Who Killed Martin Cotton?
Cotton’s scathing criticism is specific to the officers involved that day — it is not department-wide. In fact, for three years between 2004 and 2007, Cotton was an active part of Humboldt County’s law enforcement community. He volunteered with Humboldt County Sheriff’s Citizens on Patrol (S.C.O.P.). Cotton pointed out that as a S.C.O.P officer he took the same oath as a regular police officer. He also says he made a conscious effort to avoid unnecessary confrontation when he was on patrol. “It’s how you approach people,” he said. “If you walk up to people with a really bad attitude they’re going to react.”
Randel Foster, 83, has been with S.C.O.P. for six years and went out on patrol with Cotton several times. When reached at his home last week, he remembered Cotton as being “very conscientious.”
Cotton could never have imagined that the same year he stopped volunteering with S.C.O.P. to take care of his sick wife full time, his only son would end up dead after a violent altercation with the police.
“I’m not in their shoes,” he said of EPD officers who, on a daily basis, get involved in much hairier situations than Cotton ever did as a volunteer officer. Still, he says he took S.C.O.P. very seriously and remembers his time there fondly. “We just kept people safe,” he said.
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44th Annual Kinetic Grand Championship Race
STAFF PICK / events, art, outdoors, sports, for kids, free / 9 a.m.-6 p.m. A 3-day, 42-mile kinetic sculpture race over land, sand, mud and water! LeMans start at the Noon Whistle on the Arcata Plaza. Follow the race through Manila, Eureka and into Ferndale on Memorial Day for the Glorious Finish. kineticgrandchampionship.com. 889-3024.
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ONE Comments
Comment / By Julia Simmons / Today, 9 a.m.
oddly enough yesterday i was searching about Trayvon Martin; the dead black boy a pretenda cop killed. I have the last known video of Martin Cotton; my boyfreind at the time made in my van in Arcata. I posted it to my facebook today. Those same police were the ones I saw my first week after moving to Humboldt while driving by in Eureka I saw them bullying somebody like sick evil violent animals. I was shocked.