sa国际传媒官网网页入口

The Department of Justice and an independent monitor cheered the successes of sa国际传媒官网网页入口 police in the latest hearing on its reform effort, this time for reducing officers鈥� use of force and conducting better investigations into such incidents.

The hearing came months after Independent Monitor James Ginger released his latest report that gave the city of sa国际传媒官网网页入口 its highest rating yet 鈥� 94% operational compliance 鈥� in its Court-Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA) with the DOJ.

Those monitoring civilian oversight, one of the largest remaining roadblocks in reaching full compliance, called it 鈥渁 mess鈥� that was being cleaned up, and advocates applauded the work done by the department to come so far, so fast.

But between the praise sung in Thursday鈥檚 six-hour hearing, one name kept resurfacing: Jesus Crosby. In November 2022, he was a 41-year-old man in the throes of a mental health crisis, holding a pair of nail clippers.

Police shot him 11 times.

The sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Police Department鈥檚 top leaders approved the use of deadly force 鈥� in which officers continued firing after Crosby hit the ground 鈥� overruling its own force investigator鈥檚 finding that it was 鈥渦nnecessary鈥� and violated policy.

More than a year later, Crosby鈥檚 name repeatedly brought the hearing back to a central question, one that seems to defy datasets but has nonetheless dogged the department鈥檚 successes since a spike in police shootings in 2022.

鈥淗ow do you know that culture is changing?鈥� sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Police Department Chief Harold Medina said, repeating the question back to U.S. District Judge James Browning. 鈥淚 consistently get that question and there is no scientific method. It鈥檚 going to, unfortunately, have to be anecdotal.鈥�

Medina pointed to APD鈥檚 commitment to meeting CASA requirements over the past several years, during which the department has invested millions of dollars and thousands of man-hours 鈥� creating entire divisions and rewriting policies.

More recently, he said, it can be measured in a large decrease in uses of force even as police make more arrests, the positive words he regularly hears from the community and from surveys taken by those who call 911.

It showed in his officers鈥� lack of gripes about the reform process, which was the 鈥渘umber one complaint鈥� when he took over in 2020. Now, Medina said, those on the force even compliment policy changes brought about by the CASA.

Crosby鈥檚 shooting spurred some of those policy changes.

Medina called Crosby鈥檚 death 鈥渁 tragedy鈥� but laid it at the feet of a 鈥渂roken criminal justice system鈥� for letting him out of jail while he was still in crisis. He said some 鈥済ood came鈥� from the incident, such as the creation of policies geared toward using less deadly force.

In general, Medina said the 32 police shootings the department has tallied since 2022 mirrored increases seen in other cities. Locally, he pointed to a growing number of people pulling guns on APD officers.

Days earlier, a shootout between police and an auto theft suspect left an APD officer in the hospital, with gunshot wounds to both hands. Medina said no other chief has had six officers shot and injured during their tenure.

He added, 鈥淚 hold that record, unfortunately.鈥�

Shaun Willoughby, sa国际传媒官网网页入口 police union president, said culture was never 鈥渁 significant issue.鈥� He called the phrase 鈥渁 political talking term that means nothing.鈥�

He said the CASA has cost taxpayers millions and led to an over-categorization of force that made officers afraid to do their jobs. Willoughby said CASA-associated policies led to the recent spike in police shootings, escalating encounters by hindering the use of less-lethal force.

He said many shootings, including Crosby, never had to happen.

Willougby said, had he been there, he would have shot Crosby with a less-lethal 40 mm round within seconds and cuffed him to live 鈥渁nother day.鈥�

Paul Killebrew, deputy chief of the DOJ鈥檚 Civil Rights Division, at the hearing spoke glowingly of the department鈥檚 progress: a 43% decrease in use of force since 2020, the 鈥渢remendous milestone鈥� of investigators working without external guidance and the rerouting of thousands of behavioral health calls to the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Community Safety department.

Then he brought it back to 鈥渁 very troubling case.鈥�

鈥淚n this case, we don鈥檛 judge sa国际传媒官网网页入口 by its words. We don鈥檛 judge sa国际传媒官网网页入口 by its promises. We judge it by its actions,鈥� Killebrew said. 鈥淭hose actions do not tell a coherent story, not right now. 鈥� And that gives a lot of us some unease. Had sa国际传媒官网网页入口 made a different determination in the Jesus Crosby shooting, the story would be more coherent, from our perspective. So the fact that it鈥檚 not a coherent story, what does that tell us? What do we need to do?鈥�

Killebrew said they had not yet seen a pattern of shootings similar to the Crosby case and, therefore, his question was left open-ended.

He said 16 paragraphs of the CASA remained out of compliance and three revolved around deficiencies with APD and its Force Review Board, due to 鈥渕ishandling鈥� the Crosby case.

Killebrew said changes have been made to the FRB and, without any hiccups, APD could be in full compliance in the coming months. The other 13 remaining paragraphs are related to shortcomings with the Civilian Police Oversight Advisory Board.

Afterward, he said, the department would have to remain in compliance for two years, setting a possible end date to federal oversight in 2026.

Killebrew said if APD comes into full compliance before the CPOA, the DOJ may seek an out-of-court agreement with the city to get the latter into compliance.

