Aurora Police Chief Nicholas Metz speaks from his office Wednesday about the shooting of Naeschylus Carter Vinzant by Officer Paul Jerothe. (Kenneth D. Lyons, The Denver Post)
Re: “Difficult to fault grand jury ruling in Aurora police shooting,” Dec. 31 editorial.
Your editorial on the Aurora police shooting illustrates an aspect of these conflicts that is not adequately analyzed in most press reports. The officer fired but one shot. By contrast, in most other confrontations, many shots were filed, often a hail of bullets.
There are two legal standards in police shootings: whether deadly force was justified and if so whether the force used was excessive. Most discussion is centered on the former. That often leaves us to wonder why officers fired dozens or hundreds of times even if the initial use of force was lawful.
Richard B. Collins, Boulder
The writer is a professor at the University of Colorado.
This letter was published in the Jan. 2 edition.
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