City Of Walnut Creek Announces Settlement For Family Of Miles Hall

Press release from the City of Walnut Creek:

September 18, 2020

A financial settlement was approved on September 18, 2020, that brings an end to the pending litigation filed on behalf of the family of Miles Hall. The City of Walnut Creek’s shared risk providers (who provide coverage similar to insurance,) California Affiliated Risk Management Authority and Municipal Pooling Authority, approved the settlement agreement, with the concurrence of the City of Walnut Creek. According to the terms, both parties agree that this agreement shall not constitute an admission of liability or fault by any employees of the City. In exchange for the release of all current and potential claims against the City, the agreement provides for the payment of $4 million to the plaintiffs. “We recognize that protracted litigation is not in the best interest of anyone involved,” stated the City’s litigation counsel, Noah Blechman.

On June 2, 2019, Miles Hall died during an encounter with the Walnut Creek Police Department. Officers responded to multiple 911 calls for service regarding his conduct. During the incident, Mr. Hall ignored officers’ commands and instead ran approximately 150 feet toward officers with a four foot, eleven inch, 13.4 pound, iron pry bar with a sharpened edge in his hands and continued running even after being struck three times with non-lethal beanbag rounds. Mr. Hall was still holding the iron pry bar when he was first struck with the lethal force shots.

The events of that day were tragic and difficult for all involved – the Hall family, the Walnut Creek community, and the police officers called to the scene. While the City recognizes the continuing loss for the Hall family, it is the City’s sincere hope that settlement of this civil lawsuit will provide a step towards healing. The City of Walnut Creek continues to express heartfelt condolences to Scott, Taun, and Alexis Hall.

In addition to the settlement agreement, the City will continue work underway to identify regional delivery gaps in mental health services, and remains mindful of community concerns regarding the mental health issues that impacted this incident. In July of 2019, City leaders began meeting with and working towards shared goals with a community group comprised of friends of the Hall family. Considerable progress has been made on a variety of fronts.

The City reached out to Contra Costa County, which provides behavioral health services for residents in all cities of the County, and is collaborating on efforts to expand non-law enforcement responses to people experiencing mental health crises. Walnut Creek’s Police Chief is working with the Chiefs of Pleasant Hill, Martinez and Concord to develop a shared resource approach for expanded crisis intervention training to serve the residents of those cities. The Chief has also created a Community Advisory Board to serve as a resource in forming strategies, identifying best practices, furthering community policing, engagement and transparency efforts, and increasing public awareness regarding policy issues.

The City and the community group agreed to develop a series of community listening sessions, and jointly selected a facilitator to lead that effort later this year. The City has also created a Diversity and Inclusion Task Force to chart a course for future change in our community.

The City has already begun efforts to expand and enhance internal training on a variety of topics, including issues surrounding interactions between law enforcement and people suffering with mental illness. Despite drastic budget cuts required as a result of COVID-19’s impact on the local economy, in July the City Council added $600,000 in new spending to bolster these efforts.

$100,000 of that amount will be an investment in mental health response and crisis intervention training for the Police Department. The Department is already planning for implicit bias training in December. The remaining funds will support the Task Force, the community listening sessions, and training for the entire City workforce. City training will focus on topics of implicit bias, diversity and inclusion, and prevention and detection of human trafficking.

It is hoped these examples of commitment from the City will demonstrate its desire to improve the understanding of and interactions with people facing challenges, and will help bring closure for the Hall family.

This press release was produced by the City of Walnut Creek. The views expressed here are the author’s own.