Log In


Reset Password
News Education Local News Nation & World New Mexico

Oklahoma deputy has second home at Vallecito

Robert Bates charged in suspect’s shooting death

A reserve sheriff’s deputy charged with manslaughter in the death of a man he fatally shot in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has a La Plata County connection.

Robert C. Bates, 73, has owned a second home at the north end of Vallecito Reservoir since October 2007, according to La Plata County Clerk & Recorder records.

A police investigator has said Bates, who is white, thought he drew a stun gun, not his handgun, when he fired at 44-year-old Eric Harris, who was black, in the April 2 incident. Harris had been tackled by a deputy from the Violent Crimes Unit and was at Bates’ feet when he was shot.

Bates is charged with second-degree manslaughter “involving culpable negligence,” Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler said in a statement. Oklahoma law defines culpable negligence as “the omission to do something which a reasonably careful person would do, or the lack of the usual ordinary care and caution in the performance of an act usually and ordinarily exercised by a person under similar circumstances and conditions,” Kunzweiler said.

Both an internal investigation within the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office and a Tulsa Police Sgt. Jim Clark, who was asked to review the incident by the sheriff’s office, had said the shooting was “excusable” homicide. Clark concluded that Bates had been so engrossed in the stress of the moment that he did not think clearly about what he had in his hand.

A video of the incident shot by deputies with sunglass cameras and released Friday at the request of the victim’s family, shows a deputy chase and tackling of Harris, whom they said tried to sell an illegal gun to an undercover officer.

As the deputy subdues Harris on the ground, a gunshot rings out and a man says: “Oh, I shot him. I’m sorry.”

Harris screams: “He shot me. Oh, my God,” and a deputy replies: “You f---ing ran. Shut the f--- up.”

When Harris says he’s losing his breath, a deputy replies, “F--- your breath.”

Harris was treated by medics at the scene and died in a Tulsa hospital.

Harris’ family said in a statement that it was “saddened, shocked, confused and disturbed.”

“Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of all of this is the inhumane and malicious treatment of Eric after he was shot,” his family wrote. “These deputies treated Eric as less than human. They treated Eric as if his life had no value.”

The shooting is certain to raise questions about the use of volunteer officers to supplement full-time police.

The use of reserve officers is commonplace across Oklahoma and much of the nation. Cities and counties often turn to them for extra manpower because of a lack of resources and tight budgets. They are sometimes used to free up regular officers to concentrate on high-priority duties.

Reserve deputies are permitted to carry firearms, but they have far less training than regular officers.

About 4,000 reserve officers are active in Oklahoma, according to the Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training. Most are unpaid and volunteer simply out of a sense of civic duty, said council Director Steve Emmons.

While there’s no current official tally, an article in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin in 2006 estimated the national total of reserve officers at 400,000.

In Oklahoma, reservists are required to complete 240 hours of basic training on subjects such as civil and criminal law, traffic enforcement, investigations, firearms and defensive tactics. There is no age requirement, but all reserve officers must annually recertify with a minimum score on a firearms-training course.

Tulsa County, the state’s second largest, has about 130 reservists who receive a minimum of 320 hours of training.

Bates had been a reserve deputy in Tulsa County since 2008. He was named Reserve Officer of the Year in 2011.

Bates, who was briefly a full-time officer with the Tulsa Police Department from 1964 to 1965, is now an insurance executive who updates his certification every year and has completed more than the state-required hours, said Tulsa County sheriff’s spokesman Maj. Shannon Clark.

Bates was acting in a support role during the April 2 sting operation, and he does not typically confront suspects, Clark said.

Tulsa County Sheriff Stanley Glanz has described Bates as a personal friend, and records show he has been a generous donor to the department since he became a reserve deputy.

Besides a $2,500 donation to Glanz’s re-election campaign in 2012, records released Monday by the sheriff’s office show Bates donated five vehicles, including a new Dodge Charger, a computer and forensic camera and a hand-held radio to the department from 2009 to 2011.

“People thought he bought his way into the reserve program,” Clark told the Los Angeles Times, “and that’s not true.”

A telephone message left Monday with Bates’ attorney, Scott Woods, was not immediately returned.

Herald Staff Writer Ann Butler contributed to this Associated Press report.

Reserve deputies in La Plata County

The La Plata County Sheriff’s Office has eight reserve deputies, seven of whom were full-time Peace Officer Standards and Training-certified deputies and want to continue to serve, La Plata County Sheriff Sean Smith said, while one is reserve-certified.

“As of 2015, for the first time ever, they’re required to have a reserve certification,” he said. “We’re looking at putting together a Reserve Academy down here that we would run every three years or so.”

Colorado requires 300 hours of training for a reserve officer, Smith said, about half of what is required for a sworn officer, plus 24 hours annually to renew the certification, the same as required for a sworn POST officer. Twelve of those hours are required to cover shooting, arrest protocols and crowd control.

Deputies who carry only a reserve certification may work only under the supervision of a POST-certified officer in the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office, Smith said. In general, they are used for crowd control and when there are large events in the area such as the motorcycle rally.

Herald Staff



Reader Comments