Concerned citizens are holding out on Saturday afternoon with police violence on Broadway Bridge in Idaho Falls. | Thanks to Jeremy Herman
IDAHO FALL – A series of recent shootings involving officers in eastern Idaho led a local group to a rally in Idaho Falls on Saturday afternoon.
Members of a group called Citizens for Accountability, Advocacy and Public Safety staged a rally on Broadway Bridge in Idaho Falls from 2 to 2.30pm to speak out against police violence.
“We are a group of people who are concerned about the state of shooting in eastern Idaho, and we are particularly frustrated with the Idaho Falls Police Department and the shooting that took place a few weeks ago (involving Joe Johnson and Officer Elias Cerdas was involved), “The co-organizer of the event, Jeremy Herman, told EastIdahoNews.com.
Investigators saw an increase in shooting incidents in eastern Idaho earlier this month over a ten-day period. Shooting incidents took place in Pocatello, Rexburg and Bingham County, all of which require the resources of the Eastern Idaho Critical Incident Task Force, which is investigating these cases.
Joe Johnson, a resident of Idaho Falls, was shot dead in the early hours of Feb. 8 in his backyard while officers chased 22-year-old Tanner Shoesmith who was walking from a traffic stop. Shoesmith was allegedly armed and had a violent history with law enforcement.
During the incident, police encountered Johnson, who lived in the area. Johnson was armed and dressed similar to Shoesmith. It is not clear what exactly happened, but during the incident, officer Elias Cerdas Johnson was shot dead.
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“This is an officer who recently completed training,” says Herman. ‘Those trainings and these policies must have prevented a tragedy like this. Some of my conversations with the mayor and the police chief over the past year – which they told me are based on controlling and controlling the situation, rather than taking cover, approaching carefully and trying to avoid shooting – are there seems to have no interest in the culture of shooting first and asking questions later. ”
Herman hopes disciplinary action will be taken against the officer responsible for shooting the victim. He appealed to the mayor and police chief to reform the police department’s policy on dealing with shootings to prevent something like this from happening again.
Jessica Clements, spokeswoman for the Idaho Falls Police Department, says she is not currently able to speak to this particular incident because it is still under investigation, but the police department does not have a policy of shooting and asking questions later.
“We need the results of the investigation to determine whether current policies and training have been followed or not, and consequently whether the current policies and training are the best or not,” says Clements. “Changing policies and training based on incomplete data and partial details is not meaningful and will not result in meaningful policies or best practices, which we all want.”
Clements says it is difficult to be patient, given how tragic the situation is and their goal is to be open and honest with the public.
‘Truly, we want to answer these questions. At the moment we are waiting for more information so that we can do it, ”says Clements.
A timeline for completing the investigation has not yet been announced.
Herman says there was a lot of support from the community during Saturday’s rally. About 20 people turned up for the event. Others involved in organizing it include Kimberly Zwygart, Elizabeth Cogliati and Katrin Lepler.