A year-long independent investigation of a deadly bank robbery and chase in Stockton last year comes to a simple conclusion: Too many officers fired their weapons.
The Police Foundation spent a year reviewing the Bank of the West robbery.
The report is titled "A Heist Gone Bad." Three robbers led police on a 60-mile chase, firing 100 rounds from an AK-47. When the chase was over, bank customer Misty Holt-Singh and two of the robbers were dead, killed after officers fired 600 rounds into the getaway car.
Police Chief Eric Jones says the report contained both good and bad.
"That there was incredible bravery and professionalism that day, it does though acknowledge that there was too much gunfire by police at the conclusion of the event," he says.
Former Sacramento Police Chief Rick Braziel conducted the independent review and says the incident was without precedent.
"The most commendable thing in this is the open, honest, transparent way with which the organization is actually saying, 'Listen, we have an outcome none of us like at the end and we want the rest of the world to learn from this in addition to ourselves,'" says Braziel.
For Chief Jones, the outcome is still a heavy burden.
"There's not a man or woman in the Stockton Police Department that does not wish that it had a difference outcome, that wished Misty-Holt Singh would have been able to return to her family that day."
A Heist Gone Bad Critical Incident Review
CapRadio provides a trusted source of news because of you. As a nonprofit organization, donations from people like you sustain the journalism that allows us to discover stories that are important to our audience. If you believe in what we do and support our mission, please donate today.