Manslaughter Charge Suggests Officers Need Better Training

Freemansburg Police prepare ID cards for area kids

Last night, communities throughout the country celebrated National Night Out (NNO). It's a time for first responders and the citizens they serve to come together. Police make ID cards for kids so that if they ever get lost, mom or dad can give officers something that gives them an idea what the child looks like and some other physical characteristic, like height. Firefighters are also a big hit, as they demonstrate how they put out fires. In communities like Freemansburg, it's an opportunity to get fed, too. Borough Council members drop their gavels for spatulas,and turn out dogs and burgers with food supplied by area grocers. Yesterday, NNO coincided with a day in which Lehigh County DA Jim Martin filed manslaughter charges against South Whitehall Township police officer Jonathan Roselle. Their National Night Out had been postponed as a result of flooding, and that's probably a good thing.

After Martin's announcement, I spoke with a career prosecutor who told me she knows of no other profession in which momentary bad judgment in a crisis situation can lead to homicide charges. But my concern all along is that the officer had available to him other means to subdue the man he killed. He had a baton, taser and mace. According to the statutory definition,

"(a) General rule.--A person who kills an individual without lawful justification commits voluntary manslaughter if at the time of the killing he is acting under a sudden and intense passion resulting from serious provocation by:

(1) the individual killed; or

(2) another whom the actor endeavors to kill, but he negligently or accidentally causes the death of the individual killed.

(b) Unreasonable belief killing justifiable.--A person who intentionally or knowingly kills an individual commits voluntary manslaughter if at the time of the killing he believes the circumstances to be such that, if they existed, would justify the killing under Chapter 5 of this title (relating to general principles of justification), but his belief is unreasonable."

The officer felt at that one moment that he needed to use deadly force, but Martin's investigation concluded that belief was unreasonable.

Should Officer Roselle choose to go to trial, that will be a question for the jury. I personally believed he could have used less lethal means or waited for back up.

One officer told me last night that what happened underscores the need for better training. He said interactive training simulator shelp officers recognize when deadly force is warranted, and told me he believes the Allentown Police Academy has one of these.

I also spoke to a retired police officer -a big guy - with 30 years of experience. He said you never know how you're going to react until you're in a real situation.

It's an unfortunate situation for all involved. Lehigh County DA Jim Martin was unfairly attacked in the middle of an investigation. A police officer will never work in that capacity again,regardless of the outcome of the criminal case. Some feel that there was latent bias in the officer's decision to pull the trigger. Others are using what happened as an opportunity to express their bias while solemnly denying it. But the biggest loss is for Santos' children. They will grow up without a father.