GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Green Bay Police Chief Andrew Smith held a press conference on Friday following the announcement that Officer Erik O’Brien will not be formally charged for a fatal shooting last October.
Brown County District Attorney David LaSee announced earlier in the afternoon that O’Brien was justified in shooting Jonathon Tubby, because of a reasonable belief that Tubby had a gun.
Chief Smith says O’Brien is the type of officer they would want in a tough situation, such as this.
“Long before this incident, he was selected to be a member of a SWAT team,” explains Chief Smith. “Why? Because he shows calm under difficult circumstances.”
Chief Smith went on to say that Officer O’Brien is a good cop that was put in a bad spot.
“He’s a really, really, good cop,” he explains. “And not only is he a good cop, Erik O’Brien is a good man.”
He believes that Officer O’Brien was simply put in a bad spot, which any officer would find to be challenging.
But, he was in that position in the first place because the department trusts his decision making in tough situations.
“We trusted his judgment so much that we made him a field training officer,” explains Chief Smith. “And that was based off the recommendations by his supervisors.”
Various positive characteristics pertaining to Officer O’Brien were brought up during the press conference.
“Hardworking guy, family guy, soft-spoken, outstanding tactics, great work ethic,” says Chief Smith.
In fact, Officer O’Brien has been put in a position to act as a role model to younger and less experienced cops in the department.
“I was glad to put him out with new trainees, because I wanted more cops out there working that had the same attitude, the same community service attitude, that Officer O’Brien has,” he explains.
A Critical Incident Review Board report will be conducted by the department, according to Chief Smith.
The incident will be analyzed by officers and they will discuss best practices and what they should have done differently.
The report will be complete in the coming weeks, according to Chief Smith.
