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Posted by: kwflatbed

Officer Shot To Death

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A federal jury returned a verdict Friday in the civil rights lawsuit brought by the mother of a black Providence police officer accidentally shot to death by two white colleagues who mistook him for a suspect.


Sgt. Cornel Young Jr., 29, was off duty and in plain clothes on Jan. 28, 2000, when he was killed outside a diner as ran to respond to a fight. The shooting sparked charges of racism in the city's police department, and several witnesses testified that it split the department.


Friday's verdict concludes a month-long trial that centered on whether the department properly trained Officer Michael Solitro, one of two officers who shot Young. Solitro had been on the force only eight days, and Young's mother claimed the department did not adequately train him to recognize off-duty or plainclothes officers.


Young was shot three times: once in the head and twice in the chest. Solitro fired the shot to the head.

At the time of the shooting, Providence police were required to carry guns off-duty and intervene when they saw an immediate threat to life or property.


Young's mother, Leisa Young, claimed the police department failed to adequately train Solitro to recognize off-duty or plainclothes officers.


Young's father, Major Cornel Young Sr., who did not join his ex-wife's lawsuit but said he supported it, was the highest-ranking black police officer in Providence when his son was killed. He testified that the risk of misidentification was particularly great for minority officers.


Young was eating inside the restaurant when a fight broke out between two women and spilled outside. A friend of one of the women pulled a gun and got into a car, and Young drew his handgun and ran outside. After Solitro and his partner, Carlos Saraiva, arrived, they opened fire, thinking Young was a suspect.


The two officers testified that Young never identified himself as a police officer and that he had pointed his gun in their direction. They said Young was walking toward them and ignored repeated commands to drop his weapon.


But Leisa Young's attorney, Barry Scheck, said Young had his gun trained on a bystander when the two officers shouted at him. He said Young was shot when he turned toward the two officers.


Though both officers shot Young, the trial focused exclusively on whether the police department was responsible for improperly training Solitro, thereby violating Young's civil rights.


It was the second time the case went to trial. In 2003, a jury found that Solitro violated Young's civil rights but Saraiva did not. U.S. District Judge Mary Lisi threw out the lawsuit after the verdict, but an appeals court reinstated part of it this spring.


Both Solitro and Saraiva were cleared of criminal charges by a statewide grand jury and the U.S. Attorney's office.


Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Posted by: Irish Wampanoag

OK UMMM What was the verdict???

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Posted by: 94c

According to Providence Channel 10 news site, the Providence P.D. did not violate Cornell Young Jr.'s civil rights.

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Posted by: Wiggum_1

Now what I don't understand is exactly how does a PD or academy train cops to recognize off duty cops ? It would be common sense for anybody, cop or not, to run towards two cops who have some POS at gunpoint, with a gun and in plainclothes.

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Posted by: 94c

It's all about the money hungry greedy lawyers going after the "deep pockets". When this first came to light, they immediately began trying to play the race card. I give tremendous credit to his father, I believe a Major at the time, for putting that to rest. Hopefully we can all learn a valuable lesson from this and it is to forever yield to the guys in uniform. They are the ones on-duty and don't assume everyone recognizes you because they may not.

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Posted by: dcs2244

I have, on occasion, run into plainclothes guys who believe it is your duty to recognize them as cops (especially when you're a FNG). The unbounded arrogance of that type of cop is sobering.

Some cops just "lock-up" or "tunnel-out" when placed in a high stress environment...especially after a chase...they grab the guy, but just continue to hold or cover the puke, not responding to verbal commands to cuff the guy or whatever...I've seen this on several occasions, not just criminal acts, but at fatal collisions. It usually takes a physical act to bring them back to the hear-and-now. Unfortunately for Officer Young, he was involved in a potential deadly force issue.

It's a shame...there are no "winners" in this situation. As far as training someone to recognize a "plainclothes cop"...isn't plainclothes meant to render the cop unrecognizable?

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Posted by: MA218

Quote:

Originally Posted by dcs2244 ...isn't plainclothes meant to render the cop unrecognizable?

My thoughts exactly.

Like it was said, nobody won here. Its a sad situation all around.

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