Report: Cops were ordered to alter training records for reserve deputy in fatal shooting
The Tulsa County Sheriff’s office has launched an internal investigation after a newspaper report alleged that supervisors were ordered to falsify training records for a reserve deputy involved in a fatal shooting.
Multiple anonymous sources told the Tulsa World that supervisors were ordered to give reserve deputy Robert Bates credit for field training and firearms certifications that wasn’t merited. The sources said at least three supervisors were transferred after they refused to alter records for Bates, who shot and killed a suspect on the ground as other deputies were subduing him.
Bates, 73, said he mistook his gun for a Taser when he fired the fatal shot on April 2, killing Eric Courtney Harris. Bates was charged with second-degree manslaughter in the incident.
Undersheriff Tim Albin told the Tulsa World there was no falsification and no transfer of supervisors. “The training record speaks for itself. I have absolutely no knowledge of what you are talking about,” Albin told the newspaper. “There aren’t any secrets in law enforcement. Zero. Those types of issues would have come up.”
Bates had donated thousands of dollars in equipment to the Tulsa County Sheriff’s department, including five cars and a “sunglasses cam” that recorded Bates’ shooting.
