Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson is asking for an independent review of the Mobile Police Department’s use of force.
This follows the police shooting and killing of a 16-year-old boy in the early morning of Monday, November 13. Stimpson has also issued a ban on most predawn search warrants like the one executed in the incident.
"I have asked former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama Kenyen Brown to perform a comprehensive review of the Mobile Police Department’s policy, procedures and training related to officers’ use of force," he said in a released statement. "His work will include a review of prior incidences of police use of force and full access to all evidence, including body camera footage. Following this review, he will issue a report of his findings and recommendations within 90 days. This report will be made available to the public."
Mobile Police said the narcotics unit and SWAT team were executing a search warrant inside a home on the 3400 block of Sheringham Drive early Monday morning when the shooting happened.
The department said that's when officers encountered the 16-year-old who they say was armed with a laser-sighted pistol, pointed at them. An officer fired shots, hitting the boy. The teen was taken to the hospital, where he died.
That 16-year-old was not the target of the warrant. Officers were looking for an 18-year-old a relative of the boy.
“I want to offer my sincerest condolences to the family and friends of the 16-year-old who lost his life during the execution of a search warrant by Mobile Police officers," Stimpson said in a release. "I have unanswered questions about the events leading up to this tragic outcome, and I am taking immediate steps to get those answers."
The department says the officer involved in the shooting will be placed on administrative leave, as is standard procedure.
Both the Mobile Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Unit and the Office of Professional Responsibility will conduct investigations into the incident.
