NORFOLK, Va. — Thursday's deadly police shooting in Norfolk's Wards Corner area marked the sixth officer-involved shooting in the Hampton Roads region over 30 days.
Of the six cases, the death of 31-year-old Gary Solomon marks one of two cases since Dec. 19 that has been handed over to Virginia State Police (VSP) to conduct an independent investigation.
Third-party investigation of officer-involved shootings rarity rather than the normal
Criminal justice researchers say both in Virginia and nationally, the trend of a third-party investigative agency is the rarity rather than the normal.
“For police legitimacy, if people don’t have trust and faith in their law enforcement agency they’re not going to cooperate when their help is needed," said Philip Stinson, a criminal justice professor at Bowling Green University in Ohio. "They won’t have faith in local police. That’s why that’s important: to eliminate the appearance of impropriety and bias, and suggestions of a coverup,"
No Virginia state code or statute requires law enforcement agencies to hand over officer-involved shootings to an agency like VSP.
"The Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation only investigates an officer-involved shooting upon request from a chief or sheriff," according to a VSP spokesperson.
Four other officer-involved shooting cases — in Newport News, Virginia Beach and Suffolk — are being investigated internally.
Stinson, who has made a career analyzing law enforcement behavior and actions, said that only 1 to 2% of the deadly officer-involved shootings recorded in the U.S. every year lead to a criminal charge against a uniformed police officer. He adds that even though it's not a requirement in states like Virginia, law enforcement agencies should always volunteer officer-involved shooting cases over to independent agencies for the sake of public trust and transparency.
"Some chiefs are reluctant and unwilling for an outside agency, and it's because they believe they’re professional enough on their own and capable enough on their own. It’s a matter of pride of simply, and nothing more," he said.
How Hampton Roads cities handle investigating officer-involved shootings
13News Now gathered the reporting and investigative procedures for each of the localities in which an officer-involved shooting has recently occurred.
Norfolk
Norfolk Police Chief Mark Talbot told reporters following the shooting that Solomon allegedly approached an officer and a security guard with a knife after he was allegedly observed pulling on door handles in the area.
Norfolk policy specifies that incidents in which a firearm is discharged, whether a bullet struck someone or not, are investigated by the department's Detective Division.
"The Commanding Officer of the Detective Division has the authority to take charge of investigations within the City of Norfolk of any use of deadly force incident involving a police officer which may have criminal aspects. Any time an officer discharges a firearm at a person, whether or not the person was hit, the Detective Division will investigate the incident. The following procedures will be implemented."
The case investigation, the policy reads, also gets reviewed by the Office of Professional Standards, the Police Firearms Review Panel as well as the Office of the Commonwealth's Attorney.
It also explicitly says a police chief may turn the investigation over to an independent outside investigative agency.
The full policy can be found here.
Virginia Beach
On Jan. 12, officers say a man answered a door and allegedly confronted them with a gun before two officers then shot the man at Linkhorn Bay Apartments.
In Virginia Beach, an officer-involved shooting prompts a simultaneous criminal and administrative investigation through the Internal Affairs Bureau, according to the Virginia Beach Police Department's policy.
The criminal investigation is overseen by a Detective Bureau Commanding Officer and the administrative investigation is overseen by an Internal Affairs Bureau's Commanding Officer.
Similar to the Norfolk Police Department, details of an officer-involved shooting will be reviewed by a Firearms Discharge Review Board.
The full policy can be found here.
Newport News
On Dec. 19, officers shot a man in a city parking lot allegedly struggling with mental health complications. Weeks later in early January, officers shot and killed a man at a mobile home park off of Jefferson Avenue after they entered a residence to see a man and woman struggling over a handgun.
Officers had previously been dispatched to this location for reports of a possibly suicidal person.
Officers involved in a use of force incident in Newport News submit a Use of Force report, where "body-worn camera videos and relevant photos will attached/linked to the report or event."
Similar to Virginia Beach, Newport News' policy spells out that both a criminal and administrative investigation (through the Internal Affairs Division) take place, and is also reviewed by a Use of Force Review Board.
It adds:
Any officer whose actions result in the death or serious physical injury of another shall be removed from their current duty assignment pending an administrative review. The officer may be placed on a temporary assignment, if deemed appropriate by the Chief of Police, pending the outcome of the administrative review.
The full procedures, within the Use of Force operation manual, can be found here.
James City County
Police in James City County fired shots at a man after he allegedly drew a gun on officers, but no one was harmed on January 6.
In James City County, an officer-involved shooting begins a process through the Internal Affairs department in which an assigned "Division Commander" acts as the "Internal Affairs Coordinator."
Both a criminal and administrative investigation may take place, and be completed with 30 days of initiation.
This case has been handed over to VSP.
Suffolk
On Saturday, Dec. 30, city officials said an incident on Oakglen Drive led a police officer to shoot a minor accused of holding weapons. Family members told 13News Now the girl is 15 years old was hospitalized until at least New Year's Day.
Suffolk Police Department has an Internal Affairs Unit which is "responsible for overseeing investigations into police department staff conduct."