The simple fact is the only way citizens can offer their truly informed consent is when all the facts are laid out before them. We’ve learned from decades of reporting on public affairs that governmental secrecy can — and often does — shelter incompetence and corruption.
Even so, we can think of a couple of valid exceptions when a government of the people should withhold detailed information.
One of those exceptions is when we are at war and revealing classified secrets could irreparably harm the national security. The second exception is when the release of information before all the facts are known could prejudice the outcome of a trial.
For the latter reason, we can understand why Cleveland Mayor Billy Nowell and the Board of Aldermen are reluctant to discuss details in the TASER death of 30-year-old Jermaine Williams in the predawn hours of July 23.
It is not as though they are trying to forever keep a secret about the conduct of two Cleveland police officers. We believe precise details about what happened will be presented at the proper time.
Jamie Jacks, the Board of Alderman’s attorney, advised the board not to discuss the issue except in executive session because the city has received a notice of intent to file a wrongful death lawsuit.
Mayor Nowell issued a statement Wednesday in which he noted that Police Chief Buster Bingham called in the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation to investigate the incident. The subsequent probe is a work in progress, and in the meantime the officers involved in the arrest and death of Williams have been place on administrative leave.
In addition, prior to the aldermen’s meeting Tuesday Bingham publicly released preliminary details of the incident.
Bingham told Bolivar Commercial Lifestyles Editor Aimee Robinette that officers responded to a call about people loitering in the 700 block of Cross Street.
During the investigation, a bag containing what officers believed was cocaine was found on top of one of the vehicles where the people were gathered. The policemen then asked for identification from everyone.
Moments later Williams allegedly grabbed the bag and took off running. An officer pursued Williams and finally caught up with him at the intersection of Lucy Seaberry Boulevard and Cross Street. The suspect resisted arrest, and the officer used a TASER on the man.
Even then, he remained combative and attempted to take the TASER from the officer, according to Bingham’s statement. A second officer arrived and also used his TASER.
After he was handcuffed, officers noted that Williams needed medical treatment. They called an ambulance, and the officers themselves gave Williams medical treatment while waiting for it to arrive. Williams subsequently died.
Bingham didn’t say whether Williams died at the scene, on the way to hospital or at the hospital.
However, Bolivar County Coroner Dr. Nathaniel Brown said Williams had cocaine in his urine and alcohol in his blood, according to a preliminary autopsy report.
We believe when police action results in the death of a suspect, it is always a serious matter and the public should ultimately be informed about what exactly happened.
The business of government should be conducted in the daylight of public scrutiny. In this instance, that purpose should be achieved by the independent review of the Bureau of Investigation and by the pending litigation.
Yes, we would all like to have the answers right now, but we must realize true justice is arrived at only in a careful and deliberatively slow process, and we really wouldn’t want it to be any other way.