Impasse on police use of force

Commission, union split on plan to prevent shooting at moving vehicles

Negotiations over a new use-of-force policy for San Francisco police officers stalled Friday, as the Police Commission and Police Officers Association hit an impasse over a proposal that would bar officers from shooting at moving vehicles.

The disagreement comes after months of discussion between the two parties and community groups.

The Police Commission has recommended that the San Francisco Police Department prohibit officers from firing at moving vehicles unless the driver poses an “immediate threat by means other than the vehicle.”

The recommendation is considered a best practice by the Department of Justice and the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, because shooting at moving vehicles can pose safety risks to bystanders and police.

The Police Officers Association, however, is adamant that the revised use-of-force

policy should clearly allow officers to fire at moving vehicles in life-threatening circumstances.

In a statement, police union President Martin Halloran used the recent attack in Nice, France — when an armored vehicle plowed through a crowded Bastille Day parade — as an example.

“Under the proposed policy, somebody could be driving down Market Street during the Gay Pride Parade, mowing down pedestrians, and police would be prevented from using force to stop the driver,” said Nathan Ballard, spokesman for the San Francisco police union. “That’s absurd.”

Officers firing their weapons at moving vehicles has long been a source of contention. Several law enforcement agencies, including the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, have barred the practice because of safety concerns.

District Attorney George Gascón, who proposed limiting such shootings while police chief of San Francisco from 2009 to 2011, told The Chronicle this year that a moving vehicle can become “an unguided missile” if the officer hits the driver. “That creates safety concerns for everyone, including the officers,” Gascón said.

San Francisco’s current policy states that firing at the driver of a moving vehicle is “inherently dangerous to officers and the public,” allowing it only if the officer or others are in grave danger. The proposed use-of-force reforms — taken at face value — would ban shooting at moving vehicles unless the driver is also threatening officers or civilians with another weapon.

San Francisco Police Commission President Suzy Loftus said language in the proposed policy accounts for unusual situations, but that “except for in extremely rare and unpredictable circumstances, shooting at a moving car is not the best choice.”

Ballard, however, said the language is so vague it becomes meaningless and that a specific, precisely worded exception is needed.

“We cannot put the public and officers in harm’s way,” he said. “It would be a dereliction of duty.”

In a statement Friday night, San Francisco Police Chief Toney Chaplin said that no future meetings on the issue are scheduled and that the department will be “evaluating its options to determine what steps will be taken in the days to come to move this policy forward.”

The proposed ban on shooting into cars became a top issue after the May 19 shooting death of Jessica Williams, 29, who was killed by police in the Bayview after she reportedly tried to flee in a stolen car.

The shooting lead to the resignation of Police Chief Greg Suhr. Williams’ family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city in federal court last week.