Blog note: This article cites a county grand
jury report.
SAN BERNARDINO >> The ACLU sued the San
Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department Thursday, seeking a judge’s order to
produce records on its Taser gun policies and practices, in light of
controversy over how deputies are using the devices.
In the 21-page lawsuit filed Thursday in San
Bernardino Superior Court, attorneys sought records from the Sheriff’s
Department through a California Public Records Act request, and they cited a
2012 San Bernardino County Grand Jury probe that culminated with
recommendations on the Sheriff’s Department improving its training on Taser gun
use.
That use, they said, came in the wake of the
deaths of several men in recent years after being stunned repeatedly with
Tasers.
The Sheriff’s Department has refused to
disclose the records, arguing that the requested information included in
department use-of-force reports, detailing the number of Taser deployments by
deputies and the duration of Taser exposures on individuals, is protected under
the attorney-client privilege, according to court documents, filed Thursday in
San Bernardino Superior Court.
“The San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department has
refused to publicly disclose records related to the policies and practices
surrounding its officers’ use of Tasers,” ACLU executive director Hector
Villagra said. “That’s unacceptable given the troubling number of deaths
involving individuals who were Tasered multiple times.”
The information about Taser use that the
Sheriff’s Department withheld is contained in disclosable records other than
use-of-force reports, but the Sheriff’s Department failed to identify and
produce those records, according to the ACLU court filing.
Sheriff John McMahon said his office has
released everything he could to the ACLU.
“We responded to their requests and delivered
over 700 pages of documents,” McMahon said. “Everything that’s not confidential
(personnel or active litigation documents) that they requested in their
discovery was given to them.”
ACLU lawyer Adrienna Wong said the reason
they are seeking the documents is to be sure the Sheriff’s Department made the
changes recommended by the Grand Jury.
“We need to see if the sheriff made those
changes as promised,” Wong said in a phone interview. “And if not, the
sheriff’s department needs to be held accountable.”
In its annual report released on July 1,
2013, the San Bernardino County grand jury recommended, in response to
newspaper articles that year regarding the Taser-related deaths of three men at
the hands of sheriff’s deputies, that the Sheriff’s Department enhance deputy
training on Taser use. In its response, the Sheriff’s Department agreed with
the grand jury’s recommendation to amend its Taser training manual to include
the requirement of greater communication among on-scene officers regarding the
number of Taser discharges deployed on a person to avoid multiple, continuous
exposures. It also agreed to stress the importance of alternative methods of
subduing individuals at future training sessions.
The ACLU also cited in its writ the Aug. 12,
2014 death of Victorville resident Dante Parker, who died following a physical
confrontation with a female sheriff’s deputy in which he was stunned 12 times
with a Taser gun and subsequently died at the hospital. Parker, according to
San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos, was under the influence of
drugs at the time of the incident, but it didn’t stop Parker’s family from
filing a lawsuit in January alleging civil rights violations, and the NAACP
demanding a federal investigation.
In addition to the grand jury’s findings and
Taser-related deaths in San Bernardino County over the last few years, the ACLU
also noted in its court filing numerous allegations of Taser gun torture
against inmates at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga as part
of a longstanding hazing ritual, which to date has spurred five federal
lawsuits and a federal grand jury hearing last month.
According to court documents, San Bernardino
County Sheriff’s deputies use Tasers, with and without Drive-stun mode, in the
field and in county jails. Drive-stun mode is considered to be a
pain-compliance technique that is a lesser quantum of force than when used
after deploying the barbed probes into a person.
But in the final report the Grand Jury said
“Taser related deaths are not uncommon in San Bernardino County.”
Another case the ACLU cited in the writ was
that of a Lake Arrowhead man who died after three deputies shot him with tasers
16 times.
“News accounts of the incident made clear the
man was unarmed, and had been stopped by deputies for allegedly running a stop
sign,” the writ says.
“Everything balances in the direction of
what’s in the documents we are seeking,” Wong said. “We won’t know which
direction we are going until the Sheriff’s Department and the county release
all the public information we’ve asked for.”
March
26, 2015
San
Bernardino County Sun
By
Doug Saunders and Joe Nelson
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