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Harris Family Attorney Hammers Sheriff on Bates Records

Matt Trotter
/
KWGS

The attorney for Eric Harris' family questions the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office after a weekend release of training records.

Attorney Dan Smollen spent nearly an hour pointing out things he found troubling. Range scores drastically improved. Activity logs stood in for much more detailed field training logs. Many things were signed by the head of the task force Bates donated to.

Smollen said the sheriff has yet to produce records indicating Bates qualified with the Smith & Wesson revolver he carried and shot Harris with.

"A deputy or reserve deputy may only carry a weapon if they receive training on the weapon's safe and proper usage and qualify with it," Smollen said. "There's been no record to substantiate any of that, let alone the qualification of it."

Smollen also said department policy limits deputies and reserve deputies to certain weapons on and off duty, and Bates' revolver isn't on the list.

In 2012, Bob Bates had just one hour of required mental health training out of two. That doesn't seem like a big deal, "but it's really critical because at this point in time, Mr. Bates should have been suspended or terminated, pursuant to their policies," Smollen said. "And maybe Eric wouldn't have been shot if that had actually happened and they had followed through with their policies."

Smollen said it all calls into question Bates' personal relationship with the sheriff.

"I mean, if you're not trained, OK, and you've got all the policies, and they apply the policies to everybody except the guy that takes them on vacation and buys them weapons and buys them trucks and buys them cars and — then there's a problem," Smollen said.

Sheriff Stanley Glanz says he and Bates are longtime friends.

Matt Trotter joined KWGS as a reporter in 2013. Before coming to Public Radio Tulsa, he was the investigative producer at KJRH. His freelance work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and on MSNBC and CNN.