San Mateo County Sheriff's Office Revising Use Of Force Policy

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA -- The San Mateo County Sheriff's Office is revising its use of force policy, including for Taser stun guns, following outcry over the death of a man by Tasers last October.

Sheriff Carlos Bolanos gave a presentation on the revised use of force policy at Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting.

The new policy has incorporated feedback solicited from the American Civil Liberties Union and sets new restrictions on when deputies can use force.

But while the sheriff's office's presentation detailed some changes made in response to ACLU input, the current draft was not released to the supervisors or the public.

Bolanos said that he would send a final draft policy to the supervisors "when it reaches the appropriate level."

The new policy follows a study session in February on the use of Tasers called because three people died in the county from Taser use by law enforcement last year.

Chinedu Okobi, 36, died after he was stopped by sheriff's deputies while walking on El Camino Real in Millbrae on Oct. 3.

The confrontation quickly escalated, with one officer using a Taser on Okobi multiple times and others taking him to the ground and hitting him with clubs and pepper spray. A pathologist found the Taser contributed to cardiac arrest.

The others were in different law enforcement jurisdictions -- Ramzi Saad was killed by Redwood City police in August and Warren Ragudo by Daly City police in January.

Bolanos touted several other equipment and training reforms he is making in the wake of Okobi's death. The sheriff's office is adding automated external defibrillators to patrol vehicles, a reform advocated at February's study session by Dr. Zian Tseng, who researches sudden cardiac death at the University of California at San Francisco.

A previous draft policy was released to the ACLU and obtained by Bay City News. The ACLU responded with a letter making further recommendations.

Chief Deputy County Counsel David Silberman said he "ensured that all of their input wasn't just listened to but incorporated as much as we reasonably could."

Silberman said that the sheriff's office rejected two recommendations by the ACLU: it will not ban the use of carotid restraints, similar to a choke hold where the goal is to cut off blood flow to the brain, and it will not ban shooting at moving vehicles.

Silberman argued that carotid restraints are a necessary tool for deputies working in jails who are not armed with firearms or Tasers. Shooting at moving vehicles was banned in most circumstances in San Francisco in 2016. Silberman argued that the sheriff's office's existing
policy "already strictly limits shooting at moving vehicles."

Bay City News contributed to this report.