Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy who killed Niani Finlayson, 27, previously had killed another civilian under similar circumstances

A Los Angeles county sheriff’s deputy shot and killed a 27-year-old woman who had called 911 to report that she was under attack by a former boyfriend, police officials and lawyers for the victim’s family said on Thursday. Records show the deputy had killed another person in similar circumstances three years ago.

On 4 December, Niani Finlayson called police and “reported that her boyfriend would not leave her alone and then screaming and sounds of a struggle could be heard”, the LA sheriff’s department (LASD) said in a statement. When deputies arrived at the apartment in Lancaster, a city in the northern region of LA county, they could hear screaming, LASD said.

Finlayson was inside with her nine-year-old daughter and had been injured by her ex-boyfriend and wanted him removed, her family’s attorneys said. The exact circumstances that led to the fatal shooting are unclear and LASD has so far declined to release body-camera footage.

  • djsoren19@yiffit.net
    833·
    11 months ago

    The fact that this is the second person this cop has murdered in similar circumstances is fucking appalling. They should have been fired after the first murder.

    Honestly, if cops want to keep abusing taxpayer funds, I want monthly “shareholder” meetings where citizens can review the month’s performance, and demand changes. Clearly, police administrations are not capable of doing that job and have no accountability.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
      23·
      11 months ago

      They should have been fired after the first murder.

      They should be in prison right now and thus not have the chance to murder this poor woman.

    • lolcatnip@reddthat.comEnglish
      61·
      11 months ago

      Imprisoned, not fired.

      Cops need to face penalties for abusing their power that are much harsher than what an average person would face, not more lenient.

  • JCreazy@midwest.socialEnglish
    67·
    11 months ago

    All body cam footage needs to be monitored by a third party. Police departments shouldn’t have the option of withholding body cam footage. It should be a made available public and made available immediately after the incident.

    • ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world
      24·
      11 months ago

      Simply turning off the body camera for any reason other than bathroom use should be a felony. Stripped of all credentials and banned from participating in any govt agency there is.

      • FuglyDuck@lemmy.worldEnglish
        141·
        11 months ago

        If that’s the only time they can turn them off, then they’re gonna have a lot of bathroom breaks.

        Besides, what’s the worst that could happen? We find out they need more fiber and don’t wash their hands? Cameras aren’t pointing at the cops.

    • FuglyDuck@lemmy.worldEnglish
      201·
      11 months ago

      Record continuously, with the feed streaming through BT/Wi-Fi connections in the car (the. From the car, streaming in real time, along with every other camera they have,)

      The feeds are all monitored in real time by dispatchers. (This would help in crisis response, too, coordinating responding officers better in, for example, an active shooter,)

      Cops don’t have access to the main storage, but they get copies for things, so they can’t tamper with it…. And it doesn’t get to be deleted until reviews of the tapes happen.

        • FuglyDuck@lemmy.worldEnglish
          21·
          11 months ago

          It’s like, half the cost of one of their tanks, but it wouldn’t be that hard to run a dedicated intranet across places with the necessary bandwidth.

          down the stream’s quality when off network. This is why the squad car uplinks- gives you a place to buffer if something happens. (And the body cam, too, when they have to get out.)

          The important part is they don’t get to delete it, or turn it off. The real time monitoring would be intermittent, but eventually oversight happens. (Maybe even flag everytime it does drop)

    • jmcs@discuss.tchncs.de
      1·
      11 months ago

      In the absence of footage or any other direct evidence, anything that cops say in court should be considered a lie. That’s the only way to level the playing field in the justice system and to stop effectively rewarding bad/criminal behavior on the part of law enforcement.

    • thorbot@lemmy.world
      2510·
      11 months ago

      It’s fine to call the cops if you’re white

      I fucking hate American police. ACAB

      • n3m37h@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        273·
        11 months ago

        No its not, I was down in Florida on the gulf side, my hotel was right beside a 3 mile bridge cops cut off access to my hotel because of Cynco de mayo (sorry for my butchering) my GF at the time drove around a cop car to get into the hotel, had our room key in my hands to show the officer, told us to keep driving or he was going to arrest for pulling an illegal manuver. Went about 100 yards past em back towards town I got out and walked over to explain we were just getting back from dinner. Cop instantly grabbed his cuffs and had his hand on the gun. Luckily others had complained and hotel staff came out to calm down the cops.

