Spurred by calls for reform, Palo Alto backs restrictions on police use of force – Palo Alto Online

With the shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin spurring a fresh wave of protests against police brutality, the Palo Alto City Council agreed on Monday to revise the Police Department's policies on use of force and vowed to pursue broader initiatives to promote racial justice.

By a unanimous vote, the council endorsed a set of revisions to police policies that largely comported to recent recommendations from the city's Human Relations Commission. The goal was to better align the city's official policies with those in the 8 Can't Wait platform, a project of Campaign Zero, a nonprofit that focuses on reducing police violence.

The campaign calls for a ban on chokeholds and requirements that officers prioritize de-escalation, provide warnings before shooting, exhaust all alternatives before shooting, intervene when they see excessive force, avoid shooting at moving vehicles, follow a use-of-force continuum and report all incidents of force.

In debating the changes to police policies, the council at times struggled to reconcile the recommendations of the Human Relations Commission, which supported broader restrictions on use of force, and those of department leadership, who urged the council not to adopt any policies that would hinder officers' ability to protect themselves during dangerous situations.

The Rev. Kaloma Smith, who chairs the commission, observed that the conversation feels particularly urgent in the aftermath of the shooting of Blake, which sparked protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Sunday and Monday. A video of the incident showed a police officer shooting Blake seven times at close range as he was entering his vehicle.

Blake was in stable condition in an intensive care unit on Monday night, according to multiple news reports.

"This moment was sparked by the killing of George Floyd and last night we watched Jacob Blake get shot in the back seven times by officers," Smith said. "This makes this conversation more of a priority right now, because we don't want to end up in this position."

The Police Department has already adopted some new restrictions, moving in June to ban the carotid hold and agreeing to make the existing ban on chokeholds and strangleholds more explicit in its policy manual. Police Chief Robert Jonsen and Assistant Chief Andrew Binder also agreed with the Human Relations Commission that they should expand the department's de-escalation policy to list the types of techniques that officers should use to avoid violence, including effective communication, self-control and requesting additional resources such as crisis intervention team members to decrease the need to use force.

The council agreed that the policy on strangleholds should go even further and supported the Human Relations Commission's proposed change, which also bans "lateral vascular neck restraints, chest compressions" and other moves that restrict airflow.

"What everybody agrees on is that what happened to George Floyd or Eric Garner can't be allowed to happen in Palo Alto," said Councilman Eric Filseth in discussing the proposed change.

While Smith similarly argued that the city needs to send a clear message that the types of moves that resulted in the deaths of Floyd and Garner (who was killed by a New York City officer in 2014) should be banned, Jonsen and Binder countered that the proposed restrictions are too broad. Jonsen suggested that implementing policies that outright ban certain actions "could have a detrimental effect, not only to officers' safety but to the public at large." Binder agreed.

"If an officer is so concerned with avoiding being on someone's chest, back or neck during a fight because they don't want to be out of policy and afraid they will restrict the person's airflow, then they're not concentrating on the most important task at hand, which is taking this person into custody in the most safe manner, both to the subject and the officer," Binder said.

To address this concern, the council agreed to specify that "intentional tactics" that restrict blood flow to the head or neck are prohibited. Binder and Smith both supported the consensus, which carves out an exception for accidental impediments to air flow.

"If someone falls on someone's chest at a fight, that's an accident," Smith said. "But we've seen nationally, across the country, where now the mantra for many marchers is "Hands up! I can't breathe!" and the reality is we are asking that the intentional tactics are listed out and put there."

The council also requested that the Police Department expand and clarify its use-of-force policy and that it adopt a requirement that "all options would be exhausted before shooting." It also supported a policy that bans police from shooting at vehicles unless the driver poses a "deadly threat." Jonsen and Binder each argued against an outright ban on shooting at moving vehicles, and pointed to situations in which someone may be trying to drive into a crowded demonstration or an outdoor dining area.

"The one predictable thing about police work is that it is unpredictable," Binder said. "We can pass a policy measure tonight that says, 'No doing that,' and there could be a demonstration in Foothills Park where someone decides they're going to drive into the crowd and that officer doesn't have the ability, based on totality of circumstances, to stop that threat with their firearm because they've been restricted by policy."

The council and the commission agreed that the Monday changes are just a small, early step in the city's campaign to revise police policies. Numerous residents offered a similar message.

Aram James, a former public defender and longtime police watchdog, argued that the department needs a culture change and better accountability, including the firing of officers who had been engaged in racist behavior.

"You can tinker with all the policies that you want," James said. "You can change all the policies every six months. The problem is, absent accountability and the ability to swiftly discipline and prosecute officers, this department's officers will not be even disciplined internally."

Other residents urged the council to follow the Human Relations Commission recommendations and align the Palo Alto Police Department with 8 Can't Wait. Cari Templeton, chair of the Planning and Transportation Commission who is running for council, said the reforms are "literally the least we can do." Two other challengers for council seats, Rebecca Eisenberg and Steven Lee, similarly urged the council to go further.

Lee, an outgoing member of the Human Relations Commission, asked the council not to "water down" the prohibitions on use of force with caveats and half-measures.

"It would certainly send the wrong message that Palo Alto wavers in fully implementing basic reforms and that we fail to do the very bare minimum," Lee said.

Eisenberg said the council has "no excuse whatsoever" to tone down any of the measures recommended by 8 Can't Wait.

"We need significant structural change if we're going to address white supremacy, segregation and violence against our Black and brown communities," Eisenberg said.

The council's vote directs City Manager Ed Shikada and department brass to work with the police unions to implement the new policies. The council is also moving ahead with broader efforts to address racial injustice and police transparency.

One of the council's ad hoc committees is putting together a series of programs for the next year that focus on diversity and inclusion, including citywide training on implicit bias, a demographic analysis of the city's workforce and development of permanent artwork that pertains to race and equity.

Other committees are focusing on ways to improve the Police Department's transparency and accountability, hiring practices and policies and alternate service models.

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Spurred by calls for reform, Palo Alto backs restrictions on police use of force - Palo Alto Online