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The Arizona Republic
January 27, 2003 Monday Final chaser Edition
SECTION: FRONT; Pg. 1A
LENGTH: 1145 words
HEADLINE: CRIMINALS SHOT TYPICALLY ARE YOUNG, POOR, IMPAIRED MEN
BYLINE: By Senta Scarborough, The Arizona Republic
BODY:
Vern Daniel Pleaugh believed he would die at the hands of law enforcement.
Pleaugh's fatal forecast came true but only after he fired seven bullets that nearly killed a Tempe police officer responding to a domestic violence call.
Pleaugh, 27, is similar to the majority of people who have been shot during confrontations with Phoenix police in the past seven years. Ninety percent of them were male and more than half were ages of 16 to 30. Like Pleaugh, nearly 80 percent were armed with guns, knives or a club. In fact, in nearly half of the cases, the suspect had a gun. Some vow never to get caught or return to prison, said Tempe police Sgt. Dan Masters, who has experienced two officer-involved shootings.
"The intent may not be to kill but the mind-set is at all cost that they are going to get away to avoid capture," Masters said. "Normal human nature is fight or flight."
Pleaugh was reading the U.S. Constitution when an officer asked him to get out of his car. He wouldn't respond to the requests or even pepper spray.
"He was a big anti-government person and it turned out he owed the IRS a lot of money." said former Tempe police Officer Scott Tipton, 34, who shot and killed Pleaugh at a shopping center parking lot. "He had an extensive diary that predicted his end would come from federal, state or local law enforcement."
Kevin Gilmartin, a law enforcement consultant, said the people shot by police are usually criminals.
He said they are often young men at the lower end of the economic scale who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
The Phoenix data seem to back that claim. Young men, armed and often impaired by drugs, alcohol or a mental condition, are the most likely to be shot by police.
Gilmartin attributes the increase in officer-involved shootings in the Valley to a combination of social and economic factors.
"All of the factors are kind of against Arizona. In the long term, it will require members of the community to assume responsibility for the factors other than police conduct," Gilmartin said.
Unemployment problems led Simon Mayiel Riang, a Sudanese refugee, to threaten staff members at the Catholic Social Service agency, saying he "would be remembered" when he was told he did not qualify for a job because he did not speak Arabic. Eight months later, the 26-year-old man, sporting a rifle with 100 rounds of ammunition, fired several times in the non-profit's building before police shot and killed him.
Gilmartin said factors such as a failing school system, uneven distribution of wealth, easy access to illicit drugs, and year-round good weather create a climate for crime in Arizona.
However, the consultant said education may be the "silver bullet," along with intervention in young people's lives.
In most cases, police and experts agree suspects involved in police shootings have placed themselves in situations that are "not something normal people do."
"They should expect to be met with lethal force," Gilmartin said. "Police respond to social dysfunction and typically people blame the police for responding to it."
Phoenix data show that suspects were impaired by drugs, alcohol or mental illness in 41 percent of the shootings. Such was the case for 31-year old Wade Jess Jordan, who was fatally shot Dec. 27, 2001, by seven Mesa police officers after a traffic stop turned into a showdown. Jordan was driving on a suspended license because of a DUI. At the time of his shooting, his blood-alcohol level was 0.21 percent, more than twice the legal limit.
Women are rarely involved in shootouts with police, accounting for 5.7 percent of victims.
For Cassandra Sloan, it was the case of behind with the wrong guy at the wrong time.
On June 14, 2001, Sloan was the get-away driver for her then-boyfriend, Kevin Ross, who had been on a four-month crime spree and had just robbed a Loan Mart in Mesa.
After the robbery, Sloan rammed her car into an unmarked police car occupied by two officers. Officers fired at the car, striking Sloan but not Ross.
"I have no excuse for my part in this crime, and I am willing to accept the responsibility for my actions," Sloan wrote to a judge in fall 2001, asking for leniency. "Not only did I break the law, but I put myself in a position where I was shot five times in the head.... I came within inches of losing my life."
Sloan, now 41, a mother and grandmother, received probation as part of a plea deal.
Not all police shootings can be explained as easily.
Phoenix native Cedric N'gai Scypion, 26, was shot in the back by a Florence police officer on June 23, 1999, as he fled an apartment complex burglary, police said.
"I feel like game that has been hunted," Scypion said.
An honors student and homecoming king before he dropped out of school his junior year, Scypion was working as a plumber at the time.
He pleaded guilty to attempted theft and received eight months of probation.
"I'm no angel ... but I'm not a lifetime criminal," Scypion said. I never used a gun in any crimes."
Scypion was struck in the lower right portion of his back, where the bullet pierced his ribs and caused his left lung to collapse. He was hospitalized for a week.
Scypion said he thinks police have too much power but are not all bad.
The officer who shot Scypion, Steven MacGregor, had his license revoked by the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board.
"He didn't attempt to catch me ... he just started firing as his first means of action. That's what gets me. That is what they go to the academy for," Scypion said.
Scypion has written a song, Offer from an Officer, to tell his story. A line from the chorus:
Life is really unkind
When police shoot you from behind
With no regret because this time the threat wasn't mine.
"I can't wait to put it out there because I feel like it wasn't justified," Scypion said. "I feel like I should get an apology."
When shot at by police, suspects are injured either seriously or fatally 73 percent of the time.
