Citizen, “You say Coatesville Police Officers have training in cultural sensitivity. My question is; if they had training in cultural sensitivity why were officers out there, all over the street, cussing them out, being very disrespectful? Plenty of officers came to me to put the fires out, to talk the people so they wouldn’t react. So what kind of cultural sensitivity are you teaching these police officers and what kind ethics classes are they taking.”
Coatesville Police Lieutenant Shesko, “If something like that happens… If you have specific officers that you know that acted that way, please come see me and I will get to it and it will be addressed. And also keep in mind that as a result of the incident we had officers from almost every department in the County. There were over 50 officers there and they weren’t all Coatesville Police Officers. I can’t speak for all 50 of them. There’s no way that we can supervise that many police officers spread out in the area that they were spread out in. But like I said we would be happy to look into it. If that occurred and you can tell me who that was, or give me information that will help me find out who that was…we’ll go back the scene and we'll see what we can do to find out who that officer was and I be happy to look into it.”
Another citizen would like to know if there was a dash camera on the vehicle that was involved in the accident. She would like to know if, “the officer in fact did pull his weapon and if he admitted to such. Is there anything that occurred during the investigation part that you’ve found that perhaps could give information to enlighten us to why the officer discharged his weapon that so many people feel that they heard the discharge of a weapon. So that we can get clarity on that and we can dispel that myth if it’s actually a myth.”
Lieutenant Shesko, “I can only give information which I have knowledge of and after speaking with the officers the indication that I have is that there was never a weapon drawn.
As far as the pursuit policy goes when it comes to pursuing stolen vehicles, our policy does permit for the pursuit of stolen vehicles. The guidelines that have to with such is, given the time of day, the number of people out in the street and whether or not the pursuit is going to endanger innocent citizens, pedestrians on the street. We have to keep all that in mind all that to make a decision to whether it is safe to pursue that vehicle.”
Citizen, “Based on that information, would you then say that the reaction of the police officers was within the guidelines of the Coatesville Police Department’s for pursuing vehicles? In that residential area it happened about 9:00 on the bottom of 6th Avenue and Olive Street. It’s a high concentration area for not just children but for adults as well.”
Lieutenant Shesko, “Given the information that I have, based on their actions, yes it was within the Department’s Guidelines. But please keep in mind that’s just a preliminary thing. We are still in the process of getting an internal investigation as far their actions as far as our policies which we’ve established. But right now based initial information, it appears to be within the guidelines, but the investigation is still going on.
As far as the dash cam, the vehicle involved is a newer vehicle and unfortunately has not been outfitted with a dash camera yet.”
Citizen, “When did you get the report the car was stolen? ..The way that I hear it the car had been going around in the community for a while and it was changing hands with different people…Did the officers know it was a stolen car?”
Lieutenant Shesko, Just prior they received information that the car was seen in the area and within minutes they had contact with the vehicle… Sir, I do not know exactly when the car was stolen; it was stolen in another jurisdiction. All I know is that the officers received a call from a citizen telling them that that stolen vehicle was in that area at that time.”
Recorded at the Community Information Meeting, Second Baptist Church, Coatesville, PA on September 8, 2010.
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