by Kevin Zimmermann
SHEBOYGAN, WI (WHBL) – The Sheboygan Police Department should “in the interest of full transparency,” release body camera recordings from last week’s officer-involved fatal shooting of 32-year-old Kevan Ruffin. That’s from Chris Ott, Executive Director of the ACLU of Wisconsin.
Ott says the release should happen as soon as the Department of Justice has completed its initial interviews with witnesses so that Ruffin’s family can know exactly what happened to him during the final moments of his life.
Ruffin was shot the morning of July 2nd when police responded to a domestic disturbance call. According to police accounts of the incident Ruffin charged officers with martial arts weapons and was shot only after a taser failed to stop him.
Ott says that release of body cam recordings is often delayed unnecessarily in such cases – sometimes six to eight months – and that only raises suspicions or defers the day when the truth is revealed. He says Ruffin’s family should not be put through such a delay.
