Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 1, 1991 TAG: 9104160443
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Morris is the black man accused of sexually assaulting a woman, stabbing her repeatedly, then attacking police officers with a knife when they came to his Roanoke home. He was shot and killed by the officers March 23.
Shortly after Morris' death, the NAACP raised questions about the shooting. There's no good way to gauge opinion on the matter, but a reasonable guess is that the NAACP did not thereby enhance its public image.
Shortly after the NAACP press conference, the sexual-assault and stabbing victim, who barely survived, identified Morris as the perpetrator. And now, this week, Commonwealth's Attorney Donald Caldwell has released findings of his investigation, which concluded that the police action was justified.
These developments may throw the NAACP further on the defensive. But it is unfair to blame the group for condoning Morris' actions or expressly accusing the police of excessive force. The NAACP has done neither.
Evangeline Jeffrey, president of the city branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, has not defended Morris. The fact is that, whatever his crimes, Morris' death was not justifiable unless the officers feared severe bodily injury or worse and believed they had no choice but to shoot.
Nor was Jeffrey directly accusing the police of anything. She did not claim the shooting was racially motivated. (All four police officers involved, and the woman Morris reportedly assaulted, are white.)
The NAACP president did make the mistake of inviting members of Morris' family to what became a joint press conference. In the immediate, emotional aftermath, the family did make accusations that have been discredited; these may still be associated in some people's minds, unfairly, with the NAACP. And Jeffrey's questions were, to be sure, pointed.
Still, they were questions. The NAACP chapter was raising them in an effort to ensure that answers would be forthcoming. That's part of the group's mission. As Roanoke Police Chief David Hooper has said, there's nothing wrong with asking.
That Jeffrey had questions is entirely understandable. Morris was shot as many as nine times, including in the back. Three bullet holes were found in the floor. As it turned out, Caldwell speculates, Morris wasn't even carrying a blade when he was shot - only a knife's broken-off handle.
The Commonwealth Attorney's investigation seems thorough and fair. According to his scenario, two officers fired the shots within just a few seconds, and stopped firing after Morris was down. They had reason to be fearful: The woman had been stabbed some 30 times, and their fellow officer had just been knifed (not seriously, as it turned out, but they couldn't see him from their vantage point).
They were in a dark room and Morris charged them from a lit kitchen; they might easily have failed to observe that the blade was missing. In any case, issues of judgment are more easily weighed after the fact than in the seconds in which the officers had to react.
The FBI, as the NAACP has requested, also is investigating. The extra probe is welcome, and no one should resent it. The effect of such questioning and investigation should be to reduce, after the episode is over, doubts that otherwise might have lingered and festered. That's part of the value of the NAACP's role.
Meantime, a few lessons from the experience already seem evident.
The NAACP needs to look before it leaps, taking care to avoid reflexive response or overreaction - and the appearance of same. It must protect its historic and deserved credibility. It should, for instance, make sure to accept publicly the results of the Morris-case investigations if its questions are reasonably answered.
As for Chief Hooper, he should make sure this case is not closed merely because the officers aren't found criminally culpable. He should be asking himself such questions as: Were all proper procedures followed? Is a review of training needed?
Finally, Hooper should take note of yet-more evidence of suspicion in the black community and strained relations between police and the NAACP. Both sides need to take more steps to put the relationship on a better footing.
by CNB