Mayor Alan Webber held a press briefing Monday in which he pledged to review the city's use of force policies in a manner consistent with the "8 Can't Wait" initiative from Julian Castro and Barack Obama.
Santa Fe will have a recent case study, in that Webber also used the meeting to release some details of a reported shoplifting and knife-assault Sunday night that led to police shooting and wounding a suspect.
The mayor said in this incident there "is a significant difference from the things we've read about in other cities where innocent African American individuals had their lives taken by police brutality, here we had two individuals allegedly attacked and stabbed by an assailant and the police responded." Yet after more than a week of ongoing protests across the country, the shooting highlights the need for accountability in cases where officers' actions lead to harm or injury.
The shooting "makes very clear the importance of having use of force policies and a process to review after an officer-involved shooting has taken place to ascertain whether those policies were followed," Webber said Monday. No representatives from the police department appeared at the briefing to comment on either issue or answer questions from reporters.
According to Webber, a confrontation between a patron and staff of the Big R on St. Michael's Drive turned violent Sunday night after a manager and an employee accused the person of shoplifting. The alleged shoplifter stabbed the manager and the employee, one in the face and one in the arm. Two SFPD officers who responded to the scene fired at and injured the suspect. All three people involved in the initial confrontation were taken to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center. Webber said the suspect remains in intensive care and the individual who was stabbed in the arm is in surgery.
The incident is now under State Police investigation and the officers who fired their weapons are on administrative leave in compliance with Santa Fe's use of force policy, Webber said. After their investigation is complete, he said, State Police will submit their findings to the district attorney for review and the Santa Fe Police Department will begin their own evaluation of the officer's conduct. The city has a policy of not making public the outcome of its own evaluations.
Webber said he could not release any details, including the names of the individuals involved, until after the State Police investigation is complete. However, a city spokeswoman later confirmed that the wounded suspect is white.
The city is currently in the process of conducting an internal review of its own use of force polices in response to calls by former HUD Secretary Julian Castro and President Barack Obama for cities to reassess how officers are expected to handle tough situations.
"Policing needs to be based on and constantly reinforce a sense of trust between the community and the police, and that's what we will be looking at going forward," said the mayor, adding that overall he believes Santa Fe's policy is "very progressive."
Obama's list of the "8 Can't Wait" policies includes a ban on chokeholds and strangleholds, the duty for officers to intervene when another officer is using excessive force, a ban on shooting at moving vehicles, and requirements for officers to use de-escalation techniques in crisis situations, to warn before they shoot, to exhaust all other alternatives before shooting, to use a continuum of force, and to comply with comprehensive reporting including wearing body cameras. According to a memo released by the city early Monday, SFPD's use of force policy includes all of these eight recommendations.
Webber said the city will take a closer look at its hiring policies and how the city responds to various kinds of calls that might be better served by people with social services and mental health training. Based on data from other cities, he said, the inclusion of mental health professionals and social workers in police response can reduce use of force by up to 40%. He said the review of Santa Fe's policies is even more critical in the wake of protests against police violence across the country.
"It's a very fraught moment. People are angry and they should be. They are anguished and they should be. They want the police to be accountable," he said. However, recent events in Minneapolis have called into question the powers that mayors have to hold officers accountable due to complex webs of laws protecting officers, the power of police unions in hiring and firing, the power of independent review panels and district attorneys, lack of transparency in disciplinary records and more.
In response to a question from SFR, Webber said he is not sure what kind of direct power he might have in cases of police misconduct even if officers break their own use of force policies. The city manager, not the mayor, is responsible for overseeing the direction of the police department, said Webber, though he is responsible for directing the actions of the manager.
What follows is the entire text of the city memo.
"Here is the essence of the SFPD policies on the Use of Force and directions to SFPD officers:
Lethal force is only to be used in defense of your life or the life of another if they are facing an immediate threat of being killed or seriously injured. Any force that is used by an officer must be in proportion to the threat.
With regard to the SFPD Use of Force policies, here are the answers provided by Chief Padilla and Deputy Chief Valdez with regard to the "8 Can't Wait" list of policies:
- Ban Chokeholds and Strangleholds: Chokeholds or any kind of throat or neck restraint are not permitted for custody and control while an officer is making an arrest.
- Duty to Intervene: Officers have an affirmative duty to intervene where they witness another officer using excessive or unreasonable force in any situation.
- Require De-Escalation: Officers are trained in crisis intervention and directed to use de-escalation techniques.
- Require Warning Before Shooting: Officers are required to provide verbal warnings prior to using deadly force, unless doing so would endanger themselves or other innocent bystanders.
- Requires Exhaust of All Alternatives Before Shooting: Officers are trained to use the lowest amount of force possible to resolve any and all situations.
- Requires Use of Force Continuum: Officers are instructed to evaluate an array of reasonable options and to use the option that will cause the least injury while resolving a situation.
- Ban Shooting at Moving Vehicles: Officers are directed not to shoot at moving vehicles. The exceptions are where the occupant of the vehicle is intentionally driving the vehicle into the officer or an innocent bystander, or using some other form of lethal force and no other reasonable alternative is available.
- Require Comprehensive Reporting: Officers wear body-worn cameras and are required to follow comprehensive reporting guidelines whenever there is an incident.
Over the last six years the Santa Fe Police Department has undergone training on cultural competency and community equity; hate crime training; transgender awareness training; and training to recognize and combat implicit bias. Starting again this month, all officers will undertake another program of training to identify implicit bias, practice equity and inclusion, and practice community sensitivity.
