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A brief scan of the national news headlines will show that police shootings are under tremendous public scrutiny. In North Carolina, officers have shot three suspects in less than two weeks.
Womble Carlyle attorney Scott MacLatchie joined WSOC-TV News in Charlotte to discuss the recent spate of officer-involved shootings. MacLatchie has extensive experience defending law enforcement officers in police shooting cases. He also has served as an adjunct faculty member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Southeastern Center for Police Law and Liability Management, with an emphasis on police use of force. In addition, he has a personal background in law enforcement, having served as a Reserve Deputy Sheriff in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department since 1979.
“I think it does illustrate the very real danger officers face every time they go out,” MacLatchie said. He also noted that each case is unique—with its own set of facts and circumstances.
For example, he said the two recent shootings in the Charlotte area were completely different. One involved police serving an arrest warrant on a homicide suspect, where MacLatchie said “They’re going to be expecting very possibly to be confronted with gunfire.”
The other incident was completely unexpected, as a gunman began firing in a mall crowded with holiday shoppers. An off-duty police officer working security at the mall shot and killed the gunman before any bystanders were hurt.
Click here to watch Scott MacLatchie on WSOC-TV News.
Scott MacLatchie’s practice has been primarily devoted to the defense of law enforcement officers and municipalities in police misconduct and related civil rights litigation in both state and federal courts. He has substantial trial experience with successful verdicts in a wide variety of cases including police shootings, deployment of police dogs, use of force (deadly and non-deadly), asset forfeiture and miscellaneous search and seizure matters ranging from false arrest to execution of high risk search warrants. He practices in Womble Carlyle’s Charlotte office.
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