"And when people actually try to take your life it is a hard pill to swallow," Masters said. "It happens in a split second and hesitating could cost the officer his life. Our training focuses on 'Don't point your weapon if you are not prepared to shoot.' "
January 27, 2003 Monday Final chaser Edition
SECTION: FRONT; Pg. 1A
LENGTH: 1145 words
HEADLINE: CRIMINALS SHOT TYPICALLY ARE YOUNG, POOR, IMPAIRED MEN
BYLINE: By Senta Scarborough, The Arizona Republic
BODY:
Vern Daniel Pleaugh believed he would die at the hands of law enforcement.
Pleaugh's fatal forecast came true but only after he fired seven bullets that nearly killed a Tempe police officer responding to a domestic violence call.
Pleaugh, 27, is similar to the majority of people who have been shot during confrontations with Phoenix police in the past seven years. Ninety percent of them were male and more than half were ages of 16 to 30. Like Pleaugh, nearly 80 percent were armed with guns, knives or a club. In fact, in nearly half of the cases, the suspect had a gun. Some vow never to get caught or return to prison, said Tempe police Sgt. Dan Masters, who has experienced two officer-involved shootings.
"The intent may not be to kill but the mind-set is at all cost that they are going to get away to avoid capture," Masters said. "Normal human nature is fight or flight."
Pleaugh was reading the U.S. Constitution when an officer asked him to get out of his car. He wouldn't respond to the requests or even pepper spray.
"He was a big anti-government person and it turned out he owed the IRS a lot of money." said former Tempe police Officer Scott Tipton, 34, who shot and killed Pleaugh at a shopping center parking lot. "He had an extensive diary that predicted his end would come from federal, state or local law enforcement."
Kevin Gilmartin, a law enforcement consultant, said the people shot by police are usually criminals.
He said they are often young men at the lower end of the economic scale who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
The Phoenix data seem to back that claim. Young men, armed and often impaired by drugs, alcohol or a mental condition, are the most likely to be shot by police.
Gilmartin attributes the increase in officer-involved shootings in the Valley to a combination of social and economic factors.
"All of the factors are kind of against Arizona. In the long term, it will require members of the community to assume responsibility for the factors other than police conduct," Gilmartin said.
Unemployment problems led Simon Mayiel Riang, a Sudanese refugee, to threaten staff members at the Catholic Social Service agency, saying he "would be remembered" when he was told he did not qualify for a job because he did not speak Arabic. Eight months later, the 26-year-old man, sporting a rifle with 100 rounds of ammunition, fired several times in the non-profit's building before police shot and killed him.
Gilmartin said factors such as a failing school system, uneven distribution of wealth, easy access to illicit drugs, and year-round good weather create a climate for crime in Arizona.
However, the consultant said education may be the "silver bullet," along with intervention in young people's lives.
In most cases, police and experts agree suspects involved in police shootings have placed themselves in situations that are "not something normal people do."
"They should expect to be met with lethal force," Gilmartin said. "Police respond to social dysfunction and typically people blame the police for responding to it."
Phoenix data show that suspects were impaired by drugs, alcohol or mental illness in 41 percent of the shootings. Such was the case for 31-year old Wade Jess Jordan, who was fatally shot Dec. 27, 2001, by seven Mesa police officers after a traffic stop turned into a showdown. Jordan was driving on a suspended license because of a DUI. At the time of his shooting, his blood-alcohol level was 0.21 percent, more than twice the legal limit.
Women are rarely involved in shootouts with police, accounting for 5.7 percent of victims.
For Cassandra Sloan, it was the case of behind with the wrong guy at the wrong time.
On June 14, 2001, Sloan was the get-away driver for her then-boyfriend, Kevin Ross, who had been on a four-month crime spree and had just robbed a Loan Mart in Mesa.
After the robbery, Sloan rammed her car into an unmarked police car occupied by two officers. Officers fired at the car, striking Sloan but not Ross.
"I have no excuse for my part in this crime, and I am willing to accept the responsibility for my actions," Sloan wrote to a judge in fall 2001, asking for leniency. "Not only did I break the law, but I put myself in a position where I was shot five times in the head.... I came within inches of losing my life."
Sloan, now 41, a mother and grandmother, received probation as part of a plea deal.
Not all police shootings can be explained as easily.
Phoenix native Cedric N'gai Scypion, 26, was shot in the back by a Florence police officer on June 23, 1999, as he fled an apartment complex burglary, police said.
"I feel like game that has been hunted," Scypion said.
An honors student and homecoming king before he dropped out of school his junior year, Scypion was working as a plumber at the time.
He pleaded guilty to attempted theft and received eight months of probation.
"I'm no angel ... but I'm not a lifetime criminal," Scypion said. I never used a gun in any crimes."
Scypion was struck in the lower right portion of his back, where the bullet pierced his ribs and caused his left lung to collapse. He was hospitalized for a week.
Scypion said he thinks police have too much power but are not all bad.
The officer who shot Scypion, Steven MacGregor, had his license revoked by the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board.
"He didn't attempt to catch me ... he just started firing as his first means of action. That's what gets me. That is what they go to the academy for," Scypion said.
Scypion has written a song, Offer from an Officer, to tell his story. A line from the chorus:
Life is really unkind
When police shoot you from behind
With no regret because this time the threat wasn't mine.
"I can't wait to put it out there because I feel like it wasn't justified," Scypion said. "I feel like I should get an apology."
When shot at by police, suspects are injured either seriously or fatally 73 percent of the time.
"And when people actually try to take your life it is a hard pill to swallow," Masters said. "It happens in a split second and hesitating could cost the officer his life. Our training focuses on 'Don't point your weapon if you are not prepared to shoot.' "
