It's time to talk about criminal charges for Uvalde police leaders

[Jilly_in_VA]

By Frank Figliuzzi

Two months after the massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, new details of the already clouded and confounding law enforcement response are more disturbing than ever. On Tuesday, The Austin American-Statesman released security camera footage from inside Robb Elementary School on the day of the shooting. Mercifully, that newspaper’s editors decided to mute the screams of wounded children dying in their classrooms, and replace it with captioning noting when screams are heard. For 77 minutes of footage, dozens of heavily armed police officers traipsed in, out and around the school, seemingly leaderless and befuddled.

I watched the entire video. I heard the crack of over 100 rounds fired by the shooter. I watched through the perspective of a 25-year law enforcement veteran and as the former head of internal shooting inquiries for the FBI. I watched as a parent and grandparent. What I saw didn’t answer all of my questions, but it did prompt a new one: Was the Uvalde shooter the only criminal in the school that day?

Because what I saw in that school video, in my professional opinion, may be a crime — by the police. I don’t say that lightly. I’m a career law enforcement guy. I instinctively give the benefit of the doubt to cops because I know they have one of the toughest jobs in our society. When I discuss police use of deadly force as a television analyst, I usually remind viewers that we weren’t there, initial appearances are often incomplete, and we need to wait for more facts. One of the exceptions to my usual practice were my comments on the murder of George Floyd by Officer Derek Chauvin. Now, Uvalde may be another exception.

That’s why it’s time to talk about criminal charges against police leaders at Uvalde. Unlike the Chauvin case, it wouldn’t be for what officers did, but for what they didn’t do. They didn’t take action. We wouldn’t even be having this discussion without the release of the video and the revelations contained in it.

The Texas DPS director said that the school police chief, Pete Arredondo, was the on-scene commander that day. That makes sense since it happened in a school he was supposed to protect. But Arredondo says no one told him he was in charge. That’s a ludicrous abdication of leadership and that’s why I believe it’s Arredondo who should become the focus of a criminal grand jury.

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/why-uvalde-shooting-police-response-should-be-treated-crime-n1297309?icid=msd_topgrid

Makes sense to me

[calimary]

1. They should ALL be relieved of duty. PERMANENTLY.

And ON their records. Maybe they can get hired loading boxes into big rigs.

I wouldn’t feel safe or protected around ANY of ‘em. And I certainly wouldn’t let any of them near ANY other school - EVER!!!

[walkingman]

3. And not be able to go somewhere else in the State and get hired - that happens all the time.

[Srkdqltr]

2. At the very least they all should be accountable, somehow, they all should suffer some.

[Paladin]

4. Figliuzzi nails it, as usual.

Law enforcement personnel need to pay for what happened at Uvalde.

[empedocles]

5. +1

[Dysfunctional]

6. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has ruled that the police do not have to protect people.