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A Times Editorial
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 4, 2002
In the wake of a tragic shooting, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office has adopted a new rule that should have been policy all along: Deputies will not put themselves in harm's way by standing or moving in front of a vehicle.
That may seem like common sense, but common sense seemed absent on July 14, when Deputy Michael Borland shot and killed Todd Earlvin Neal, a 37-year-old father of four.
Neal had done nothing worth dying for. He had driven an acquaintance to a house in Oldsmar where, unknown to the two men, Pinellas deputies were inside making drug arrests. Neal's friend went in the house. Neal was waiting behind the wheel of his truck in the circular driveway when two deputies came out of the darkness and ordered him to show his hands and get out of the truck. Neal at first complied, then put his hands back on the wheel. One of the deputies reached inside the cab to swat Neal's hands off the wheel and the other deputy, Borland, stepped in front of the truck. When the truck lurched forward, Borland, 28, fired shots though the windshield, hitting Neal in the chest.
As it usually does, the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office ruled the shooting justified, saying that Borland "had reason to believe that his life was in danger." But if training and policy had taught Borland, a six-year veteran, not to stand in front of a vehicle in the first place, Neal might be alive today.
Pinellas Sheriff Everett Rice did the right thing by adopting the new policy, which also includes a provision that deputies "shall employ all reasonable means available to move to an area of safety if the vehicle becomes a threat." That, too, seems common sense: If a vehicle comes toward you, try to get out of the way. Now Rice's job is to make sure that the policy is understood by all of his deputies, practiced in training sessions and enforced.
Neal's family members, particularly his brother-in-law Joe Lumpkin, also deserve credit for calling attention to the senseless death of their loved one and the need to make sure that such an incident isn't repeated. Lumpkin has been a Pinellas County deputy for 22 years, but nevertheless appropriately criticized his own agency for lack of a policy against standing in front of vehicles.
The use of lethal force in this case was a tragedy for everyone involved -- the Neal family, Deputy Borland and the Sheriff's Office. Other area law enforcement agencies should make sure they have policies against officers deliberately putting themselves in harm's way, and that those policies are emphasized during training.