I realize I’m treading on sacred ground here, but I just have to say that I’m truly disturbed about a Stanwood man being shot to death by an Everett police officer last June. I’ll forgo reading the 900 pages of documents produced during the intensive four-month investigation and go with what I’ve read in the multiple front page articles of The Herald.
Niles Meservey was intoxicated in his Corvette and had attempted to drive, but was stopped by a chain link fence in front of him. He was otherwise fully boxed in with cars and had no chance of driving off. He was tasered twice by Officer Meade and still would not get out of his car as ordered, which says to me that he was feeling no pain and obstinate, but with a 0.2-plus blood alcohol level I’m not surprised. However, Meade thought his life was in danger, so his next move was to shoot seven bullets into Meservey’s back through the car window thus ending his life.
A reasonable alternative might have been to break out a window, unlock the door, throw him in a police car and off to the drunk tank for the night, followed by a few appropriate charges and rehab. We all have our frustrating and stressful challenges on the job, but policemen are supposed to be trained to deal with it.
If the dozen-plus police officers who supported Meade during Thursday’s court hearing are agreeing that Meade did the right thing, the Everett Police Department has some serious retraining to do. Manslaughter is the minimum that should be charged and no, I don’t think Meade should get his gun back.
Eric Grinde
Stanwood
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