READERS CONSIDER POLICE SHOOTING

Put yourself in the shoes of a 25-year-old black man named Prince Jones
Jr., I asked readers last week. Imagine being tailed for about 15 miles
through three jurisdictions and eventually shot to death by a black,
undercover Prince George's County police officer who mistakes you for
someone else.

"I am as 'WASPy' as they come," one of you replied, "and I'd be petrified
if some dude stalked me through three jurisdictions, then, without being in
uniform or a patrol car, waved a gun at me and 'claimed' he was a cop."

Another wrote: "I'm an older white female, and since the beginning I have
believed that Prince Jones's reaction was entirely understandable and
reasonable."

Harder for some of you to understand were the actions of undercover officer
Carlton B. Jones on the morning of Sept. 1, especially in light of last
week's arrest of the man for whom Prince Jones was mistaken.

The actual suspect, Derrell L. Gilchrist, wears dreadlocks, is pudgy and
stands about 5-foot-6. His description was well-known to police. Prince
Jones worked as a fitness trainer. He had closely cropped hair, was well
built and stood about 6-foot-4.

When Prince Jones got out of his car and approached Carlton Jones to find
out why he was being followed, Carlton Jones must have seen that he had the
wrong man.

And he should have left the scene immediately.

Instead, he waved a gun in Prince Jones's face, said he was a police
officer and told him to get back into his vehicle. After returning to the
vehicle, Prince Jones rammed Carlton Jones's vehicle, arguably to disable
it. Why should he have believed a man who was in an unmarked car, had no
uniform, no badge?

Carlton Jones has told investigators that although he couldn't see who was
inside the car because of its dark, tinted windows, the ramming made him
think the driver must have been Gilchrist, because Gilchrist was alleged to
have rammed police cars in the past.

That's why Carlton Jones fired his gun, we are told. He thought he was
defending himself against a man with a history of violent assaults on
police officers.

The problem with that account, of course, is that Carlton Jones had seen
Prince Jones up close--moments before killing him.

Something smells.

Nevertheless, some of you felt that the police acted properly and that my
criticism was off base.

"Mr. Milloy states that Prince Jones was 'the object of surveillance,
harassment and, eventually, a killing by police.' This is a lie," one of
you wrote. "The truth is that the Prince George's County police were
looking for a black suspect driving a black Jeep Cherokee. The suspect was
black, and Mr. Jones was black. This is not race profiling. Legally
following a suspect is not 'harassment,' as Milloy alleges."

Even some black readers agreed.

"If you are following a person who is suspected of a crime, what is wrong
with finding out where they live, getting a warrant and going to find out
what they've stolen?" one man wrote, referring to a weapon that police
believed the suspect stole.

I believe that if police had found out where Prince Jones was headed, they
would have raided the place, trashed it and possibly shot him in front of
his loved ones. All by mistake. It happens.

Still, as a result of such correspondence, I have gained fresh insights
into the decision by Virginia Commonwealth's Attorney Robert F. Horan Jr.
not to prosecute Carlton Jones.

"The duty of the commonwealth's attorney is to charge a crime when he or
she can prove it," Horan said. "There is not sufficient evidence to charge
Cpl. Carlton Jones with a crime."

Some have reminded me that, in cases such as these, no amount of evidence
will ever suffice.

"I'm a resident of Fairfax County," one caller said in a message on my
voice mail. "Truthfully, I don't think this type of issue is worthy of
print space, and I hope I speak for much of Fairfax County when I say
black-on-black crime should not even be bothered with. It doesn't matter if
the victim is 1 day old or 30 years old. It's just not important."

That sounds cold. But the actions by Horan pretty much amount to the same
thing.