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

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