Casper Police Department Outlines Officer-Involved Shooting Procedures
The Casper Police Department has worked with the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation for a long time about investigating officer-involved shootings, especially those involving serious bodily injury or death, according to a news release from Detective John Hatcher on Monday.
The news release is a response to questions about the incident Sunday night during which a man wielding a sword was shot by two officers in east Casper.
Hatcher said the following steps are generally taken when dealing with an officer-involved shooting:
- The on-duty supervisor is notified and responds to the scene of the shooting.
- Command staff and the police chief are notified.
- The police chief makes a formal request to the DCI, and the investigation is turned over to the DCI.
- Involved officer(s) are taken by a supervisor or another officer to the DCI.
- DCI investigators collect evidence related to the event, such as clothing, weapons, ammunition and magazines.
- Officer(s) provide a brief overview about the events surrounding the shooting to the DCI investigators.
- Officer(s) are given a drug test.
- Follow-up interviews with the involved officers are scheduled and conducted by DCI investigators.
- In compliance with City of Casper and Police Department policies, the officer(s) are taken from the DCI by a supervisor to have a drug test administered by the city.
- Consistent with Police Department policies, the officers are placed on administrative leave, and remain on administrative leave until released by the police chief pending the completion of internal investigations, and evaluations of the incident and the officers involved.
- DCI completes an investigation into the event and the circumstances leading up to the event.
- The investigation is presented to the District Attorney’s Office for the purpose of determining the lawfulness of the incident.
"The Casper Police Department is committed to maintaining transparent public safety operations," Hatcher said. "To this end, we gratefully acknowledge the role of the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigations in assisting the Casper Police Department with such complex investigations."
By doing this, the Police Department relinquishes the investigatory responsibilities to the DCI as well as the decision as to what information may or may not be released without jeopardizing the ongoing investigation. Questions about the incident and the investigation should be directed to the DCI,
The Police Department asks for the public's patience and understanding as it completes this process, Hatcher said.