San Francisco police released an officer's body cam video from a controversial officer-involved shooting earlier this month, and city officials are at odds as to whether the officers acted appropriately.
Interim Police Chief Tony Chaplin stopped short of saying his officers followed departmental policy, but he said he does back their actions in the Jan. 6 shooting of Shawn Moore in the city's Taraval district.
Public defender Jeff Adachi disagrees, saying the body cam video clearly shows that the shooting should have never happened.
The shooting occurred just before 4 a.m. after two officers, identified as Kenneth Cha and Colin Patino, responded to a violation of a restraining order involving Moore. In the video, Moore is seen and heard arguing with the officers through his front gate. When Moore comes out, he is pepper sprayed then kicks one officer in the face. Moore retreats, comes out again, has something in his hand, and that's when the verbal and physical confrontation escalates to a boiling point, and the officers fire their weapons.
Adachi contended that the shooting was not justified.
"This is a situation where Mr. Moore did not have to be shot," he said. "The officers, had they properly used the de-escalation techniques, they would have gone home, and we wouldn't be talking about this."
Police also released photographs of some of the injuries Cha and Patino suffered prior to shooting Moore. Chaplin said once the officers were assaulted, the situation became a felony, and that is why the officers continued to pursue Moore.
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe
On the video, the officers can be heard saying that Moore is holding something, but they can't identify what it is. It turns out he was unarmed.
Adachi believes crisis intervention should have been called in long before it got to the point of a physical confrontation and added that it's just another example of what is wrong with the police department.
An internal investigation of the shooting is ongoing.
Meanwhile, the police officers union is backing the officers and blaming the deparment, the city's police commission and the newly instituted use of force policy, including the commission's decision not to issue Tasers.
Moore suffered gunshot wounds to his stomach and groin. On Wednesday, he was transported from the hospital to the county jail, booked on nine felony counts. His bail is set at $2 million.
