San Mateo County forms Taser committee

Pine’s proposal to form the committee came more than two months after an October incident in which a 36-year-old man died after being hit with a Taser by sheriff’s deputies in Millbrae, a tragedy that has led to an outpouring of community concern about use of the devices by law enforcement officers.

Though Pine acknowledged the incident that led to the death of Chinedu Okobi Oct. 3 involved deputies from the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, he noted two other incidents in which Tasers were deployed in 2018 involved officers in the Daly City and Redwood City police departments. On Jan. 16, 34-year-old Warren Ragudo died after a struggle with three police officers in Daly City and an Aug. 13 attempt by four Redwood City police officers to subdue Ramzi Saad resulted in the 55-year-old man’s death. District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe determined the filing of criminal charges against the officers involved in both the Daly City and Redwood City incidents was not warranted after he found they acted in accordance with the law.

In holding a public meeting to discuss Taser use among law enforcement officials, Pine hoped the effort could help answer questions about Tasers’ benefits and limitations, the kinds of Taser policies other jurisdictions have adopted, what kind of training is needed for the devices and how often they are used during mental health crises. Though he acknowledged Sheriff Carlos Bolanos has the authority to decide whether sheriff’s deputies should be able to use Tasers and to set policies, Pine said he thought a public discussion would give officials and the public a chance to weigh in on the topic.

“In light of the fact those all have occurred in this calendar year, I think it would be helpful to just talk about Tasers and how they’re used and address those questions,” he said, according to a video of the meeting. “We can share our opinions with the sheriff and provide the public with an opportunity to share their opinions.”

Several community members who attended supervisors’ Tuesday meeting called on officials to do more in the wake of Okobi’s death, urging them to release the video footage of the five deputies’ encounter with Okobi and suspend them while Wagstaffe investigates the matter.

Though Wagstaffe initially estimated a report detailing the investigation and identifying whether the deputies involved will face charges will take some 10 weeks, his decision to hire an independent expert from outside the county to weigh in on the investigation is expected to delay the report’s release until mid-January or mid-February. Wagstaffe has maintained he will release the videos, police and coroner’s reports and any other information related to the case once the investigation is complete.

The Rev. Ben Meyers of the Unitarian Universalists of San Mateo said he could not understand why officers involved in the death of a citizen were allowed to come back to work while the investigation is ongoing in light of Wagstaffe’s decision not to release the video footage of the incident until it is complete, noting the footage could dispel public mistrust and show what really happened that day. Pine said at the board’s Dec. 4 meeting that the deputies involved in the incident are not currently on patrol and are instead assisting with the transport of inmates between jail and the courts.

Meyers added he would like to know how many hours law enforcement officers spend in training to de-escalate situations compared to the amount of time they spend at the shooting range training to use weapons.

“I think that if we can create a gap where our officers are being empowered to learn these skills of de-escalation, we will see fewer acts of violence against our community and we will all feel safer,” he said.

For resident Martin Fox, whether enough resources are dedicated to those facing mental health crises in the county was a concern. Fox said the three deaths involving Tasers as well as the Dec. 10 death of Redwood City resident Kyle Hart, who allegedly attempted suicide before struggle with responding police officers proved fatal, were evidence of the need to bolster the county’s mental health system.

In response to Fox, Supervisor Don Horsley noted officials have taken steps to boost mental health resources in recent years, including crisis intervention training for law enforcement officers and a new psychiatric emergency services team. There is also a facility residents in crisis spend a few nights in and receive treatment and a variety of partnerships aimed at addressing those facing mental health crises.

But Horsley also acknowledged an effort to discuss Tasers and their use with the public may bring to light even more officials could do to prevent future deaths.

“We may well come up with some additional things that we can do for mentally ill folks,” he said. “Maybe these public meetings will give us some ideas about something else that we can do to avoid tragedies in the future.”

In other business, county officials also approved a tentative agreement with the Service Employees International Union for a three-year term beginning Oct. 7. Included among the terms were 3 percent increases in the first two years to account for cost of living adjustments and a 2 percent to 3 percent increase in the third year depending on the consumer price index. SEIU employees will also receive equity increases of 1 percent simultaneously with the yearly increases as well as longevity pay after the completion of the equivalent of five years. The total cost of all the salary changes is expected to result in a net increase of $37.2 million over the three-year term, according to a staff report.

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