Pleasanton Council Tweaks Police Use-Of-Force Polices

PLEASANTON, CA — The Pleasanton City Council voted last week to revise police use-of-force policies and look into establishing a mental health program to help people in crisis.

Since the death of George Floyd in police custody sparked protests in Pleasanton and beyond, many have called for local governments to review police budgets and reallocate funding toward mental health professionals they feel would be better equipped to respond to calls of people experiencing a mental health crisis. Others urged local police departments to adhere to the 8 Can't Wait campaign's use-of-force policy recommendations designed to minimize fatal interactions through methods such as requiring police to use de-escalation tactics.

Instead of reallocating funding, the council voted Thursday to ask city staff to identify other areas of the budget that could be cut to initiate a mental health program.

Ideally, said Police Chief David Swing, a mental health professional would work from 11 p.m. to 11 a.m. — when police are most likely to receive calls about such incidents — seven days per week and respond to calls on their own, at least when initially arriving on scene. He cautioned it would be difficult to find someone willing to work the overnight shift and suggested the city start small with the program before refining and expanding it.

The city will also initiate conversations with Pleasanton Unified School District about the future of its on-campus student resource officers and D.A.R.E. program.

Use-Of-Force Policies

The council voted to approve the following recommended changes to Pleasanton Police Department's use-of-force policies:

• Require officers to consider de-escalation when possible and doing so would not endanger the safety of officers or the community (Previously, Pleasanton police have been encouraged to do this.)
• Require officers to consider how they could decrease the need for force, when possible, and use alternative tactics (Not previously addressed in policy.)
• Warn people before shooting when possible (Police must already do this when shooting at someone who is fleeing. The city also noted that it takes the brain 3/4 of a second to perceive a threat and 3/4 of a second to react, meaning officers could already be 1.5 seconds behind the threat — potentially past the point of providing a warning.)
• Strengthen use-of-force reporting policies and implement a use-of-force tracking and early warning system (Previously, police tracked statistical data manually and did not have an early warning system.)
• Require officers to quickly report colleagues' violations of use-of-force policies to a supervisor (Officers are already required to intervene in such instances.)

The department has already banned the carotid restraint, which can be used to temporarily incapacitate a person. The move came shortly after the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training decertified the carotid restraint and stopped teaching it in academies, according to council documents.

Pleasanton Police Department acknowledges in its policy that "shots fired at or from a moving vehicle are rarely effective" and calls on officers to try to instead move out of the way. While some critics have called on police to ban this technique altogether, the city said in a report to the council that a policy should stop short of banning officers from shooting at moving cars, as there have been incidents of people driving into crowds or using cars as deadly weapons.

The council also discussed the possibility of requiring police training on autism, as the Sunflower Hill project for adults with developmental disabilities is in the works. Vice Mayor Kathy Narum also wanted to get more information on the department's no-knock warrant and taser use practices.

"We hire and train people who we believe are the best in the business," Swing said. "We trust them to make difficult decisions."

Read more about the proposal here.