        Fuck American cops

    • Dienervent@kbin.social
      158·
      11 months ago

      I just don’t understand the logic here. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all in favor of abolishing the Duluth Model and the requirement to incarcerate someone on a domestic violence call.

      But neither this situation, nor the story you linked to seems to have much to do with that policy.

      In both situations, the police acted completely out of bounds. It is a completely different problem.

      The story on the website was written in 2014 about an incident that happened in 1999, that’s almost 25 years ago. It can’t be considered relevant today. If there’s a real systemic problem of this kind, you should have at least a dozen cases like this every single year.

      Hopefully, in this most recent case we’ll get some body cam footage released so we find out what really happened.

      And also hopefully, the body cams is what will put this guy off the force forever. It’s the second time he seems to have done something like this, but I’d bet that the first time, body cams were not standard practice yet.

      Seems to me that the solution to stop this kind of thing from being a common problem is body cams, and that’s what we have.

      • bane_killgrind@lemmy.mlEnglish
        41·
        11 months ago

        History is relevant, especially when there hasn’t been any significant deviation from the historical status quo.

      • lolcatnip@reddthat.comEnglish
        31·
        11 months ago

        And also hopefully, the body cams is what will put this guy off the force forever.

        It turns out that doesn’t work when the DA’s office and/or the courts are just as corrupt as the cops, which is a majority of the time.

        Also while we’re wishing for things, wish for him to be in prison forever. There is absolutely no reason cops shouldn’t face penalties that are at least as harsh as what ordinary people face when they blatantly commit crimes.

  • Neato@kbin.social
    245·
    11 months ago

    Only call the cops if you’re 100% OK with anyone involved and around being killed. I.e. you’re already under threat of death.

    • The_Cleanup_Batter@lemmy.world
      482·
      11 months ago

      I mean without knowing more information than “she was being attacked by an ex boyfriend in a domestic violence situation” she very well could have been. I don’t fault her at all for wanting to call the cops. 100% of the fault lies with the responding officers and the system that allows them to operate with the training and mindset that they have.

      • eric@lemmy.world
        101·
        11 months ago

        It didn’t seem to me that they were implying the officers are not at fault, but the fact remains that cops cannot be trusted to do the right thing when called and that you could end up dead if you call them as the victim reporting a crime.

        • FuglyDuck@lemmy.worldEnglish
          51·
          11 months ago

          Noor shot a woman who called because she thought some one was being raped. These kinds of “mistakes” never should happen.

          And they happen way too often,

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
          22·
          11 months ago

          If her boyfriend was threatening to physically harm her or her child (he did injure her) and was preventing them from leaving, what do you suggest she do?

            • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
              61·
              11 months ago

              Did she have a gun? Do you think he would even allow her to have a gun? And do you think if she got one, he wouldn’t be able to wrestle it away from her before she shot him?

              I guess if all three of those answers are “yes, quite likely,” your solution would be a good one.

              On the other hand, not being able to shoot the man attacking you should not justify either him attacking her or the cop killing her.

              I swear, some people seem to think everyone should be forced to own a gun.

          • eric@lemmy.world
            1·
            11 months ago

            I’m not saying I have better options for her, and I’m not blaming her for her death because she called the police, but calling the police always carries a risk of completely unnecessary death, and that is a huge fucking problem for any victim of any crime.

  • Alph4d0g@discuss.tchncs.de
    95·
    11 months ago

    Never call the police regardless of your ethnicity. Period. They’re not going to help. If you don’t get shot, they’ll look for some pretext to arrest you - even if you’re the victim or witness of a crime.

  • shalafi@lemmy.worldEnglish
    325·
    11 months ago

    What does it take to get liberals off their asses and get armed?! FFS, calling the cops to defend you is a bad idea at best, your death at worst. We all know this. Defend yourself first, call the cops second. And think on this, how fast you think they’ll be there to save you when seconds count?

    There are plenty of resources to teach you safety, law and how to shoot. POC, women and LGBT folks have been the largest gun buying demographic for a couple of years now. Think they might know something you do not?

    CAVEAT EMPTOR: For the love of god, do not just run out and buy a pistol, call it all good. You must learn and practice safety. You must know the laws in your area. You must know what your weapon is capable of and practice, practice, practice. 1,000 rounds is the minimum to get comfortable and assure the machine’s reliability.

    If you do not wish to take on this learning curve? We all good, but don’t do it.