PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - Portland’s police chief says it’s wrong for the mayor and others to use a police shooting to advance a political agenda.
According to police, Sgt. Nicholas Goodman on Saturday fatally shot Chance David Baker, 22, who authorities said was brandishing what turned out to be a pellet gun that looked like a rifle at a strip mall. Acquaintances said that Baker, who originally was from Sidney, Iowa, had been homeless off and on and was trying to get his life together.
In response to the shooting, Democratic Mayor Ethan Strimling wants the city to move up its plan to purchase body cameras for police officers. The American Civil Liberties Union of Maine, Progressive Portland and the NAACP also have called for the immediate adoption of body cameras.
Police Chief Michael Sauschuck said funds are earmarked for a body camera pilot program starting in July 2018. Sauschuck said a tragedy is not the time for politics, and that body cameras are beneficial but do not tell the whole story.
“He made a comment in reference to the use of body cameras and how they should be used in this particular scenario, and I don’t support that,” Sauschuck said referring to the mayor. “I take umbrage to anybody that would feel somehow we need a camera to tell us exactly what happened,” he said.
The $400,000 body camera pilot program has been in the works for six months. The details are still being worked out with the city manager, the police union and the police department, Sauschuck said.
The mayor told the Portland Press Herald that the city should set aside funds for a small trial program starting this year.
“We want to do it right, but I don’t think we can afford to wait any longer,” Strimling said.
Strimling told The Associated Press that he has continued to call for body cameras because it is good policy.
“I have advocated for body cameras because it is good policy that injects a higher level of transparency into our policing and builds trust in the community,” he said. “I know emotions are high right now, but I look forward to working with the chief, the council and the community to bring this vital technology to our city.”
In a statement, the Portland branch of the NAACP said to “suggest that our advocacy for body cameras was in the service of a political agenda is troubling and extremely divisive.”
Police said Baker was walking through the parking lot of a strip mall Saturday screaming and pointing what looked like a rifle at cars.
The weapon turned out to be a wooden pellet gun with a scope. Sauschuck said it looked like a real firearm to him.
Police said a bottle of alcohol was found at the scene, and 911 callers said Baker was stumbling.
“This particular use of deadly force was 100 feet or so, approximately 100 feet away, well above and beyond anything that a Taser could be utilized,” Sauschuck said.
The state is investigating the use of deadly force as required by law, while the Portland police department also is conducting an internal investigation of policies and training protocol.
This is the second time Goodman has used deadly force. In May 2008, police said he made a traffic stop, and as he reached inside the SUV to arrest the driver, the vehicle accelerated and Goodman was dragged over 300 feet. Goodman shot and killed the driver. The shooting was found to be justified.
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This story has been corrected to say the shooting happened on Saturday, not Sunday.
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