Good morning, Netizens…

Why am I not surprised?

Deputy Brian Hirzel acted in a reasonable manner when he shot a 74 year-old pastor in Spokane Valley last summer two different departmental reviews have stated.

“Deputy Brian Hirzel’s use of force in this incident was reasonable based on policies of the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office,” the department said, citing its Deadly Force Review Board’s conclusions, quoting the Thomas Clouse piece in the Spokesman-Review this morning.

Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich also had his department’s 12-member Citizen Advisory Board review the Aug. 25 shooting of pastor Wayne Scott Creach. That board essentially came to the same conclusion, according to Sgt. Dave Reagan, the department’s spokesman.

Pastor Wayne Scott Creach was shot in the parking lot of his business, and according to his son, Alan Creach, the reports simply are not enough.

“I just think this is one more instance of a government that has gone awry through their willingness to overlook an action that is unjustifiable,” Creach said. “If we let this event stand, then the beating and the killing will continue.”

This entire affair, start to finish, was a horrible fiasco; a tragedy of unspeakable sadness, and I believe many of the departmental policies and procedures it has revealed need to be remedied. Communications between law enforcement and its citizenry desperately cry out for improvement. The question that remains in my mind is, who is listening?

Dave

Good morning, Netizens…

The story of the officer-involved shooting of the late Pastor Wayne Scott Creach has become a bit more convoluted over this Labor Day weekend, and frankly the news media reports that Creach was hit by Deputy Brian Hirzel’s baton at least once adds little to this otherwise incredible story of how Pastor Creach died of a single gunshot to the chest.

Details, particularly when involved in official police reports, are everything. Without them, you do not have enough information to make or form a cogent and well-defined opinion of what actually took place.

According to several news sources, Deputy Hirzel struck Pastor Wayne Scott Creach at least once with his police baton in an effort to force Creach to the ground.

How many readers have ever been hit by a police baton? Without a great deal of explanation, I will state with absolute clarity that once upon a time in far-off Berkeley, California an Alameda County Sheriff’s Deputy hit me once in the leg during the People’s Park Riot that took place several times in the 70’s. I was not arrested; in fact once the Deputy saw that what I had in my hand was a sack lunch and not a weapon, he left me laying on the sidewalk and went down the street in search of better game. Later on, I discovered where he hit me had left a brilliant blue bruise that later on turned amazing hues of the rainbow as it healed. Fact: My experience is you do not hit someone with a police baton without leaving a mark.

Fact: One of the principal functions of a coroner’s report is to officially record any scars, lesions, bruises, injuries or other breaks in the skin of the deceased. These would include, but are not limited to the bruise(s) that being hit by a police baton would leave behind and, obviously, the bullet wound to Pastor Creach’s chest, including the bullet exit wound, if any. If Creach had been, in fact, hit with a police baton on the leg prior to being shot in the chest, as some news sources state, there would be a bruise or contusion on Creach’s leg that would most certainly be noted in the coroner’s report.

However, since we still do not have the coroner’s report regarding Wayne Scott Creach in hand, we have no way of verifying that Deputy Hirzel hit Pastor Creach with his nightstick prior to shooting him.

At present we have a lot of conjecture, in the form of hearsay, that the baton blow took place; hence lacking the true evidence in the form of a coroner’s report, we have no evidence at all. If either the Spokane Police Department or the Washington State Patrol wish to anonymously leak information to the news media, they could do themselves and public a service by releasing the coroner’s report, which would clarify this issue without further question.

Until that time, or until the coroner’s report becomes public knowledge, we may never know whether the baton blow in question ever took place. That is nearly as troublesome as the various other aspects of the death of Wayne Scott Creach.

Of course, your results may differ.

Dave

Good morning, Netizens…

Now let’s have a sensible discussion about the Deputy Brian Hirzel and the resulting death of Pastor Wayne Scott Creach. After reading a number of blog post comments regarding the confrontation that took place in the parking lot of Creach’s business, The Plant Farm, we still do not know precisely what took place that ill-fated night. We appear to have a lot of speculation, but the facts are few.

Hearing what he thought was a prowler, Pastor Creach grabbed his pistol and went outside to see what was going on, whereupon he was shot in the chest by Hirzel and died shortly thereafter.

During the hours afterward, Knezovich announced that Hirzel would not be making a public statement regarding Creach’s death for 48 hours; Detectives from the Spokane Police Department and Washington State Patrol officers would be involved in investigating the shooting because of a protocol negotiated by the Police Union. Knezovich also pointed out that even without the protocol Hirzel could exercise his constitutional right to not speak with detectives.

Two days passed before Knezovich mentioned that Hirzel had departed on vacation and was not available to police detectives.

According to Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich Deputy Hirzel scheduled his vacation in December or January, and left the day after the shooting for points unknown. There is the matter of cost-prohibitive plane tickets and travel costs that Hirzel would have to pay and as a result, Knezovich allowed Hirzel to take his vacation.

Thus the interview between Hirzel and detectives was put on hold until his return Friday morning.

Will we have an answer then about what took place outside The Plant Farm? Perhaps, perhaps not. It is most-troublesome that two days passed before anyone knew of Deputy Hirzel’s previously-unannounced vacation. Did Ozzie know about it at the time he made the statement about when the investigation would take place? We don’t know that.

So now we wait, perhaps to see what actually took place. My suggestion is, given past investigations by the Spokane Police Department, don’t hold your breath.

Dave

Good morning, Netizens…

In our ramble through our lives, there are only two categories of human beings: saints and sinners. Some may have problems accepting such a broad-handed statement, but I believe it is true and factual.

There are those who, by their hostile actions or anti-social behavior, fall into the category of sinners. They often live outside mores and social values, eking out their lives while justifying their aberrational lives by a variety of means. They can disguise their true nature and in many cases no one finds their behavior the least bit noteworthy. In some cases the general public even elect them into public office, because they are very capable of dextrously hiding their true natures behind a public facade.

On the other hand, there are those saints who live their lives by the best standards they know, and although they may occasionally err, for the most part they live lives of purity and wholesomeness, free of any criminal nor abnormal social values. They almost always have a belief in something greater than themselves, and most have strongly-held religious beliefs on which they base most of their lives.

I have spent a immodest amount of time contemplating the life of pastor Wayne Scott Creach since he was killed in the parking lot of his business. He was a gentle man, a good businessman, a preacher of the Baptist Faith and a staunch family man.

Was he a saint? In keeping with my own personal beliefs, I feel he qualifies, yes, although I also believe no living person has the gift to determine sainthood.

However, there is both bravery and cowardice among the flowers, where we mingle, remembering one whom many call saintly. Pastor Creach left a legacy in his wake that most would struggle to match. For that and the many gifts of which he gave so freely to others without reservation nor expectation, I believe he was a saint.

Rest in peace, Pastor Creach.

Dave