With APD still out of compliance, the idea was 鈥渁ll quite theoretical at this point,鈥� he said.

Medina showed his frustration at the timeline.

鈥淢y officers worked hard every single day to meet the requirements in the settlement agreement. ... And today I鈥檓 being told that 2026 might be the day that this goes into compliance. This is a slap in my face for everything that I鈥檝e helped accomplish here,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ecause there鈥檚 a strong likelihood. ... I will no longer be the chief who gets to sit here when the settlement agreement is completed.鈥�

Success in investigations, crisis response

DOJ attorney Jared Hager noted that the External Force Investigation Team, an outside team brought in to help APD investigate force and clear a case backlog, had left APD鈥檚 Internal Affairs Force Division investigators to handle cases on their own.

He said EFIT had completed 470, or 72%, of the backlog cases and found only 5% of those out of policy. Hager said the backlog should be done by mid-May.

Another DOJ attorney, Melody Fields, said APD had 鈥渇ar exceeded鈥� the CASA requirements on crisis intervention and related data collection. She said they reviewed a random sample and found that officers 鈥渟howed both skill and empathy, in how they responded to people in crisis.鈥�

Fields said the crisis response had gotten better over time. She said in 2021, APD used force 312 times against those in crisis, a number that dropped to 195 in 2022.

Fields said, going forward, APD should prioritize diverting even more calls to the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Community Safety department, which has 鈥渕ore room for growth.鈥� She said ACS diverted 1,500 calls from APD per month during the monitoring period and went to 24/7 coverage in August.

Ginger鈥檚 monitoring team highlighted the 鈥渆xceptional鈥� training that was observed being done by APD instructors on new policies. They also said IAFD investigators would be 鈥渟tress tested鈥� with EFIT no longer overseeing their investigations.

Taylor Rahn, an attorney on contract with the city, said the 94% compliance isn鈥檛 鈥渏ust empty numbers.鈥�

鈥淭here鈥檚 a reason why the CASA isn鈥檛 one paragraph: reduce officer involved shootings. Because that鈥檚 not the only measure that we鈥檙e looking for,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a reason why the settlement includes the pillars of training, accountability, policy and investigations 鈥� and those pillars are being demonstrated to be compliant.鈥�

Additionally, Rahn said, 50% of the CASA paragraphs are being self-monitored by APD and 30% have already been terminated after being self-monitored for some time by the department.

Civilian oversight, born anew

The majority of CASA paragraphs remaining out of compliance revolve around the Civilian Police Oversight Advisory Board, which was formed in January after the City Council abolished the previous iteration.

Since then, board positions and leadership roles had remained vacant for months, leading to dysfunction and issues with investigations.

Diane McDermott, CPOA interim executive director, said recent momentum should have the board fully staffed within weeks and led to the hiring of a contract compliance officer.

She called the latter 鈥渢he first important step鈥� in selecting a permanent director and gaining full compliance. McDermott said they received 723 cases in 2023, 300 of which needed full investigation, a workload that required more investigators, supervisors and a case intake worker.

She said those hires, and more office space, would be part of her annual budget request.

鈥淥ur hope is that the (City Council) and the administration support the agency, and not for the purpose of just compliance, but so that we can perform in a way that our target expects and deserves,鈥� McDermott said. 鈥淢y staff and I are optimistic about where we are headed if proper staffing and budgetary decisions are made.鈥�

Crosby case revisited

Time and time again, the Crosby case came up, whether it was through Browning, advocacy groups, the DOJ or Ginger鈥檚 team, which said, of the FRB鈥檚 decision: 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to mess it up that bad.鈥�

鈥淔rom our perspective, it鈥檚 kind of hard to see how the cultural reform and that case can coexist in the same place,鈥� said Phil Coyne of the monitoring team.

Out of the 110 use-of-force cases reviewed by the monitoring team, Rahn said only in the Crosby case did Ginger think 鈥淎PD made the wrong call.鈥� She said APD would not reverse its decision on the shooting but emphasized that corrective action was taken.

Rahn tried to move on, calling it a 鈥渟ingle specific incident which we have spent quite a bit of time on,鈥� but Browning wouldn鈥檛 budge.

Browning asked her what specifically made the lethal force in the Crosby shooting in policy. She responded, 鈥淎t the time that deadly force was used, it complied with our policy.鈥�

When Crosby came up again later, Rahn put it simpler for the judge: 鈥淭he shooting itself was fine, but the whole situation could have been handled better.鈥�

Hager, the DOJ attorney, said they reviewed APD鈥檚 police shootings from 2023 and found that in 12 of the 14 cases a person brandished a gun, and in seven cases actually fired it. He said they saw none of the same 鈥渋ssues that arose鈥� in the Crosby case but they would continue to monitor APD鈥檚 actions.

鈥淲e have eyes on this problem,鈥� Hager said.

Mark Fine, who is representing Crosby鈥檚 family in a lawsuit, said the DOJ鈥檚 investigation brought to light 鈥渃ity leadership鈥檚 ongoing pattern of stubbornly denying responsibility for unnecessary and easily avoidable shootings.

鈥淲e know from the painful history of police shootings in sa国际传媒官网网页入口, including the shooting of Jesus, that this denialism is deadly,鈥� he said.