Pubdate: Sun, 29 Oct 2000
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2000 The Washington Post Company
Contact:  1150 15th Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20071
Feedback: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Author: Courtland Milloy
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1606/a04.html

READERS CONSIDER POLICE SHOOTING

Put yourself in the shoes of a 25-year-old black man named Prince Jones 
Jr., I asked readers last week. Imagine being tailed for about 15 miles 
through three jurisdictions and eventually shot to death by a black, 
undercover Prince George's County police officer who mistakes you for 
someone else.

"I am as 'WASPy' as they come," one of you replied, "and I'd be petrified 
if some dude stalked me through three jurisdictions, then, without being in 
uniform or a patrol car, waved a gun at me and 'claimed' he was a cop."

Another wrote: "I'm an older white female, and since the beginning I have 
believed that Prince Jones's reaction was entirely understandable and 
reasonable."

Harder for some of you to understand were the actions of undercover officer 
Carlton B. Jones on the morning of Sept. 1, especially in light of last 
week's arrest of the man for whom Prince Jones was mistaken.

The actual suspect, Derrell L. Gilchrist, wears dreadlocks, is pudgy and 
stands about 5-foot-6. His description was well-known to police. Prince 
Jones worked as a fitness trainer. He had closely cropped hair, was well 
built and stood about 6-foot-4.

When Prince Jones got out of his car and approached Carlton Jones to find 
out why he was being followed, Carlton Jones must have seen that he had the 
wrong man.

And he should have left the scene immediately.

Instead, he waved a gun in Prince Jones's face, said he was a police 
officer and told him to get back into his vehicle. After returning to the 
vehicle, Prince Jones rammed Carlton Jones's vehicle, arguably to disable 
it. Why should he have believed a man who was in an unmarked car, had no 
uniform, no badge?

Carlton Jones has told investigators that although he couldn't see who was 
inside the car because of its dark, tinted windows, the ramming made him 
think the driver must have been Gilchrist, because Gilchrist was alleged to 
have rammed police cars in the past.

That's why Carlton Jones fired his gun, we are told. He thought he was 
defending himself against a man with a history of violent assaults on 
police officers.

The problem with that account, of course, is that Carlton Jones had seen 
Prince Jones up close--moments before killing him.

Something smells.

Nevertheless, some of you felt that the police acted properly and that my 
criticism was off base.

"Mr. Milloy states that Prince Jones was 'the object of surveillance, 
harassment and, eventually, a killing by police.' This is a lie," one of 
you wrote. "The truth is that the Prince George's County police were 
looking for a black suspect driving a black Jeep Cherokee. The suspect was 
black, and Mr. Jones was black. This is not race profiling. Legally 
following a suspect is not 'harassment,' as Milloy alleges."

Even some black readers agreed.

"If you are following a person who is suspected of a crime, what is wrong 
with finding out where they live, getting a warrant and going to find out 
what they've stolen?" one man wrote, referring to a weapon that police 
believed the suspect stole.

I believe that if police had found out where Prince Jones was headed, they 
would have raided the place, trashed it and possibly shot him in front of 
his loved ones. All by mistake. It happens.

Still, as a result of such correspondence, I have gained fresh insights 
into the decision by Virginia Commonwealth's Attorney Robert F. Horan Jr. 
not to prosecute Carlton Jones.

"The duty of the commonwealth's attorney is to charge a crime when he or 
she can prove it," Horan said. "There is not sufficient evidence to charge 
Cpl. Carlton Jones with a crime."

Some have reminded me that, in cases such as these, no amount of evidence 
will ever suffice.

"I'm a resident of Fairfax County," one caller said in a message on my 
voice mail. "Truthfully, I don't think this type of issue is worthy of 
print space, and I hope I speak for much of Fairfax County when I say 
black-on-black crime should not even be bothered with. It doesn't matter if 
the victim is 1 day old or 30 years old. It's just not important."

That sounds cold. But the actions by Horan pretty much amount to the same 
thing.
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