Law Commons^™

Reimagining Criminal Justice: A New System Is Required For Police Accountability, Thomas Johnson

Reimagining Criminal Justice

In 1997 Daniel Mendoza was shot by an off-duty Las Vegas Metro police offcer. The offcer who pulled the trigger had been drinking heavily and wanted to “harass dopers and bangers.” The offcer in question fired into a group of people from the passenger side of a vehicle. This offcer was tried and convicted, which sounds like a success.

However, when an offcer is not stopped before killing a citizen without regard to whether there was a suspected crime, it highlights a problem of accountability.