SEPT 2023. Blues Vol 39 No. 9

62 The BLUES WHITE

62 The BLUES WHITE POLICE CHIEF SUES CITY OVER ALLEGED ‘RACIAL QUOTAS’ IN PROMOTION PRO- CESS By Law Officer ALEXANDRIA, VA.– A police captain in Alexandria, Virginia, alleged that the city denied her a promotion to fill racial quotas, according to The Washington Post. Captain Monica Lisle, who served in the Alexandria Police Department (APD) for more than two decades, alleged that officials manipulated scores to remove her from consideration for an open assistant chief position, according to the Post. Lisle asked an Alexandria Circuit Court judge to enforce a ruling from a city arbitration panel that found she was unjustly disqualified from being promoted. “I believe that Chief [Donald] Hayes believes that diversity is specific to African Americans,” Lisle said in a 2022 complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, according to the Post. “I am a member of at least three protected classes, as a gay, woman, over the age of 40.” “A lot of our membership feels like their service is being disregarded by the city — their career paths come to a halt,” Damon Minnix, president of the Alexandria chapter of the Southern States Police Benevolent Association, told the Post. City attorneys argued that Lisle did not show the officials’ motive to unfairly disqualify her from selection, according to the Post. “The city’s delay and refusal to abide by its own policies at the outset and now are unacceptable,” William Thetford, Lisle’s attorney, said in a statement, according to the Post. APD did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment. CALIF. OFFICER SURVIVES CLOSE CALL AFTER SUSPECT’S WEAPON MALFUNCTIONS By Caleb Lunetta The San Diego Union-Tribune LA MESA, CA. — La Mesa police released video footage Thursday of an officer fatally shooting a 41-year-old man who authorities said tried to fire a handgun at the officer but the weapon jammed, investigators said. Officer Brian Heller shot Jason Hampton, 41, on Aug. 6 in a condominium complex parking lot on University Avenue near La Mesa Boulevard. Heller was one of two police officers who had gone to the complex that afternoon to arrest Hampton on a felony warrant for burglary. In the edited video, released Thursday, La Mesa Police Department officials describe the incident from the officers’ point of view, and provide footage from body cameras worn by Heller and the second officer, The footage shows Heller as he approaches Hampton, who is standing behind the open door of a blue pickup. As the officer approaches he asks: “Are you Jason?” “No,” the man, later identified as Hampton, replies. Heller is standing at the front end of the truck and asks if the man is “Jason” again. The video shows Hampton pulling out a 9mm handgun and — through a crack between the open door and windshield — aiming it at the officer. A click can be heard in the video. Investigators said the sound was the gun jamming as Hampton attempted to load the gun and fire on the officers. The gun does not go off. In the video, Heller can be seen ducking momentarily before pulling his own handgun. The officer fires multiple rounds as Hampton runs behind a row of cars. Hampton then runs along the outside wall of the apartment complex and down a flight of stairs. The other officer follows the

suspect along the apartment wall. He does not fire his gun. Heller keeps his weapon trained on Hampton and continues to fire. In the video, Hampton disappears from view momentarily, and the shooting stops. He then runs back into view and runs toward the street. Police said Hampton had been trying to clear the jammed round from his gun while running away. A slowed down portion of the video shows him slightly turning toward the officers while continuing to run toward the street with a gun in his hand. The officer shoots four more times, the video shows. Hampton falls to the ground. “Are you all right,” the second officer asks Heller. “I don’t know,” Heller says. “Check me, bro, check me.” Heller calls for paramedics, and the other officer checks him for gunshot wounds. The officers were not injured. Police said Hampton died before he could be taken to a hospital. During the shooting, one of Heller’s rounds hit a passing vehicle. The driver wasn’t injured, police said. Another round hit a building. Heller has been with the La Mesa Police Department for six years and works patrol, police said. Per the department’s policy, he’s been placed on leave while the shooting is investigated, police said. The San Diego Police Department is investigating the shooting per a county wide protocol that ensures agencies don’t investigate shootings involving their own officers. Once the department completes its investigation, it will be forwarded to the county District Attorney’s Office, which will determine whether the officer bears any criminal liability. The La Mesa Police Department will also investigate the shooting, as will a police auditor from La Mesa’s Community Police Oversight Board. Reprinted from POLICE1. The BLUES 63