Citizens Review Board Split on Scott Decision: Report

CHARLOTTE, NC -- A civilian oversight panel reviewing whether a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officer who shot and killed Keith Lamont Scott last September was justified is split on a verdict, according to reports.

In March, CMPD determined the officer who shot Scott, Officer Brentley Vinson, had followed department procedures leading up to the shooting, and would not be disciplined. Scott’s family made a formal appeal to Charlotte’s Citizen Review Board June 27, asking the watchdog body that handles complaints against police department actions, such as use of force, to review CMPD’s verdict that the officer was justified in shooting Scott.

Thursday, the CRB voted 4-4 on whether CMPD Police Chief Kerr Putney made an error in backing the officer’s actions, The Charlotte Observer reported. While the board was at a statemate on the police department’s determination of the officer’s actions, it did make policy recommendations, the newspaper said. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news in Charlotte — or other neighborhoods. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

Scott, 43, was shot and killed Sept. 20, 2016 after getting in an argument with CMPD officers who were at his apartment complex attempting to serve an arrest warrant for another resident. The incident at The Village at College Downs apartments on Concord Road was videoed by Scott’s wife.

In late June, members of the CRB deliberated for about an hour, and found there was “substantial evidence of error,” in the CMPD’s assessment the shooting of Scott was justified, The Charlotte Observer reported. The officer who shot Scott told CMPD investigators following the shooting he did so because he felt his life was in danger. The CRB reconvened Aug. 8 to view additional evidence and hold a hearing for the case, which could potentially lead to the body recommending CMPD change its findings.

The lack of consensus among CRB members going against Charlotte police department internal assessments is no surprise, according to the Observer. Four years ago, the Observer reviewed the 79 cases heard by CRB since it's inception in 1997 and revealed it had never sided with a citizen complaint.

CMPD has defended its internal review process, saying investigations made by the State Bureau of Investigation and District Attorney were very thorough.

Following Scott’s death in September, marchers took to the streets over the course of several days of violent protests in Charlotte.

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