Fort Lee Police body-cam videos show a rapid escalation in officers’ response to a July 28 call for help, with a young woman in the throes of a mental health crisis.
In the end, only about 10 seconds elapse between the final door-knock and the fatal gunshot that killed 25-year-old Victoria Lee.
“I look at that video, and I see a scared young woman who’s well aware of the risks of encounters with police, who’s experiencing one of the worst moments of her life,” said Amber Lee Reed, who advocates for New Jersey’s Asian American/Pacific Islander community.
She said a growing chorus of critics claim that police overreacted to Lee’s mental health meltdown and that the body-cam video — released Friday — only underscores their concerns. “This family put a lot of trust in our systems to help her get care,” Reed said. “And instead, she was shot in her own front entryway.”
The state Attorney General reported that police took Lee to the hospital, where she later died. It was a scenario her brother feared when he first called 911, asking for just an ambulance. On the released audiotape, the dispatcher insisted, “It’s a mental health, we have to send officers also…For the safety of the ambulance corps, they have to send them.”
But as her family waited at the Lees’ Pinnacle Apartment complex, Victoria’s brother called 911 again, trying unsuccessfully to cancel the request for help. He said he told the dispatcher his sister wasn’t violent but had a “folding knife.”
After pushing the door open, Police Officer Tony Pickens, Jr. fired a single shot. It’s difficult to see on the video, but at that point, the family maintains Lee was only holding an empty five-gallon water bottle. With Lee down and bleeding, police scrambled to assist — calling for towels— before carrying Lee outside. The family said they never saw paramedics or an ambulance.
“Generally, police will negotiate with the person that’s behind the door, sort of like in a quasi-hostage situation, but they didn’t even do that,” said Taylor Jung, NJ Spotlight News social justice writer.”And here it was a family that was actually trying to get help. Victoria had received help in the past.
“I’ve heard from various community leaders that people in Fort Lee are now afraid to call 9-1-1,” she said.
Jung reviewed the tapes and said she saw no real attempt to de-escalate the situation. This comes despite new attention statewide on police training and initiatives like “Arrive Together,” which couples law enforcement with mental health experts on crisi response calls.
“I was dismayed, I couldn’t believe the overreach of force that was used in that tape,” said Jason Williams, a professor in social justice at Montclair State University. He notes Fort Lee’s police department was still in the process of implementing an “Arrive Together” protocol, which he believes might’ve saved Victoria Lee.
“Unfortunately, I mean, this was a textbook case of all that is wrong, unfortunately, with our policing,” Williams says, “Just the fact that it appears that they didn’t even try to de-escalate it? It’s very, very troubling.”
New Jersey’s state Office of Public Integrity and Accountability will investigate the case before it goes before a grand jury, a process that could take months.
