NAACP Seeks Civil Rights Probe of Woman’s Slaying

The NAACP, joining ranks with other organizations expressing anger over last month’s shooting death of Tyisha Miller by police officers, called Friday for a federal civil rights probe into the slaying.

Frank L. Berry, regional director of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People, complained that the Riverside Police Department’s investigation of the incident is more than 3 weeks old, with the agency publicly offering no details.

He acknowledged that the length of the internal probe “depends on the complexity of the incident” and would not speculate on how long it would take for interviews and forensic tests to be completed. But even a preliminary release of the facts known so far “would help the community understand where the investigation is headed,” Berry said.

“The shooting took place in a matter of seconds, but the police investigation seems to be going on and on,” he said. “It makes one wonder what the police are looking for, other than a possible way out under the disguise of ‘justifiable homicide.’ ”

Eunice Williamson, president of the Riverside branch of the NAACP, said the group had decided to finally speak out because the police have not offered any explanations for what happened, other than the initial accounts.

She proposed that the results of the police investigation and an inquiry being conducted by the Riverside County district attorney’s office be forwarded under seal to the U.S. Justice Department’s civil rights division “for comparison and [to determine] the appropriate legal action under civil rights statutes.”

The FBI has already opened an initial inquiry into the shooting to determine whether the Justice Department should pursue the matter.

The NAACP proposed that the Justice Department conduct an inquiry “and be prepared to file federal civil rights violation charges if or when state criminal charges do not go forward,” Williamson said.

Sgt. Chris Manning, the Police Department’s spokesman, said a report on the shooting will be finished in about three weeks and be released by Chief Jerry Carroll.

“We don’t want to disseminate piecemeal information,” Manning said. “The chief feels it’s best to issue all of the factual information at once, as opposed to issuing partial information and causing more speculation.”

He said the investigation “cannot be rushed. You want to avoid any perception of haste, because that may [imply] that the accepted [investigatory] practices were not followed in this instance. . . . We will stay the course and not be hastened by public discussion.”

Manning said the department will not make any conclusions about possible lawbreaking in the shooting, but--as it does in all criminal investigations--will forward its findings to the district attorney’s office, which will decide whether there are grounds for criminal prosecution.

No possible administrative discipline against the officers will be disclosed because of state privacy laws, Manning said.

Miller was killed after police were alerted by a 911 caller who said she appeared unconscious in her locked, idling car with a handgun in her lap. The officers, unable to rouse her, broke a car window in an attempt to take the gun, and opened fire after Miller reached for the weapon, the department has said.

Miller, who was struck 12 times and killed instantly, was found to have a blood-alcohol level of 0.13%.

A number of activist groups have contended that because three of the involved police officers are white and one is Latino, and because Miller was black, the shooting was racially motivated.

Among those participating in Friday’s news conference with the NAACP were representatives of Miller’s family, local clergy, the Congress of Racial Equality, the Urban League of Riverside and San Bernardino Counties and an association of black newspaper publishers.