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Chief of JACNET won't face discipline Anderson returns to full duty a month after shooting at a man who threw food at him By SARAH LEMON Mail Tribune No disciplinary action will be taken against Lt. Jim Anderson for flipping off and firing a shot at a Hispanic man armed with Chinese food last month. The Jackson County Sheriff's Office absolved Anderson on Tuesday of any wrongdoing according to the department's policies and procedures. Commander of the Jackson County Narcotics Enforcement Team, Anderson was back on full active duty after being confined to administrative tasks for about a month. Cop's intended target will file a lawsuit The intended target of Lt. Jim Anderson's bullet isn't satisfied with the county's response to the shooting. Jorge Cisneros' attorney said Tuesday he's filing a tort claim over the issue. Michael Kellington said he firmly believes that Anderson acted improperly and needs to be punished. "This kind of behavior is monitored; it's unacceptable," Kellington said. "Our society will not accept this from police officers." Kellington said the county counsel will receive the tort claim notice later this week. A tort claim reserves Cisneros' right to sue the county over the incident. Cisneros contacted the Medford attorney for representation. Kellington said he has represented Hispanic clients in about 25 to 30 percent of his cases. "It's amazing to me," Kellington said. "What does a sheriff have to do to be disciplined? Kill somebody in front of the mayor?" Kellington also is representing Cisneros on criminal charges of harassment and second-degree criminal mischief. Kellington is not representing Jose Pepe Banuelos, who was charged with reckless driving and possession of methamphetamine after the shooting. Both men were jailed the day after the shooting and released on bail. Jorge Cisneros was not available for comment. "Everything Lt. Anderson did was appropriate with one exception," said Sheriff Robert Kennedy, referring to Anderson's "finger-waving." Anderson, 52, fired one round from his police handgun at 24-year-old Jorge Armando Cisneros. Cisneros threw a box of Chinese take-out into Anderson's unmarked police vehicle at Stewart and Columbus avenues at 5 p.m. on April 2. Anderson told a Jackson County grand jury that he feared he was under attack because the men knew he was a police officer. The jury declined to file criminal charges against the lieutenant. Jurors also heard that before Anderson fired, Cisneros and two friends Jose Pepe and Javier Banuelos "flipped him off" from their black Dodge pickup while trying to pass Anderson's red Dodge Durango on Columbus. Anderson testified that he flipped off the three men. "He's been told not to do that anymore," Kennedy said. "There won't be any serious discipline," Kennedy added, calling Anderson's "finger-waving" a "very minor violation" of sheriff's office policy." Kennedy admitted that it's not the first time the sheriff's office has taken complaints of deputies exchanging obscene gestures with citizens while on duty - even in marked patrol cars. Deputies normally are responding to harassment on the part of citizens and are usually, themselves, under some type of emotional strain, he said. "Yeah, it's a reason," Kennedy said. "You get caught up in the emotion." Anderson said Tuesday that he wasn't under any particular stress, either professionally or in his personal life, on April 2. He said he was just looking forward to going home and doing some yard work. The shooting was the first for an officer of Anderson's rank in the sheriff's department, Kennedy said. The circumstances also demanded that someone outside the sheriff's office look at the situation. An expert in the use of force by police, who has testified in more than 100 court cases, is still reviewing Anderson's use of force, Kennedy said. Kennedy would not reveal the identity of the reviewer or the agency involved until the review is finished. Kennedy said the outside reviewer likely won't find that Anderson was not justified in firing at Cisneros. "Frankly, he turned and fired because he has 25 years of experience and tactically, he is very good," Kennedy said. However, the sheriff also said he didn't think Anderson had time to get a good line of sight but "fired and hoped they'd go away." "It's OK if you can articulate you're in fear of serious injury." Kennedy said that, to Anderson's credit, he was able to discern that no residents or passers-by would be in danger from the shot. The bullet from his gun lodged in a house. The sheriff's office maintains that Anderson had no idea what Cisneros was holding and that the lieutenant was authorized to use deadly force. "I've never felt before that I was going to be shot or stabbed by a suspect," Anderson said. Kennedy said that Anderson's case could become a scenario for training deputies in the use of guns, but that the sheriff's office will not re-evaluate its firearms training. "You know, (shooting) is just the toughest decision a police officer ever makes," Anderson said. The sheriff's office has investigated four complaints against Anderson since his hire date in March 1979, Kennedy said. Two - filed in 1993 - claiming Anderson failed to finish a criminal investigation, were unfounded, Kennedy said. Another complainant the same year said Anderson was rude. A tort claim filed last week alleging JACNET detectives illegally entered a rental home and unnecessarily tore off the doors also went on Anderson's record, Kennedy said. Reach reporter Sarah Lemon at 776-4487, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.