Video of SDPD Brutality Against Homeless Human Shows Need for Real Change in Policing
Last week, Jesse Evans hit the San Diego dehumanization trifecta: being unhoused, Black, and existing in La Jolla.
The video of his brutal takedown by police has been reported on internationally. The usual suspects in government are “concerned” and promising to “investigate.”
https://youtu.be/xBtWQ-qIrh0
Via the Washington Post:
A woman who recorded the incident, Nicole Bansal, told the The Washington Post that the officers’ response to the situation, which saw police punching him in his face, head and legs, appeared to be “excessive and unnecessary” for a man she believes to be homeless.
“He’s a harmless, houseless man,” she told The Post.
Via the UK Daily Mail:
The violent arrest unfolded around 9 am Wednesday morning in the affluent seaside neighborhood of La Jolla.
Shocking footage of the incident, posted on social media, shows one of the officers rush at the black man before he and his colleague tackle him to the ground.
The officers were then seen striking the man in the face, head and leg as the witness who recorded the scene is heard gasping and yelling at them to stop.
Neither the victim nor two officers have been publicly identified. The witness, Nicole Bansal, said she recognized the homeless man from the area and insisted he had never posed a threat as she blasted the officers' actions as 'so excessive and unnecessary'.
The bystander video of SDPD officers repeatedly punching Jesse Evans makes the case that talk is cheap when it comes to the local gendarmes' promises of de-escalation rather than violence.
A press conference including civil rights leaders and homeless advocates on Friday was disrupted by a right wing provocateur.
When Rev. Shane Harris called for increased funding for more public restrooms, a man shouted “maybe you can ask BLM.”
The need for full disclosure of body camera footage and a plea for area residents to refrain from “swatting” calls --where exaggerated claims are made to garner a law enforcement response-- were made in front of a gaggle of news cameras.
Two students from nearby UC San Diego also spoke, saying they knew Evans as a peaceful person from conversations they’d had with him in the past.
Local advocates have since provided Evans with temporary housing, and have raised over $8000 via a GoFundMe to get him assistance, including a place to live.
The police excuse for the initial approach to Evans turns out to be bogus, according to a transcript of dispatcher communications.
https://twitter.com/marleadellanno/status/1394321116294905860?s=20
(5150 is code for psychiatric crisis, which allows a qualified officer or clinician to involuntarily confine a person deemed to have a mental disorder that makes them a danger to his or her self, and/or others and/or gravely disabled)
What was originally presented as a law enforcement response to a citizen complaint turns out to be a conscious decision by officers --who diverted from another reported incident-- to confront a person desperate for a place to urinate.
From City News Service:
According to SDPD officials, the two officers, whose names have not been released, contacted Evans in the 4100 block of Torrey Pines Road about 9 a.m. Wednesday after seeing him relieving himself outdoors.
Friday morning, Evans denied publicly urinating in the coastal neighborhood near Scripps Institution of Oceanography, though he admitted that he was preparing to when the lawmen approached.
While saying he forgave the officers for what happened, Evans, who had a bandage over his left eye, spoke of a need for better relations between police and the homeless population.
“I hope I’m the last victim of such nonsense,” he said. “I hope that we can hire reasonable individuals to look out for us and protect and serve our greater good in a better way, represent us in a better way as a community, as a nation.”
For their part, SDPD officials contend that Evans’ alleged refusal to cooperate with the patrolmen led to the scuffle.
Provocative posts in NextDoor neighborhood groups are being blamed for increasing violence against unhoused people, including vigilante attacks in nearby Pacific Beach. Homeless advocates are also being targeted.
https://twitter.com/amie_zamudio/status/1393922378015535105?s=20
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria issued a statement following the press conference:
“Use of force should always be a last resort, and, whenever it is used, it must be thoroughly reviewed to ensure officers are held accountable for following policy and their training. I have spoken personally with the police chief and there will be a thorough review of this incident.”
While I have no expectation of the Mayor serving as prosecutor, judge and jury on these types of incidents, I also have serious reservations about the processes currently in place achieving a resolution that does anything greater than a public relations ploy.
What will happen is County District Attorney Summer Stephan will hold off making a charging decision for a few months. If Evans files a civil damages claim, then there may be some reaction from her office.
In the end, both the culture enabling this sort of brutality and the individuals responsible for carrying it out will emerge unscathed.
This speaks to the hold that law enforcement has over elected officials. Prosecutors need police cooperation in bringing cases to court. In San Diego (and elsewhere), the quasi-labor unions representing law enforcement have the power to make or break candidates for elected office.
While some Democratic candidates have acknowledged the problematic nature of overt political support from these types of organizations, the back door via Independent Expenditure groups remains wide open.
Candidates promising substantive reforms to law enforcement practices open themselves up to propaganda efforts warning of dangerous increases in violent crimes, and --as was the case with DA Summer Stephans’ last campaign-- fear mongering using antisemitic claims about financial supporters.
Even when reforms make it into the books, local police agencies (and others in California) have fought tooth and nail to avoid the disclosure of data along with undermining the authority of entities established to provide oversight.
Requests made under the 2018 law granting access to records concerning use of force, sexual assault, and official dishonesty are being fulfilled by the SDPD and SD Sheriffs office at an unreasonablely slow rate.
A landmark use of force law passed by the California legislature taking effect in January, 2020 hasn’t seemed to make the difference its advocates hoped it would. Police shootings in the state were up last year, and a requirement for additional training by officers has yet to include the vast majority of those who are supposed to be covered by it.
San Diego’s Measure B, approved by 75% of the voters, is supposed to establish a Commission on Police Practices. Actually getting it underway has been proceeding at a snail’s pace in the view of activists, who fear that past efforts at undermining oversight will be repeated.
Demands that funding for police in San Diego be redirected toward providing responses to non-violent situations by other agencies have not gone far. The city’s police budget for the next fiscal year includes a $19 million increase, reportedly driven by non-discretionary factors including rising pension and insurance costs.
A $4 million decrease in the budget for overtime costs in the coming year has been derided as unrealistic, given the city department’s record of blowing past its fiscal allocations.
A KPBS review of city budgets and financial reports found SDPD has spent beyond its overtime budget in all of the past 10 fiscal years. The decade of overspending totals $61 million.
Lest anyone think the department has turned a new leaf in response to reform demands, the display of force in response to mentions on Twitter about a protest following last Friday’s La Jolla press conference proves otherwise.
I’ll bet there was tons of overtime.
https://twitter.com/HomelessnessSD/status/1393010007017361415?s=20
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