The mother of a man accidentally killed by a Chicago Policeofficer last year is 'shocked and horrified' at the officer'spunishment: a 30-day suspension and some additional training.
'I think he should have been charged with manslaughter,' saidPamela Pleasance, whose 23-year-old son, Michael, was shot themorning of March 8, 2003, by Officer Alvin Weems at the CTA's 95thStreet Red Line station.
Michael Pleasance and two acquaintances were involved in a fightwith two other men when Weems broke up the altercation. With his gundrawn and his finger on the trigger, Weems was trying to subduePatrick Anderson at the same time he turned to face Pleasance, who,the officer said, was threatening him. Then Weems' gun, a .38-caliber snub-nosed revolver, accidentally went off.
Michael Pleasance 'died of a near-contact gunshot wound to thehead,' according to a Cook County medical examiner's report.
His mother, who has filed a wrongful death suit against Weems, thecity and the CTA, says she was 'blindsided' by Friday's announcementby Police Supt. Philip Cline that Weems will be suspended without payfor 30 days for 'failure to adhere to his training' by keeping hisfinger on the gun's trigger during the incident.
Pleasance said she was expecting that Weems, an 18-year veteran onthe force, would get a far stiffer penalty.
But a Cook County state's attorney's investigation concludedWeems' conduct was not criminal, and police officials said thesuspension is in line with department standards.
'The officer failed to follow his training and the rules at greatperil to his own safety,' Cline said Friday. 'This is an officer whoran toward the danger in order to save the victims. He encounteredhostile and dangerous offenders who, despite the officer repeatedlyannouncing his office, ignored the officer's orders.'
Pleasance takes issue with the characterization of her son ashostile and dangerous. 'I know better than that,' she said. 'I knowmy child better than that. Now, if you say he tried to run, maybe . .. but he wouldn't threaten [a police officer].'
Pleasance said she had often spoken with her son about what to doif he was ever stopped by the police.
Pleasance, 56, had spent much of her life steering Mike, theyounger of her two sons, out of trouble. When he was a teenager, shemoved with him to Springfield, where she completed a master's inpublic health as he finished high school.
A registered nurse, she managed her work schedule around droppinghim off and picking him up at different places, so she'd always havean idea of where he was.
'He was a real quiet kid,' she said. 'You wouldn't hardly know hewas even around.'
Pleasance's case was one of 41 in which Chicago Police officersshot someone in 2003, police spokesman Dave Bayless said. The Weemscase is one of three in which the Office of Professional Standardsfound rules violations, but it is the only one in which disciplinehas been formally handed down so far.
Weems has remained on active duty since the incident and hasreceived no additional use-of-force training, beyond standard in-service training, Bayless said.
He will undergo further training after he completes the 30-daysuspension.
Contributing: Chris Fusco
