Harris Family Attorney Addresses TCSO Reserve Deputy's Records

The Harris family's attorney still has questions about the reserve deputy's training and held their own news conference Monday afternoon.

Monday, April 20th 2015, 6:28 pm

By: News On 6


One of the first things Sheriff Glanz did Monday was offer an apology to Eric Harris's family, but the family's attorney still has questions about the reserve deputy's training.

4/20/2015 Related Story: Tulsa County Sheriff Glanz: No Plans To Resign

They've been pouring over Bates' training records and held their own news conference Monday afternoon.

They said they can't find any paperwork that shows Bates is trained with a .357 revolver - the gun used in the shooting.

Harris family attorney Dan Smolen said the sheriff's office only provided 24 hours of training records and those records show Bates is trained with an AR-15, a SIG and a glock.

Smolen showed a sheriff's office procedure that states, "A deputy may only carry a weapon if they receive training" for it.

Smolen also shared a policy that states there should be a permanent record of a deputy's shooting score maintained at the sheriff's office.

Glanz said at Monday's news conference, if there are records missing it's because state law allows them to destroy records after seven years.

4/20/2015 Related Story: FBI: Civil Rights Investigation Into Harris Death Not Warranted

Smolen is also concerned that Bates has missed some of his required yearly training, according to the records.

“At this point and time, Mr. Bates should've been suspended or terminated pursuant to their policies, and maybe Eric wouldn't have been shot if that had actually happened and if they'd followed through with their policies," he said.

The sheriff said he's addressed almost every question Smolen has thrown out.

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