SAN FRANCISCO—Allegations of an officer of the San Francisco Police Department “choking” a fan at AT&T Park on April 8 has outraged people.. A fan who was at the game during opening day, Bigbodycisco posted to his Instagram account video of the incident taking place, with the following statement:
“Here’s the 2nd Half of the video. We were walkin around at the game & seen this kid who was already in handcuffs & wasn’t resisting arrest being choked out by this cop. Granted he was talkin back to the cop. But this cop must of been in a bad mood. Cause he tried his hardest to try and put this kid to sleep. But couldn’t. His partner was even lookin at him like “damn, is all that necessary?” I have friends that are cops. But seeing stuff like this pisses me off. Cause they go to far sometimes. Smh. #SFOpeningDay #SFPD.”
The video shows the officer with his arm wrapped around the suspect’s throat. Rather that is deemed a “choking” mechanism as many who witnessed the incident is still in question. San Francisco News spoke with SFPD Public Information Officer Albie Esparaza via email about the incident.
Esparaza clarified that the fan was not arrested, he was ejected out of the park along with his two other friends. When asked by the San Francisco News if excessive force was used to detain the fan, SFPD Spokesman Esparaza responded by saying, “Officers get a call of fans being belligerent and using profanity in the stands. Officers made contact with 2 suspects and asked to go speak in the walkway/promenade area. Suspects escorted to area where they continue to discuss. One suspect become agitated and continues to be belligerent and is handcuffed for officer safety/suspect safety. After being handcuffed the suspect becomes more agitated and the officer places suspect on the ground and gets into a position of a controlled hold. Officer gets into position to conduct carotid restraint, while talking to suspect, officer is able to gain compliance and lifts up suspect and is ejected from the stadium with his two other friends.”
Esparaza went on to state, “No charges were filed and of course public perception is use of force is never pretty. No force was used, if carotid was used, then suspect would have been knocked out. We do use the carotid as part of our escalation of force continuum. There are proper protocols to follow if force is used. This is something we teach in the academy and is done to all of us when we were recruits. Officers must also go to Continued Professional Training and get refreshers on use of force tactics, training etc.
Furthermore, penal code section 835(a) gives law enforcement the authority to use reasonable force to accomplish an arrest/detention. 835(a) states ‘Any peace officer who has reasonable cause to believe that the person to be arrested has committed a public offense may use reasonable force to effect the arrest, to prevent escape or to overcome resistance. A peace officer who makes or attempts to make an arrest need not retreat or desist from his efforts by reason of the resistance or threatened resistance of the person being arrested; nor shall such officer be deemed an aggressor or lose his right to self-defense by the use of reasonable force to effect the arrest or to prevent escape or to overcome resistance.’”
Officer Esparaza noted that the suspect has right to file a complaint with the Office of Citizen Complaints (OCC) if he wished, but that he has not heard anything about a complaint being filed.
People can be heard in the video shouting, “He’s not fighting back,” “He’s gonna kill him,” as they witnessed the incident, while the suspect was in handcuffs. The officer stands with the suspect in tow before releasing his arm from around his neck. No additional individuals were arrested during the incident.
When asked by the San Francisco News if the suspect stated anything to officers while being detained, Esparaza noted that it was unknown at the time. The officer depicted in the video is not expected to face any disciplinary action because of the incident because no general orders or department policies were violated, Officer Esparaza stated.
By LaDale Anderson
