2017

Rosell said the law states that a common every day area “like a knife” can be used in a deadly manner.

“It takes on the character of a dangerous or deadly weapon,” Rosell said.

Rosell said there is no precedent for a rake being used in a court of law as a deadly weapon, as far as he knows.

However, on Aug. 29, 2001, Detroit police officer David Krupinski shot and killed Errol Shaw Sr., 39, a deaf and mute man armed with a rake. In that case, Wayne County prosecutors charged Ofc. Krupinski with manslaughter, stating that the police officer lacked “legal excuse or justification” to fatally shoot a deaf, mute man holding nothing but a rake.

Krupinski was eventually found not guilty.

Rosell said neither he nor his team of district attorneys needed to find such a precedent to determine whether Bailey should or should not face criminal charges.


Santa Cruz DA will not press charges in SCPD shooting of Sean Arlt
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/general-news/20170216/santa-cruz-da-will-not-press-charges-in-scpd-shooting-of-sean-arlt



A police officer lacked “legal excuse or justification” to fatally shoot a garden rake-wielding man who could not hear or speak, prosecutors said Wednesday in charging the officer with manslaughter.

Officer David Krupinski, 23, was arraigned Wednesday afternoon in 36th District Court on the felony charge, punishable upon conviction by up to 15 years in prison.


Manslaughter Charges for Detroit Cop
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=95601&page=1

See https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2017/02/23/18796773.php .

Arlene Auerbach: Questions abound in case of Sean Arlt

By Arlene Auerbach, Special to the Sentinel

Posted: 02/24/17, 3:43 PM PST | Updated: 1 day ago

Who can we call if a family member or dear friend is having a psychotic episode? I thought that calling the police — first responders — would be the right, safe thing to do. I was raised to trust the police, to go to them for help when in trouble.

In October, when Sean Arlt was fatally shot by the police, my faith and trust was broken.

My husband and I witnessed what occurred first hand. The recent report from the District Attorney’s Office on the Oct. 16 shooting was full of discrepancies. In the recent Sentinel article on the report, it stated the District Attorney’s office will not pursue criminal charges against Santa Cruz police officer Erik Bailey. Why not?

Chief Kevin Vogel and deputy chiefs Rick Martinez and Dan Flippo addressed the incident, and an earlier one between Sean and police on Oct. 11, at a press conference. They said Sean “attacked” the officers with two writing instruments on Oct. 11. He had two plastic ballpoint retractable pens in his hands. He actually gave his father, who was present, one of the pens, when requested to do so. They said he was taken into custody. He was taken to Dominican Hospital in an ambulance and placed on a 5150 involuntary hold. We assumed he would get the necessary psychiatric care he required and deserved.

On Oct. 16, when Sean came back to our house, the Sentinel article said that the caller referred to Sean as “the crazy kid from next door.” First of all, my husband may have said Sean was acting crazy, but he did not refer to him as “the crazy kid from next door.” Sean doesn’t live next door, and he was a grown man who we have known since he was a child. We spoke of him and treated him with the utmost respect; he was part of our community family.

Secondly, the police officers did not demand Sean drop the rake 11 times. We heard, “Sean, drop the weapon, Sean, drop the weapon”, two times before we heard two gun shots. A garden rake is not a weapon. It happened in about 20 seconds.

Questions: Why were there no flashing lights or floodlight beams on the street? Why wasn’t an ambulance summoned immediately, when the police knew Sean had recent psychotic episodes, with a history of mental illness? Why did Dominican Hospital and the behavioral health unit release Sean so quickly when he was clearly in crisis. Why did the police not accept a blanket we offered to keep Sean warm and dry from the rain? Why didn’t they immediately summon his parents, a block and a half away? Why didn’t they get his psychiatrist on the phone? Where were the non-lethal interventions they say they are trained to deploy? Is there any physical evidence that they used a taser? Why did they lethally shoot him? Why did they leave him lying in the street for many hours? Why did they let him die? Why didn’t the police interview me, a witness to this tragedy?

Our community deserves answers and more importantly, a protocol that the police and mental-health system can utilize should this occur again. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel here. Pawtucket, Rhode Island, (and other other cities across our country) have great successes and outcomes with their protocols for interventions between police, mental health professionals and their citizens in crisis. Our city can do better than this.

Final question: Who can we call for help in Santa Cruz and be assured that our loved ones won’t be killed when in crisis?

