There appears to be no deadline set by the Arizona Department of Public Safety as to when its ongoing investigation report will be released to the media and Cottonwood area residents about the brawl and fatal shooting at Wal-Mart last month involving Cottonwood police and members of a transient family from Idaho.
The shooting left one Gaver family member dead, another wounded in the abdomen and a Cottonwood police officer wounded in the leg. Even when the ballistics report is concluded and the police officer and witness statements are collected and released, the “why” will remain in question likely until the five adults and two juveniles of the Gaver family who were indicted are put on trial for their alleged roles in the incident.
According to readers from around the Verde Valley, the family was panhandling and busking — playing music on the street for tips — in the days leading up to the brawl. Sources in Idaho report the family had endured a foreclosure following the Great Recession. A close reading of their social media posts reveals serious medical issues, financial struggles and, after hitting the road, engine troubles that left the family without the RV trailer they purchased before leaving Boise.
Connecting these threads is still a speculative endeavor and even those sources close to the investigation are ambiguous about certain details which remain in question. While we respect that DPS and Cottonwood police want the investigation to conclude without any errors or mistakes, those limitations must be weighed against the community’s right to know: Uniformed peacekeepers who protect our community were attacked in the line of duty and one man is dead.
The public deserves to know the facts as soon as they are confirmed whether they are a part of a comprehensive, in-depth DPS investigative report or merely stand-alone details released by law enforcement spokesmen.
In order to have full faith in the honor and integrity of the thin blue line, we the public must know the facts quickly and accurately to put to rest any and all rumors and conjectures already circulating, especially in the age of social media.
What is certain is that the Gaver family was living on limited means, banking on either the generosity, the largesse or the guilt of passersby to give money to help them in their time of most desperate need.
Gov. Doug Ducey recently signed into law two bills making panhandling tougher in Arizona.
House Bill 1063 makes intentionally pushing a button at a crosswalk to stop traffic and panhandle a Class 3 misdemeanor. HB 1094 makes “aggressive solicitation” a Class 1 misdemeanor. That includes asking for money repeatedly, touching someone while begging or panhandling near an ATM.
These laws may keep panhandlers in check or encourage them to seek greener pastures in other states, but they only focus on symptoms of poverty, not the cause.
Job opportunities, a better education system, social services, free shelter, low-rent and affordable housing, drug and alcohol treatment and a willingness to help our neighbors in need will prevent the tragedy of homelessness. Criminalizing panhandling only whitewashes our communities, but does not help those most in need.
