City, police leaders will talk to neighbors about shooting

City, police leaders will talk to neighbors about shooting Visits will happen in coming weeks

* Photo gallery: Police shooting victim memorial, 06.11.05 * Police fatally shoot man in drug sting, 06.10.05 * Austin Police Department release on officer-involved shooting (PDF) * Get Acrobat Reader

Austin city and police leaders on Tuesday said they have developed plans to reach out to residents of a Southeast Austin neighborhood where an officer fatally shot a teen, hoping to calm growing community anger.

Police Chief Stan Knee said officers, including members of the department's Hispanic police association, will visit churches and neighborhood meetings during the next two to three weeks, providing updates about the status of the investigation and certain details about what led to the shooting.

Knee already this week has met with representatives from the League of United Latin American Citizens and chaplains from Spanish-speaking congregations in neighborhoods near South Pleasant Valley Road and Quicksilver Boulevard, where the shooting occurred.

The Austin Police Monitor's Office also announced Tuesday that they have scheduled a community meeting to discuss the shooting. The event will be held at the Dove Springs Community Center at 5801 Ainez Dr. at 7 p.m.; Knee said he will attend.

"As with any crisis in a neighborhood or community, rumors originate, some based on fact, others not," Knee said following a news conference at police headquarters. "History has taught us that lack of information among neighborhood leaders is one of the biggest problems we face."

During the news conference, Knee said investigators were still trying to determine what led Officer Julie Schroeder to shoot Daniel Rocha, 18, late Thursday. He declined to discuss specifics about what the investigation has shown so far, but said Schroeder did not use a Taser stun gun to subdue Rocha because it "wasn't available to the officer."

On Tuesday, the Austin American-Statesman reported that Schroeder had told investigators that she thought Rocha had taken her Taser during a struggle and was about to use it against her or her sergeant, Don Doyle. Knee said Doyle suffered a leg injury during the altercation.

Knee said the case should be presented to the Travis County District Attorney's office during the next two weeks.

"This department will do a thorough job of investigating this incident," he said. "I would ask that you allow us the opportunity to do that."

After previous shootings, Knee said, department leaders had placed fliers on doors of neighbors following other police shootings. He said in an interview after the news conference that they were critized by residents who thought officers were being too intrusive by walking up to homes and knocking.

Knee said he and other department leaders in coming weeks will visit churches, civic groups and neighborhood meetings to talk about the shooting once they can release more details.

"What I want the community and neighborhood to know is that there is a direct line of communication," said Assistant City Manager Rudy Garza, who supervises the department's public safety departments. "We want to being a communication process with them and not have them rely on second and third hand information."

remember the mr. and mrs kurt jacobson motorcycle spin? after spending $110 on drinks at a police party, they left the party, and then highway 71 at 90 mph. both died.

now the bar's probably going to lose its license. but none of the cops at the bar bothered to take kurt's keys. mind you, he had brought the motorcycle into the bar, place the front wheel against the wall, and accelerated--burning a hole in the floor. he took the bike out, and came back in to drink more.

seems to me that his police buddies share some responsibility with the bar.

chief knee had a lawyer investigate. the returned report excluded the police from any culpability.

chief knee was at a loss for words.

Austin Police Department Officer Julie Schroeder, a seven-year veteran, shot and killed a narcotics suspect late Thursday night.

At 11 p.m. the Southeast Area Command Street Response team was following up on residents' complaints of drug dealing in the Bitter Creek area. Officers spotted three suspects in a blue and silver Chevrolet Suburban.

Patrol officers stopped the SUV at the intersection of South Pleasant Valley Road and Quicksilver Boulevard. When two officers approached the SUV, the front passenger fled the scene.

Officer Michelle Barton approached the SUV and began to put the driver into custody.

Schroeder approached Daniel Rocha, 18, who was in the back seat and attempted to arrest him. As Sgt. Don Doyle arrived, police said Rocha began a violent struggle.

"The second officer approached the passenger … A struggle began with the officer and that passenger … and during that struggle, the officer shot the suspect," APD spokesman Kevin Buchman said.

During the struggle, Schroeder fired her gun one time and hit Rocha. First aid was administered and then a request for an ambulance went out. Rocha was pronounced dead at the scene at 11:23 p.m.

Friends say Rocha’s death was unjust. They came back to the scene and set up a memorial.

“He [Doyle] had his hand on his back and her [Schroder] knee on his back. By then, he lifted up his shirt and said ‘I don’t have nothing’ and that’s when I heard the gunshot go off,” a friend said.

Police say Rocha was no stranger to police in the area. He had a warrant for Theft from a Person, a state-jail felony. Upon further investigation a small amount of narcotics were found.

Austin police have come under fire for a series of officer-related shootings, all of which involved minority victims.

“These kinds of incidents can very quickly destroy a community. If not done right, it destroys every progress we’ve made. This is critical for us because when it happens, it erodes confidence, it destroys trust and it affects everybody,” Nelson Linder of the NAACP said.

Some neighbors argue police were just doing their job. Drug use has been a problem in the area for years.

“Sometimes they would do them [drugs] right outside. There’s partying all night, drinking all night,” a neighbor said.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.