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Has been updated:Philadelphia (AP) — Philadelphia is illegally committed by the family of Walter Wallace Jr., a black man who has experienced a mental health episode that led to a protest after a deadly police shooting was recorded a year ago. I have agreed to settle the death proceedings. Thursday.
Neither the city nor the family lawyer disclosed the amount of the monetary settlement.
Shaka Johnson said at a news conference that it was “substantial,” but this week the city spent $ 14 million to equip all patrol officers with stun guns and tariffs.
“It was … a tragedy that happened, a substantive financial solution that reflected the role of the city that contributed to his death and the failure of policy,” Johnson said. “Financial settlement was by no means the main purpose of the family. They have called for reform of the police station from the beginning.”
According to Johnson, the U.S. Department of Justice recommended that Philadelphia issue stun guns to all patrol officers in a 2015 police review of the use of deadly forces, but that never happened.
Wallace’s family, 27, sought help several times on the day of the shooting in October 2020, but some pointed out that they were becoming violent due to their mental health crisis. Video from police officers and bystanders showed that two white police officers fired deadly shots within a minute of responding to a home in the Cobbs Creek district of Philadelphia.
During those tense seconds, Wallace appeared to have a knife on his side. He ignored the command to drop his weapon as he got off the porch and walked in a zigzag between cars and across the street.
The policeman fired 14 bullets at the man and he crumpled on the street. His mother could be seen in a video of a bystander begging the police not to shoot following Wallace.
The killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis and the subsequent shooting just five months after the national protest caused days of anxiety and marching demanding the end of police atrocities in Philadelphia.
Wallace’s family says he would still be alive, even if the policeman had a less deadly option than a gun. Johnson said the settlement meant that if the city did not comply with giving police officers a stun gun, there would be legal means.
“If this situation could save someone’s life … if we could save humans, I think that’s a good reason,” said Wallace’s father, Walter Wallace Sr.
After the shooting, police and city officials said nearly two-thirds of the more than 6,000 Philadelphia police were unequipped or trained to use electric shock weapons.
According to Johnson, thanks to the negotiations during the proceedings, there are also some scripts of questions for 911 operators designed to help identify mental health issues before police arrive.
Philadelphia settles on the deadly shooting of Walter Wallace Jr. WGN Radio 720
Source link Philadelphia settles on the deadly shooting of Walter Wallace Jr. WGN Radio 720
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