Police problem

Recently, a decision has been made about an incident involving two Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers suing the department for discrimination because they are Latino. Officers Allan Corrales and George Diego were awarded near $4 million combined in their discrimination suit against the department. Both officers are Latino and were involved in a fatal shooting in 2010 killing an unarmed, autistic African American man, Eugene Washington.

The two officers were patrolling Koreatown when they heard a “deep boom”. After the noise, the two officers saw Washington approach them and, to them, looked like was pulling something out of his waistband. The two officers both fired off one shot each and the fatal shot struck Washington in the head. Washington was pronounced dead on the scene and was unarmed. The civilian commission, in 2011, stated the officers were not authorized to shoot and a lawsuit, representing both officers, was filed in 2012. The charges filed against the officers stated they were barred from returning to the field and were to be refused any transfers or promotions.

Attorney, Gregory Smith, the officers’ attorney, stated that officers “get blamed for making spot decisions” when they have not been properly trained to handle a situation. “You put officers on the streets to do a job, but they are not social works,” he said. Mr. Smith also stated that a white LAPD officer fatally shot an unarmed Latino man and was allowed to return to the field only after a six-week probation. Officer Diego was awarded $1.9 million and Corrales was awarded more than $2 million. Also, Eugene Washington’s mother received a settlement from the city for $950,000.