Retired Officer Questions Police Shooting in Letter to New Panel

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Retired Nashua police officer Tony Pivero

By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org

CONCORD
– Citizens from all walks of life are sending written testimony and attending remote meetings of the new Commission on Law Enforcement Accountability, Community and Transparency, people like retired Nashua police officer Tony Pivero.

Pivero wrote to the commission detailing what he calls the unresolved killing of Alex Cora De Jesus, who was killed by Weare police in August 2013 in a botched drug bust. The Attorney General’s Office said at the time there was conflicting information about the shooting and didn’t rule it justified or unjustified, but also didn’t bring any charges against the officers involved.

“I believe that you will find yourself in the awkward situation of uncovering a fatal police shooting that the Attorney General has not ruled as justified or unjustified but merely (we just can’t figure it out),” Pivero said.

“In this day and age with all the science, technology and law enforcement knowledge, it is hard to imagine that the Attorney General’s Office has decided to put a homicide on the shelf. Or maybe it’s more than that. Maybe it’s racial?”

Pivero said the Attorney General should decide whether police killings are justified or unjustified and not leave cases unresolved.

The question Pivero asked members of the commission: “Can the state put a new legal term to homicide such as ‘we just don’t know?’ Hogwash. Figure it out Attorney General.”

Bonnie Sisak told commission members in her testimony that she believes the state should abolish no-knock warrant executions, noting a 2019 case in Concord in which police entered the wrong home by force.

Elizabeth Rawnsley wrote about “media malpractice” that should be dealt with, entitling her email, “One more commission formed in New Hampshire, when we have how many media resources unable to even expose the facts…”

Bill Zebuhr of Nashua said in his testimony “good places in America are becoming scarce” and warned that the state’s law enforcement community needs to be color-blind. He moved to the state from St. Louis in 1968.

“We have to be strict about treating every person as an individual, judged by their actions and contributions to society and not by race…” Zebuhr said.

The commission studying police accountability will take verbal public testimony on Thursday in a remote video conference that is accessible to the public, but is urging all to provide written testimony that can be viewed by the public on its website.

Last week more than a dozen citizens provided testimony to the Commission on Law Enforcement Accountability, Community, and Transparency on police training procedures and possible changes to the way police de-escalate and engage with the public they serve.

The website is https://www.governor.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt336/files/documents/20200709-leact-meeting-notice-agenda.pdf
It provides information on how to weigh in on the subject live and includes written testimony received by the commission so far.

Gov. Chris Sununu established the commission following the death of George Floyd, an African American killed by a white police officer while he was in custody in Minneapolis. Floyd’s death has sparked a summer of protests around the country and a new focus on how police treat people of color.

Sununu asked Attorney General Gordon MacDonald to chair the commission and tasked members with coming up with recommendations for change in the state within 45 days.

Last Thursday, the commission began hearing public testimony and recessed before all who wanted to provide information were able to speak.  That public testimony will continue Thursday beginning at 11:30 a.m. and will run through 2 p.m.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the following written testimony was posted on the commission’s website.

Public Testimony

PDF filePortable Document Format (.pdf) . Visit nh.gov for a list of free .pdf readers for a variety of operating systems.

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