San Mateo County Board of Supervisors to hold Taser use forum

Supervisor Dave Pine said he felt it was imperative to convene a public meeting to discuss Tasers and their use by law enforcement after the three fatal incidents. Voted onto a Taser ad hoc committee with board President Carole Groom in December, Pine looked to the session to be both informative and balanced, featuring speakers from the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, the American Civil Liberties Union, Taser manufacturer Axon and medical professionals.

“My hope is that by having this study session that the public and decision makers will be better informed about Tasers,” he said.

Pine expected officials such as Sheriff Carlos Bolanos and County Counsel John Beiers to lay out the county’s existing policy on Taser use, the training sheriff’s deputies receive before using them and the challenges law enforcement officers face in interacting with those with mental health conditions. He looked to presentations by Axon and the American Civil Liberties Union to offer different perspectives on Tasers, and noted each group has invited a physician to weigh in as well. Pine said a public comment session following the presentations is expected to draw a crowd due to the importance of the issue.

Pine added the forum would not delve into the specifics of any of the three incidents but would rather be designed to give the public and officials a chance to talk about Tasers and their use more broadly.

Many concerned about the steps leading up to Okobi’s death have been calling for video footage of the Oct. 3 incident to be released in recent months. Representing the group #Justice4Chinedu and the Raging Grannies Action League, several individuals have spoken at Board of Supervisors’ meetings and organized a Jan. 23 sit-in at the office of District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe, who is leading the investigation of the incident, to demand transparency and justice for Okobi’s death. In addition to members of the faith community, the groups are planning a rally demanding truth and transparency from elected county officials prior to the Monday study session, according to a press release.

Throughout the monthslong investigation, Wagstaffe has said he plans to publicly release video footage as well as other evidence used to compile it — including an autopsy report and transcripts of statements of the deputies and witnesses — when he releases a report detailing his findings, which will outline whether he will file criminal charges against the deputies or clear them of charges.

Wagstaffe said Thursday he expects the report be ready by the end of February.

Though video footage of the incident has yet to be released to the public, Wagstaffe arranged for Okobi’s family in November to view about 25 to 30 minutes of the hours of video recorded that day. Okobi’s sister Ebele Okobi wrote in a Facebook post following her family’s viewing of the footage that it is at odds with police accounts of what happened that day and urged readers to ask Wagstaffe for release of the footage and recordings of any calls made to 911 prior to five deputies’ contact with Okobi.

Though the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office released a statement Oct. 3 claiming Okobi was “running in and out of traffic” on the 1300 block of El Camino Real in Millbrae at 1 p.m. and assaulted a deputy, Ebele Okobi has written in Facebook posts the videos contradict the Sheriff’s Office’s statement.

Ebele Okobi has said video shows her brother walking calmly down the sidewalk and not in the street and he “doesn’t look disheveled or as if he’s in crisis” when a deputy approached him. She wrote her brother never assaulted anyone and actually died on the scene after deputies hit him with a Taser multiple times, struck him with a baton and deployed pepper spray. At one point, she wrote, Okobi tried to run away when deputies chased him, hit him with a Taser again and did not attempt to revive him.

David Wozniak, president of the San Mateo County Deputy Sheriff’s Association, said he understands why it makes sense for law enforcement agencies investigating these types of incidents to hold off on releasing video footage so they can ensure the investigation is truly independent. But he also acknowledged the challenges that can arise from releasing the footage to a few individuals, noting the frustration some have had with the one-sided narrative they feel is being told about the incident after the footage of the Oct. 3 incident was partially released.

“We just don’t like it,” he said. “We would have preferred the videos be released as well.”

Wozniak said the organization he represents is in favor of transparency and looks toward to the implementation of body-worn cameras this year. He said the officers involved in the incident are horrified by what happened and have been having a hard time dealing with the fact that someone died that day.

Acknowledging the tragic nature of Okobi’s death, Groom said she hopes those who attend Monday’s study session have a better sense of the various perspectives on Taser use and an opportunity to weigh in.

“A very tragic thing has occurred and I think that’s why we are trying to do this, so that we can all learn,” she said.

The study session will be held 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Feb. 11 at 400 County Center, Redwood City.

anna@smdailyjournal.com

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