Arlene Auerbach lives at Getchell and Chace avenues in Santa Cruz, in the house that Sean Arlt was attempting to enter the night he was shot and killed by police. She says she was home during the shooting, on Oct. 16, and also during another incident between Arlt and police on Oct. 11.

Comment on the letter at the Sentinel Cess Pool at http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/opinion/20170224/arlene-auerbach-questions-abound-in-case-of-sean-arlt

It would be more than helpful to see the police reports since no visible video has been released, and the audio doesn't clarify either just how close Arlt was to Bailey, how close other officers were. Whether they were blandly or robotically relying on the "lethal force" alternative as a kind of "business as usual" approach if Arlt didn't respond to their "commands".

While a rake could be a lethal weapon, the SCPD acknowledged they were preparing to use lethal force "if necessary". Four cops wearing body armor (though that hasn't been made clear) and--according to the police video presentation--a pathway for Officer Bailey to back up--only add to the need to see all the statements in the D.A.'s investigation and all the police reports.

Mayor Celia Scott took the initiative to release the D.A.'s report in 1997 when Officer Conor Carey shot dead "Happy" John Dine. Mayor Chase needs to do the same. One can always ask (I'm sending her an e-mail, but don't hold your breath).

Ms. Auerbach writes she was never interviewed. How many others were neglected, passed over, or intentionally ignored. Since the D.A. works closely with the SCPD, there may be a tendency to shape a narrative that gives the benefit of the doubt to the Official Story.

The absence of Auerbach's testimony puts a serious hole in the SCPD's "investigation". Perhaps the City needs to commission an independent investigation by a private P.I. Cheaper than a lawsuit--which reportedly the Arlt family is preparing.

The local ACLU is flush with funds from the recent revulsion against Trump (if the regional hasn't pilfered the coffers). Now it's past time for ACLU revulsion against Trumpism in Santa Cruz in terms of mililtarist secretive police policies and actions.

Perhaps they could kick down and hire a private eye to look into the situation more closely. If SCPD investigations are faulty or phony, the civil liberties of all of us--not just the regularly-harassed homeless--are at risk.

This time the Community needs to see all the evidence and view the conclusions in timely fashion. Vogel withheld video and audio for 4 months as well as the name of the killer. We still haven't seen the D.A.'s report.

If there is undue influence on the D.A.'s department or cover-up behavior by the SCPD (understandably concerned with its reputation and the welfare of its officers), we need to know it now rather than later.

A more recent closed police press conference insisted the SCPD had no knowledge of DHS/ICE intentions, while DHS/ICE bosses claim otherwise. Is this becoming a pattern? Authorities seem to believe the public will swallow whatever story they put out behind closed doors to their friends in the media. Trump pulled this one recently. Are the local uniformed Trumpettes doing the same?

Police researcher John Malkin will be interviewing Luke Smith's relatives on the Wednesday Talk About Show (from 7 to 8:30 PM on KZSC 88.1 FM). He also hopes to get Arlt's relatives and other witnesses. Call-in number is 831-459-4036.

Watching with furrowed brow while foreign wars and deportations have expanded in the last 8 years while income inequality has steadily increased has given us Trump nationally. We need finally to turn on Trumpism here--whatever party label it's wearing--Republican, Democratic, or "progressive".

Perhaps purposeful civil resistance can change the behavior of well-funded politicians and well-entrenched staff. It did on February 14 when determined voices refused to accept the City Council's attempt to muzzle the public. Perhaps it can create the changes that "progressives" chatter about.

I was at the D.A.'s press conference and viewed the SCPD video. The rake did look pretty nasty. However the rest of her concerns can't be ignored.

It would be helpful to see the police reports since no visible video has been released, and the audio doesn't clarify either.

While a rake could be a lethal weapon, the SCPD acknowledged they were preparing to use lethal force "if necessary". Four cops wearing body armor (though that hasn't been made clear) and--according to the police video presentation--a pathway for Officer Bailey to back up--only add to the need to see all the statements in the D.A.'s investigation and all the police reports.

Mayor Celia Scott took the initiative to release the D.A.'s report in 1997 when Officer Conor Carey shot dead "Happy" John Dine. Mayor Chase needs to do the same.

If Ms. Auerbach is accurate in writing that she was never interviewed, there also seem to be some holes in the SCPD's "investigation"--and perhaps an independent investigation perhaps by a private P.I. needs to be commissioned. Cheaper than a lawsuit--which reportedly the Arlt family is preparing.