One of the foremost Black civil rights attorneys was at the Connecticut State Capitol on Thursday to speak about new legislation in the wake of the recent police killing of a man in Hartford.
Stevie Jones, a 55-year-old Black man in Hartford, was killed by a police officer while holding a knife during a mental health crisis in February. Police on the scene were attempting to de-escalate the situation, but another officer arrived and shot Jones nine times within less than a minute of arriving. The officer has been fired.
Prominent civil rights lawyer Ben Crump has represented the families of Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, and Breonna Taylor. He’s nicknamed the Black Attorney General for his work on the highly politicized cases.
Crump is also representing the Jones family. He wants the state to pass a law named for Stevie.
“The proposed law should require that police must use every reasonable and feasible act to avoid the use of deadly force, and law enforcement must show that they used each lesser use of force prior to using deadly force during a mental health crisis,” Crump said.
Connecticut law already requires police officers to use deadly force as a last resort. They do not have to show that they tried each lesser use of force beforehand, though.
The inspector general is investigating the Jones case. While he was at the Capitol on Thursday for the NAACP’s annual legislative day, Crump called on the office to speed up the investigation.
Jones’ sister, Audrey Jones, was at the Capitol with Crump. Audrey had called 911 for help on the day her brother was fatally shot by police, hoping they would come to help her care for him.
“Mental health crises should never be a death sentence,” Audrey Jones said. “My brother was in crisis. He needed help, compassion and trained care, not excessive force.”
