ACLU asks Department of Justice to investigate Pasco police shooting
The state American Civil Liberties Union has concerns about local police investigating the shooting of Antonio Zambrano-Montes and is asking for federal authorities to intervene.
The ACLU sent a letter Tuesday to Attorney General Eric Holder supporting calls from others in the case to get the U.S. Department of Justice involved.
DOJ officials can better investigate potential civil rights violations and the entire Pasco Police Department, wrote Jennifer Shaw, deputy director, in the letter. She urged federal authorities to assist with the investigation to ensure it’s impartial.
The Tri-City Special Investigations Unit, a 15-member team of local law enforcement officers from four departments, is currently handling the investigation. Pasco police are not part of the investigation.
Community leaders, lawyers and others have expressed concern that local police will not be able to conduct a fair investigation.
“The community’s trust in its police department has been seriously shaken,” Shaw wrote. “Through involvement in the ongoing and its own investigations, the DOJ can assure the community that the facts are fully investigated and help to improve equality, fairness, and public safety for all residents of Pasco.”
At a media briefing about the investigation last week, the special unit’s spokesperson, Kennewick Sgt. Ken Lattin, told reporters police are looking into what Zambrano-Montes was doing in the weeks leading up to the shooting.
Shaw wrote in the letter that police need to focus on investigating the actual shooting, not Zambrano-Montes’ past.
“This line of inquiry makes it appear that the SIU is looking for ways to discredit Mr. Zambrano based on any problems he may have faced in his past, instead of ascertaining the facts about the officers’ knowledge at the time of the shooting,” Shaw wrote.
This story was originally published February 24, 2015 at 7:00 PM with the headline "ACLU asks Department of Justice to investigate Pasco police shooting."