Bill Scott Bill ScottOctober 18, 2010 at 8:36pm Subject: Open Letter to Coroner's Inquest Review Committee "Our cops are out of control."
That's the statement I've heard most frequently from local citizens, since my son, Erik Scott, was shot and killed by three Las Vegas Metro Police Department officers on July 10th. Couple that with universal skepticism, expressions of disbelief and outrage voiced by Americans across the nation, who watched the recent coroner's inquest hearing into Erik's death, and any honest person will draw but one conclusion:
Citizens no longer trust Clark County's law enforcement public servants.
Although there are many contributing factors, that loss of trust is first and foremost a direct result of the coroner's inquest process as it exists today. Thousands of citizens across the United States, Europe and Australia, who watched Erik's inquest hearing on television and streamed video via the Internet, were shocked and angered by the unfairness and lopsided nature of that hearing. They couldn't believe the Clark County commissioners, sheriff, district attorney and coroner would embrace and support such a brazen affront to due process and justice.
Nevada citizens now understand that the current inquest process is nothing more than a transparent license to kill, because it never, ever holds Metro officers accountable for their actions. Where's the incentive for an officer to not shoot, when he knows there's absolutely no possibility that an inquest jury can find him at fault, given the loaded instructions juries are given?
This loud-and-clear loss of trust by taxpaying citizens should strike fear in the hearts of every elected county official and Metro police officer. Why? Because, historically, when government officials betray the trust of their citizen employers, chaos soon follows. As proof, look no farther than the bloodshed and chaos throughout Mexico today. Mexico's nightmare began when police and elected officials declared themselves above the law, unaccountable to the people who pay their salaries.
Today, that's the message Las Vegas residents are hearing from their sheriff, their district attorney and their public administrator: "We are above the law!" That declaration was burned indelibly into Las Vegans' memories by Metro police Sergeant Raymond Reyes on February 4, 2008, when he allegedly told attorney David Lee Phillips, "I'm Metro. We can do whatever we please." (Las Vegas Review Journal, July 30, 2010).
As it stands, the Clark County coroner's inquest reinforces the perception that Metro officers "can do whatever we please." For 34 years, this abomination of due process has been nothing more than a quasi-legal exercise to exonerate cops, a tool for creating an impression that police officers' actions are always justified or excusable. And Erik Scott's inquest hearing exposed that truth to thousands of viewers.
As you review the existing inquest procedures and rewrite county Code 2.12 to ensure future hearings are fair to all parties involved, please remember that thousands of citizens across the United States—not only those there in Las Vegas—are watching and asking: "If the Clark County coroner's inquest hearing remains a one-sided platform for airing distortions, falsehoods and fabrications, why should we trust any of you?"
