SAN BERNARDINO >> The ACLU sued the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department Thursday, seeking a judge’s order to produce records on its Taser gun policies and practices, in light of controversy over how deputies are using the devices.
In the 21-page lawsuit filed Thursday in San Bernardino Superior Court, attorneys sought records from the Sheriff’s Department through a California Public Records Act request, and the cited a 2012 San Bernardino County Grand Jury probe that culminated with recommendations on the Sheriff’s Department improving its training on Taser gun use.
That use, they said, came in the wake of the deaths of several men in recent years after being stunned repeatedly with Tasers.
The Sheriff’s Department has refused to disclose the records, arguing that the requested information included in department use-of-force reports, detailing the number of Taser deployments by deputies and the duration of Taser exposures on individuals, is protected under the attorney-client privilege, according to court documents, filed Thursday in San Bernardino Superior Court.
“The San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department has refused to publicly disclose records related to the policies and practices surrounding its officers’ use of Tasers,” ACLU executive director Hector Villagra said. “That’s unacceptable given the troubling number of deaths involving individuals who were Tasered multiple times.”
The information about Taser use that the Sheriff’s Department withheld is contained in disclosable records other than use-of-force reports, but the Sheriff’s Department failed to identify and produce those records, according to the ACLU court filing.
Sheriff John McMahon said his office has released everything he could to the ACLU.
“We responded to their requests and delivered over 700 pages of documents,” McMahon said. “Everything that’s not confidential (personnel or active litigation documents) that they requested in their discovery was given to them.”
ACLU lawyer Adrienna Wong said the reason they are seeking the documents is to be sure the Sheriff’s Department made the changes recommended by the Grand Jury.
“We need to see if the sheriff made those changes as promised,” Wong said in a phone interview. “And if not, the sheriff’s department needs to be held accountable.”
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In its annual report released on July 1, 2013, the San Bernardino County grand jury recommended, in response to newspaper articles that year regarding the Taser-related deaths of three men at the hands of sheriff’s deputies, that the Sheriff’s Department enhance deputy training on Taser use. In its response, the Sheriff’s Department agreed with the grand jury’s recommendation to amend its Taser training manual to include the requirement of greater communication among on-scene officers regarding the number of Taser discharges deployed on a person to avoid multiple, continuous exposures. It also agreed to stress the importance of alternative methods of subduing individuals at future training sessions.
The ACLU also cited in its writ the Aug. 12, 2014 death of Victorville resident Dante Parker, who died following a physical confrontation with a female sheriff’s deputy in which he was stunned 12 times with a Taser gun and subsequently died at the hospital. Parker, according to San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos, was under the influence of drugs at the time of the incident, but it didn’t stop Parker’s family from filing a lawsuit in January alleging civil rights violations, and the NAACP demanding a federal investigation.
In addition to the grand jury’s findings and Taser-related deaths in San Bernardino County over the last few years, the ACLU also noted in its court filing numerous allegations of Taser gun torture against inmates at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga as part of a longstanding hazing ritual, which to date has spurred five federal lawsuits and a federal grand jury hearing last month.
According to court documents, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputies use Tasers, with and without Drive-stun mode, in the field and in county jails. Drive-stun mode is considered to be a pain-compliance technique that is a lesser quantum of force than when used after deploying the barbed probes into a person.
But in the final report the Grand Jury said “Taser related deaths are not uncommon in San Bernardino County.”
Another case the ACLU cited in the writ was that of a Lake Arrowhead man who died after three deputies shot him with tasers 16 times.
“News accounts of the incident made clear the man was unarmed, and had been stopped by deputies for allegedly running a stop sign,” the writ says.
“Everything balances in the direction of what’s in the documents we are seeking,” Wong said. “We won’t know which direction we are going until the Sheriff’s Department and the county release all the public information we’ve asked for.”