Los Angeles police officers' use of force in the fatal shooting of a black woman last August was "within policy," although some of the officers' tactics were not, the city's Board of Police Commissioners decided Tuesday.
The commission, agreeing with the recommendation of LAPD Chief Charlie Beck, determined that the officers were justified in "drawing and exhibiting" their weapons and using lethal force in the shooting death of Redel Kentel Jones, 30, last August. However, the commission stated that the officers' tactics — their methods in approaching Jones — "warrant a finding of Administrative Disapproval."
Black Lives Matter activists immediately denounced the decision.
“I don’t care if she was armed with a kitchen knife,” said Melina Abdullah, a professor at Cal State Dominguez Hills. "I could wrestle a kitchen knife away from a 4-foot 10-inch woman."
Jones was shot and killed by LAPD officers who said she approached them with a knife after they confronted her while responding to a report of a robbery at a drug store.