The father of a San Diego man who was shot and killed by police is demanding City leaders take immediate action on a newly released study regarding police traffic stops.
Richard Olango, father of Alfred Olango who was fatally shot in September, stood with community leaders Monday to publicly ask Mayor Kevin Faulconer and Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman to address the San Diego Police Department racial profiling data found in a study done by San Diego State University.
The study finds that black and Hispanic drivers are more likely to be searched after a traffic stop than white drivers.
Chief Zimmerman released a statement when the study first came out, saying her department would use recommendations to strengthen relationships with the community.
"If you're a human being you are going to have bias, so we need to make sure at the police department, that with our training, whatever bias anybody has that it never interferes with our fair and impartial policing and our constitutional policing,” she said.
Mayor Faulconer responded to NBC 7, saying in part:
"The City and the Police Department remain committed to implementing the recommendations by building upon current efforts to improve data collection, training and community outreach."
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Video of the shooting shows Officer Richard Gonsalves approaching Olango in the parking lot of a strip mall in El Cajon, then firing several rounds just moments later.
El Cajon police said Olango refused multiple instructions to remove his hand from in his pocket before he pulled out an object and held it in front of him “like he would be firing a gun.” The object was later determined to be a vaping smoking device with an all-silver cylinder measuring approximately 1 inch in diameter and 3 inches long.
The officer, a 21-year veteran of the department, was placed on administrative leave, which is routine after an officer-involved shooting.
Lucy Olango, the victim’s sister, has sued the City of El Cajon, saying the police department was negligent in training and supervising Officer Gonsalves.
Olango’s shooting has caused outrage and protests in the weeks since his death.
