Tacoma police union, community group at odds over investigation of officer driving through crowd
Jan 28, 2021, 8:49 AM | Updated: 10:50 am
Tacoma Police and other law enforcement vehicles are shown near the site of a car crash Saturday, Jan. 23, 2021, in downtown Tacoma, Wash. At least one person was injured when a police car plowed through a crowd of people Saturday night who were watching a downtown street race, the Tacoma News-Tribune reported. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Tacoma’s Police Union released a statement Wednesday, decrying criticism for an officer seen driving his car through a crowd of people over the weekend.
Oversight group reacts in wake of Tacoma officer driving through crowd
The officer was identified this week as Khanh Phan, a 29-year veteran of the Tacoma Police Department. The incident took place last Saturday, when police were called to respond to an illegal street race.
Phan was in his vehicle surrounded by people as part of an attempt to clear an intersection. Video shows he briefly put the vehicle in reverse, before moving forward and driving through the crowd, injuring two people.
In the days since, TPD Chief Mike Ake has said that Phan feared for his life in that moment. Others have called for swift consequences, including members of the city’s Community Police Advisory Committee.
“Every time an officer uses ‘I fear for my life,’ that vindicates the officer, and says that the person in front of him was guilty automatically,” committee member Louis Cooper said Tuesday. “We can no longer settle for ‘I fear for my life.’”
Tacoma’s Police Union took issue with that approach Wednesday, insisting that Phan “is not a racist criminal.”
“He is a human and a dedicated public servant who reacted to a violent mob trying to do him harm,” the union said in a written release.
Witness to Tacoma police officer driving through crowd speaks out
The investigation of the incident is currently being handled by the Pierce County Force Investigations Team. The union urged city leaders and residents to withhold judgment until the team’s investigators “gather the facts.”
“Let them obtain information from officers on scene who were trying to address a violent crowd,” it said. “Let due process run its course. Stop sacrificing dedicated public servants at the altar of mob rule for political expediency.”
Many on the Community Police Advisory Committee, though, have expressed concerns over a investigatory process that would still include members of law enforcement.
“I call it the fox watching the chicken coop,” Cooper said Tuesday. “You can’t have police investigating the police because they’re going to protect their own.”
A bill is currently moving through the state Legislature to ensure that use of force investigations occur independent of law enforcement, which Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards called “Tacoma’s top priority for 2021″ during Tuesday testimony in Olympia.
“We want strong, independent investigations,” Woodards said. “Tacoma speaks from a place of experience — from the Manny Ellis case to what happened this past weekend.”
