CITIZENS COMMITTEE FINDS FEW FAULTS IN SHOOTING

A citizens committee that investigated the 2-year-old shootings of a drug
suspect and his friend at a Jack in the Box in Berkeley found few faults
with the undercover drug agents and praised the county police for their
"professionalism."

During its investigation, however, the committee did not interview police
officers involved in the incident, talk to witnesses or examine testimony
from a grand jury that considered charges against the officers. Instead,
the panel mainly reviewed police procedures.

Officers fatally shot the unarmed men, one who was not wanted by police,
because they said they feared the suspect was trying to run them over with
his car.

The St. Louis County Council's Committee of the Whole adopted the report
and will pass it on to the County Police Board. The panel's chairman,
zoning lawyer John King told reporters later that he did not know why his
committee did not interview witnesses. He said the police officers involved
in the shootings "were not allowed" to talk with his committee and the
grand jury testimony was "voluminous."

The citizen panel also concluded that police should serve warrants in
daylight and re-evaluate the use of automatic settings on weapons that
allow several bullets to fire with one squeeze of the trigger.