Reporting A Failure

The independent report commissioned by the University of Cincinnati on the shooting death of Sam Dubose by campus officer Ray Tensing was released today, and it puts the blame for Dubose's death squarely on Tensing's shoulders.

The fatal shooting of motorist Samuel Dubose by a University of Cincinnati police officer was "entirely preventable," according to an independent investigation of the incident. 

The investigation found that Officer Ray Tensing, who killed Dubose during a traffic stop July 19, used poor judgment and improper police tactics prior to the shooting. 

Investigators said Tensing acted appropriately when he pulled over Dubose's car, but he made several critical errors that caused the situation to spiral out of control. 

Those errors include Tensing's decision to draw his gun and reach into the car as Dubose attempted to drive away. Instead of escalating the encounter, the report said, Tensing should have let the unarmed Dubose go. 

"Tensing set in motion the fatal chain of events that led to the death of Dubose," the report said. "This incident, which resulted in a tragic loss of life, was entirely preventable."

There should be no question at this point if Tensing was responsible for the death of Sam Dubose. It's up to a jury to decide whether or not that rises to the charges of murder leveled against the officer. Personally, given what I've seen, I don't see how it couldn't be murder, but I'm not on the jury.

We'll see what happens, but this is yet another call for Cincinnati to fix its policing citywide.