FBI Will Investigate the Pasadena Police Shooting of Kendrec McDade

FBI spokesperson Laura Eimiller said late Thursday night that the Federal Bureau of Investigation “is assessing the incident involving the Pasadena Police Department on March 24 , 2012, which resulted in the death of Kendrec McDade. The FBI will seek to determine whether a violation of federal civil rights law was a factor.”

Earlier in the day, Pasadena Chief of Police Phillip Sanchez had sent a letter to the FBI requesting the agency consider such an investigation.

“The Federal Bureau of Investigations offers another independent level of review,” Chief Sanchez said Thursday afternoon.

Eimiller said that the FBI routinely assesses incidents where questions of civil rights violations are raised and can open an assessment based on a variety of ways, including a request from an involved party, the community, media reports or from a police department itself, among others.

In civil rights cases, the FBI forwards the results of assessments to Washington, D.C. where it is determined whether further investigation or prosecution is warranted, Eimiller noted.