NAACP seeks Tulsa police records on use-of-force, complaints
The Associated Press - December 2, 2017 10:11 am
NAACP seeks Tulsa police records on use-of-force, complaints
TULSA, Okla. (AP) – The NAACP has filed an open records request with the Tulsa police department seeking documents related to use-of-force incidents and complaints it has received from citizens.
The country’s oldest civil rights organization announced the request Friday, and is also seeking copies of training manuals, community policing guidelines and records on stops and searches of suspects.
The nonprofit says it has been monitoring citizen concerns about excessive force since last September, when a white Tulsa police officer fatally shot an unarmed black man.
The officer, Betty Jo Shelby, was charged with manslaughter in the death of Terence Crutcher and was acquitted in May by a jury.
Prosecutors argued that Shelby overreacted. Videos from a patrol car dashboard and a police helicopter showed Crutcher had his hands in the air.