THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

You should move to Pasco Washington and join the police force. You will be allowed to take counsel of your worst fears about people and shoot them to your heart's content. And it is all approved by police procedures.

The police department in Pasco, Washington, said Wednesday an internal investigation had found that officers involved in the fatal shooting of a mentally ill Mexican farmworker earlier this year did not violate the department's policy or procedures.

Antonio Zambrano-Montes, 35, was shot dead by officers during a confrontation on Feb. 10 in the small city, which has a large Hispanic community and is an agricultural hub about 200 miles southeast of Seattle. Several people recorded the incident on their phone cameras.

“Deadly force was used consistent with policies in the Pasco Police Department Policy Manual. The investigation was conducted with a high degree of transparency and quality control,” the city’s police department determined.

A press release announcing the decision said that the department would try to expand its officers’ knowledge of crisis intervention, and would conduct more outreach within the community.

“We will also continue to work in partnership with the community to accomplish our mission of reducing the fear of crime while affording dignity and respect to every individual,” Pasco Police Chief Robert Metzger said in a statement.

Zambrano-Montes’ death comes amid wider national scrutiny of police practices following the deaths of multiple people, some of them mentally ill as well, at the hands of police officers. Police reform advocates have said officers need more training to know how to handle people committing crimes because of mental illness.

The announcement follows the county’s decision not to prosecute the officers involved.

Got an unarmed, mentally ill man chunking rocks? Obviously a real danger to the lives of all the officers involved so have some target practice instead.