Beloit Police Could See Changes After Officer Involved Fatal Shooting

Beloit police could see changes after a fatal officer involved shooting but the changes will affect training for new equipment, more mental health resources for officers but most likely no changes in procedure. The shooting took place on Dec 10th and all officers were cleared and the shooting was considered justified. There won’t be any major policy shifts because no violations were found in the shooting and in 2019 out of over 54 thousand calls police made 3,555 arrests, out of that only 117 times police used varying degrees of force. That means force was used during a call .2% of the time which is in line with the national average. The Department will offer training updates on officer involved shootings, they will also consider offering annual or biannual mental health checkups for officers and peer support groups. Two of the three officers were wearing body cameras but only one was active during the incident, the cameras have multiple automatic triggers and the department is working with the manufacturer to test a holster trigger for the camera. Finally according to the department the biggest issue was the inability to communicate on one channel with deputies and the town of beloit officers. This issue has been brought up before the shooting and will lead to changes with the Rock County Communications Center.