Please attribute the following statement to Peter Bibring, director of police practices and senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Southern California, following the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office decision not to bring charges against the officers responsible for the death of Ezell Ford:
"District Attorney Jackie Lacey’s decision not to bring charges against either of the officers responsible for the August 11, 2014 death of Ezell Ford, a young man suffering from mental illness, represents a tragic close to an overwhelmingly tragic incident. That the investigation took more than two years is itself deeply troubling, but worse is the refusal to file charges even though the Los Angeles Police Commission concluded that one of the officers was wrong to use deadly force. Since 2000, only a single police officer in Southern California has faced criminal charges for shooting a member of the public. The report issued today raises more questions about whether the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office provides any meaningful check on police shootings."
