Keeping Cops Accountable: How Recent Incidents Have Been Handled

Between the officer-involved shooting in McCammon, the Taser incident and death of Kevin Benglan in Pocatello, and Wednesday morning’s stand-off in Lava Hot Springs, there have been a lot of questions from people in the community.

Why are police using tasers and guns instead of other methods? How are they held accountable?

Jason Wiberg’s family described his interaction with police that way and officers have discussed the same idea as a possible motivation for the officer involved shooting in McCammon.

Sheriff Lorin Nielsen said that most officers want to go through their careers without shooting anyone, but there is another side.

“I don’t hire officers to go out and be killed either, and we are in charge of protecting society and putting our lives on the line in order to do that, and it’s a decision that’s made in split seconds and analyzed for months,” Nielsen said.

Each member of the specialized teams that approach these situations trains for at least 20 hours every month, and Nielsen credits that training for his officers’ capable thinking.

“It is a special kind of person, and they’ve got to have that kind of training to be able to show restraint,” he said.

That restraint is important in dealing with people’s extreme mental and emotional states.

“All the issues, I believe, that we’ve had that are under investigation right now. There is an element of mental instability and it’s deeply troubling,” he said.

Though shots weren’t fired this morning in Lava Hot Springs, Nielsen said they were necessary in McCammon, where officers felt in danger.

When an officer-involved shooting happens, all the local law enforcement agencies follow a protocol they’ve signed onto. They ask another agency to come in and investigate. That group looks for two things: Were the officer’s actions justified and did the officer use excessive force or violate civil rights?

“We don’t even want the appearance that we’re investigating ourselves,” Nielsen said.

Many people are calling for police to be held accountable in Kevin Benglan’s death after being Tasered in Pocatello. Idaho State Police Capt. Eric Dayley, who is conducting the investigation, said they are. He said this isn’t just a formality.

“It’s very in-depth, very detailed on all levels. There’s lot of checks and balances, and we do that because we are hard on ourselves, but also so we can maintain that trust with the public,” Dayley said.

Nielsen said 40 officers were present Wednesday morning and no shots were fired.