SAN FRANCISCO—On Monday, December 7, the San Francisco Police Chief William Scott responded to a grand jury indictment of Officer Christopher Flores.
“Given the facts as we know them, I am surprised and quite frankly disappointed by this felony indictment against one of our officers,” said Chief Scott.
On December 7, 2019, witnesses indicated they saw a man fitting Hampton’s description trying to “force open the door of a residential apartment,” according to the police. After searching, authorities found Hampton who fit the description of the witnesses at 23rd Street and Mission Street.
The body and surveillance cameras indicated that Hampton initiated an attack on Flores and his partner while they were sitting in the patrol car. After the attack, according to the footage, Hampton ran away, but was shot three times by the responding officers.
Scott indicated that Flores’ actions against Jamaica Hampton were lawful because the San Francisco Police Department’s Use of Force policy states that “an immediate threat is considered to exist if a suspect has demonstrated actions that would lead one to reasonably believe that the suspect will continue to pose a threat if not apprehended without delay. A person is an immediate threat if the officer reasonably believes the person has the present intent, means, opportunity, and ability to complete the threat regardless of whether the threatened action has been initiated.”
The “Use of Force” policy, Scott said, is consistent with a current United States Supreme Court case, Graham v. Conner (1989), which states, “The reasonableness of a particular use of force must be judged from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, rather than 20/20 hindsight, and without regard to the officer’s underlying intent or motivation.”
Scott said that both Flores and Hampton are “entitled to all rights guaranteed by the Constitution, including the right to trial by a jury of their peers. In accordance with the Constitution, both men are presumed innocent until proven guilty.”
San Francisco Police Chief Scott is asking for anyone interested in the case to check out the notes the authorities have on this incident at https://www.sanfranciscopolice.org/news/notes-used-presentation-december-17-2019- town-hall-address.
