Police shot and killed an unarmed and mostly naked man last week in Playa Vista, and the city’s top law enforcement officials have promised that there will be a thorough investigation.
Ex-model and college athlete Reginald Doucet, Jr. allegedly got into an argument with a taxi driver who drove him home from a Hollywood club on Friday, about 3 a.m. Doucet then began undressing outside the Crescent Park West condominiums.
The officers persuaded Doucet to put on boxer shorts just before he ran away. When officers confronted him in a doorway, he was said to have advanced at them and punched their faces.
Police say Doucet next attempted to reach for an officer’s gun, but was shot to death by police. It was not immediately known how many officers fired on Doucet. The fatal shooting occurred just hours after another officer-involved fatal shooting in Canoga Park.
And a third officer-involved shooting occurred last Sunday night, when a man who allegedly pointed a gun at bystanders on Skid Row was shot in the leg by police a short time later in his nearby apartment building.
“It is well-documented and has been well-discussed. The department and inspector general and the commission and the district attorney’s role in the investigation of these officer-involved shootings, and those rules will be strictly adhered to,” Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck told the Police Commission.
Beck continued, “It is far too early to draw conclusions about the propriety of the officer-involved shootings, but certainly it’s not too early to send my sympathies to the families of the civilians involved and also to the officers, two of whom were significantly injured during one of the incidents.”
Police Commission President John Mack said, “The commission also shares the very serious and deep concern about the regrettable tragedy that took place. As it has always been the case and will continue to be the case, certainly under the chief’s leadership, the department will conduct its own investigation that I’m sure will be thorough,” he said.
“Independent of that,” he continued, “the inspector general will also conduct a very thorough and comprehensive analysis of the events, and ultimately this commission will receive the results and finally make our decision as to whether or not the actions of the officers was in policy or not in policy.
Inspector General Nicole Bershon said she was scheduled to meet with community leaders, including Earl Ofari Hutchinson, to “explain the process of our review and analysis, anticipated timing, and the types of issues we review and evaluate in connection with these types of matters.”
Hutchinson, who heads the L.A. Urban Policy Roundtable, and who will speak at a Feb.1 presentation entitled “Words Matter” at the city council chambers in Culver City, said over the weekend that he wanted a “fast-track independent investigation into the Doucet slaying.”
“Friends and neighbors of Doucet expressed shock and anger at the killing,” he said. “They want honest answers as to why LAPD had to resort to the use of deadly force with an unarmed suspect who may have had an emotional issue.”
Los Angeles Police Protective League President Paul Weber defended the officers, saying they were “literally fighting for their lives against Mr. Doucet.”
“It is surprising to see that the first reaction of respected community leader Earl Hutchinson is to question the actions of the police,” Weber said. “Apparently, because a suspect is naked they aren’t a threat. Tell that to the families of officers who have been killed by naked people on PCP who disarmed the officer.”
“In this case, naked or not, when Mr. Doucet tried to take an officer’s gun away from him, he set in motion the chain of events that sadly led to his death,” Weber said. “An officer who loses his gun to a suspect loses his life.”
