By now you are all familiar with the shooting of Dillon Taylor in South Salt Lake in August of 2014. Salt Lake District Attorney Sim Gill has decided not to press criminal charges against Officer Cruz, the SLPD officer who killed Taylor. On today’s show, I interview the attorneys representing the Taylor family, Robert Cummings and Kelly Fowler, as they explore further legal options in an attempt to right this, and many other similar wrongs.
The famous Stanford Prison Experiment demonstrates that in situations of abuse of power, it’s not “a few bad apples”, it’s the barrel that is bad. The situation breeds abuse. Read more about the experiments here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_prison_experiment and http://psychology.about.com/od/classicpsychologystudies/a/stanford-prison-experiment.htm
Read the official report given by DA Sim Gill’s office. It includes the official transcript of the 911 call (which I’ve included below) Download the PDF of the report here.
Transcript of the 911 call received on August 11, 2014 at approximately 7:00 pm that led to the dispatch of Salt Lake City Police, which led to the shooting of Dillon Taylor:
911: “911. what’s the address of your emergency?’
CALLER: “[garbled] not sure if it’s an emergency, lady; look, I just saw some gangbangers, they’re walking up second east, they’re almost to twenty first south, Um, the guy in the red hat has a gun. [garbled] red hat, dressed all in red….”
911: “[multiple voices] hold on, hold on: where are you right now? Cause you’re almost to twenty first south?-
CALLER: “I’m, I’m on I’m on twenty, I’m on nineteenth south and second east but the guy flashed a gun [garbled] flashed a gun as he was walking by.”
911: “Ok but you’re on nineteenth south and what. what’s the street you’re on?”
CALLER: “Second east. Two hundred east.”
911: “Two hundred east ok. And what’ s…..”
CALLER: “Ok, [unintelligible) are almost to twenty first south and second east. They’re walking up the road”
911: “Ok what’s the phone number you’re calling from in case were disconnected.”
CALLER: “Um. you know what? I don’t wanna [unintelligible] they just walking in the road. I. they have weapons, they’re looking for trouble. That’s all I see, ok [unintelligible] [multiple voices] I’m just reporting it because it looks suspicious.”
911: “Did he threaten you or anything like that or did he just flash it?”
CALLER: “Yea, I just seen a gun as he walked by.”
911: “Ok., but again did he make threats at you, did he threaten to shoot you or.
CALLER: “No, he did not threaten me in any way, I just saw it as he was walking by.”
911: “Ok give me just one second. You said he’s almost to twenty first south?”‘
CALLER: “They’re all basically at twenty fir… I’m watching them walk down the road. ‘They’re basic. they are basically at twenty first south and second—two hundred east.”
911: “Ok, and when did this happen?”
CALLER: “Uh, I’m, I’m watching them walk up the road, so, um, I don’t know: three or four minutes ago? But they’re obviously looking, looking for trouble, just the way they look. There are three of them. um…there’s one in uh, that’s all dressed in red, he’s got a red baseball hat, there’s another one [garbled].”
911: [multiple voices] “Ok hang on real quick, … where was the weapon? Was it in his waistband, was it in his hand?”
CALLER: “Uhh, waistband? [talking to another person] he, he pulled it out of his pocket,”
911: Ok, so where. where is it now?”
CALLER: “Um, you know what, he’s on twenty first south and second. [multiple voices]”
911: “Ok, I understand … ok but l need to know where, where the weapon is. Where did he put the weapon? Did he put it back in his pocket?”
CALLER: “It was in his pocket.”
911: “Ok. Have shots been fired?”
CALLER: “No.”
911: Ok. what direc… you said he was, what race was he: Hispanic, white, black?”
CALLER: “Um. black? No, no, Mexican. right? Mexican [unintelligible], Mexican-American.”
911: “Ok, about how old was he?”
CALLER: “Ummm, twenty.”
911: “Ok. he was wearing all red?'”
CALLER: “Yea. he’s all in red, he’s got a white baseball cap. Ok, white tee shirt, sorry. He’s walking with two other. uh, um [unintelligible].”
911: “Ok, so he’s wearing a white tee shirt, red pants? Or.,.?”
CALLER: -Yea, white tee shirt, white pants and a white baseball hat. He’s walking with another kid that’s in a striped shirt… ”
911: “Ok what race is he [multiple voices]?”
CALLER: “They’re all Mexican-American,”
911: “Ok, the second one with a white shirt, a striped shirt what [unintelligible]”
CALLER: “Yea, ok. they just turned right towards State Street”
911: “Ok about how old [multiple voices] striped shirt?”
CALLER: “Uh they’re all, uh, it’s hard for me to guess, um. yea [unintelligible] twenty to twenty-five.”
911: “Ok are you or anyone else in immediate danger?”
CALLER: “No, not… I just thought I had to report this. It looked suspicious.”
911: “Ok., do not put yourself in danger, we’ll have officers dispatched to check the area as soon as possible. Just call us back immediately if anything changes, you have any further information, ok?”
CALLER: “Ok, thank you.”
911: “Alrighty, bye.”
Check out John Oliver’s hysterical (and true) rant about the militarization of police in America:
“If you’re a cop in the United States, you should dress for the job you HAVE, not the job you WANT.” – John Oliver
