ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, April 26, 1996 TAG: 9604260048
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
A JUSTIFIABLE killing.
These are not easy words to hear in any case, and especially for those who were critical of Roanoke police last month after Edwin Plunkett died in a barrage of police gunfire.
And yet, as with this week's high-speed chase that ended with the deaths of three innocent people, it is important to be clear about responsibility.
Plunkett, not police, caused his fatal shooting.
The Roanoke commonwealth's attorney's review of the Plunkett case has found that the police response - 12 shots fired, six to seven of which hit Plunkett - was justified. The man had directed a semiautomatic rifle toward two officers. They had reason to believe they were in immediate danger, and they reacted reasonably - with lethal force.
Yes, it is officers' job to face dangerous situations to protect citizens and uphold the law. No, it isn't their job to die doing it. Not if they can help it.
That's why Plunkett's death, though senseless and sad, was also, in a sense, self-inflicted. The crucial decisions were his: to drink, to fight with his girlfriend, to point a weapon at police. He was shot as the simple and dreadful consequence of his own actions after he became a threat to the lives of others.
"He didn't deserve to be shot like that," his fiancee said the next day. Deserve? Perhaps not. But deserving had nothing to do with it. The police were reacting in self-defense, not acting as judges or executioners carrying out some sort of street justice.
Police are responsible for acting lawfully in responding to sometimes dangerous, often touchy situations involving possible wrong-doers. Highly effective officers can defuse some situations that others might handle less successfully. Certainly, society can demand that police use the least force needed to do their jobs.
We cannot, however, hold police accountable for what they cannot control: the criminal behavior of others.
Sunday's high-speed chase is another case in point. It occurred because one driver decided not to stop for police.
To be sure, policies governing such chases ought to be given nearly as much care as policies governing use of lethal force. In some jurisdictions, chase policies are too broad; they deserve scrutiny by citizens as well as police.
None of that changes the fact that the fleeing driver is responsible for his own behavior.
"They made him a murderer," the driver's despairing father charged. No "they" didn't. If his son is convicted of a crime, it will be because of the action he chose to take in response to police actions. He is responsible for that.
Society asks much of the police, and rightly so. We give them the power to enforce laws designed for the protection of all. Any power can be misused or abused, and the misuse or abuse of police power presents a particular danger. Citizens need to keep a watch on how peace officers exercise their authority.
But police, let us keep in mind, do not cause criminality, any more than they can guarantee a happy outcome to law enforcement. For the tough job they do, police deserve the community's support.
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