In a taut and crowded “town hall” meeting Tuesday night at the packed gym of Cesar Chavez Elementary School, the San Francisco Police Department released video evidence and addressed the public regarding the Dec. 7 shooting of 24-year-old Jamaica Hampton.
Police flagged down the recently homeless man at 8:34 a.m. on a Saturday morning in the vicinity of 23rd and Capp after a call was made following a break-in at a nearby Capp Street apartment. The SFPD narrative given to the public shortly thereafter stated: “When they encountered the suspect, he assaulted an officer with a weapon. An officer-involved-shooting occurred.”
Footage observed by Mission Local last week, however, deviated from this timeline. In it, Hampton led officers on an extended foot chase on 23rd Street following the alleged assault before eluding an officer by sprinting across the street, cutting between two parked cars, and then being shot by a second officer he was running toward. And that’s the footage the crowd viewed tonight.
Beneath the gym walls painted with the words “justice,” “empathy,” “compassion” and “respect,” SFPD Chief Bill Scott opened the meeting by adding one more: “Transparency.”
This would be a transparent process, he assured the several hundred attendees. The evidence — video and otherwise — would be released, he assured, come what may. As would the names of the officers involved in the shooting: Sterling Hayes and Christopher Flores.
Hayes was the field training officer instructing Flores, a rookie. Hayes, incidentally, was involved in a June 2018 incident in which he and his partner were accused of severely beating a bicyclist, and his partner, Michael Marcic, has been accused of lying under oath.
As predicted, the audience was shown photos of an officer’s bloodied face, as well as what appeared to be a bottle of Grey Goose vodka — which, allegedly, Hampton used as a weapon.
The night’s audio/video element began with recordings of a 911 call from an apartment dweller on Capp Street reporting a man kicking in her door. This jives with what neighbors, awakened by the crash, told Mission Local last week. The police, we were told, subsequently spent hours combing that apartment for evidence. If there is an evidentiary tie between that man and Hampton, it was not presented tonight.
Audio of a second 911 call, from an unidentified woman, describes a man attempting to break into cars on 25th and Capp. Per the 911 caller, the man attempted to break the windows of multiple cars, even police cars. At one point, he purportedly exclaimed, “where are the cops?”
Body-worn camera footage from Officer Hayes was shown; Officer Flores’ camera was purportedly knocked off during the confrontation with Hampton, during which the officer was severely beaten.
The crowd was not charitably disposed to this footage, nor to footage from surveillance cameras. In it, we see Hampton attempting to elude the SFPD after exchanging blows with an officer. He is trailed by Hayes, and ignores multiple commands to get on the ground. He eludes Hayes, but the officer heads him off and subsequently shoots him when he cuts between two parked cars and runs in Hayes’ direction.
Hayes squeezes off six shots; Flores shoots at Hampton once, while he was on the ground.
“Poorly trained officers! That’s what you got out here,” shouted one audience member. “Back to school!” shouted another. And they were among the polite ones.
Body cam footage of Officer Sterling Hayes pic.twitter.com/9jB4mGOMkJ
— Julian Mark (@badjujusf) December 18, 2019
A litany of speakers tore into the SFPD brass on scene, with varying degrees of civility. “I do not feel like this could ever be justified,” said Richard Ott, who described himself as Hampton’s younger foster brother. “I’m disgusted.”
This is par for the course. And, moving forward, the legal response will be as well.
While Gov. Gavin Newsom this year signed AB 392 into law, that legislation doesn’t take effect until Jan. 1. And that date hasn’t happened yet.
That law will change the standards regarding police use of force: While, currently, officers are expected to react with a “reasonable” use of force, come Jan. 1, their use of force will have to be “necessary.”
And that’s a very big distinction. To wit, could it be argued that Hayes’ reaction — chasing down a suspect he witnessed strike his partner repeatedly with a bottle, shouting multiple commands of “get down!” at him, and eventually shooting him when the suspect ran in his direction while still purportedly clutching that bottle — was “reasonable”? Yes, that seems to be a reasonable definition of “reasonable.”
But was it “necessary”? That is not as easy an argument to make.
DA-elect Chesa Boudin campaigned in part on holding officers accountable for their actions. While electing Boudin DA was a jolt to the status quo, in this case Boudin will be forced to apply the status quo law.
“I will be fully briefed when I am in office, and I will make the decision on what happens next,” he told Mission Local last week. “My commitment is to release the result of the District Attorney’s office investigation as soon as possible. We want the decision to be transparent and expeditious and in the interest of justice.”
Speaker after speaker described Hampton, who is purportedly still hospitalized and has not been allowed to see his family, as a kind, thoughtful, and intellectual man. A man who overcame many obstacles, including addiction and a turbulent childhood of homelessness.
And that may be, but the footage showed what it showed, and the law is the law. The chants of “jail killer cops” were there tonight. But they were not loud or strong.
“We’ve been through this so many times,” bemoaned Father Richard Smith of St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church. “We’re retraumatized here.”
I do not know if what I write here will ever be posted, but I honestly think about this case in back of my mind, I looked at everything the video of Hampton by city team, claiming to turn his life around and how he grew up with a mother who he found out later was a drug user and once he put that together with him and his siblings constantly being homeless and living in drug houses because of his mothers habits, then he realized the reason for his unstable life, it lead to him and his siblings being separated into foster homes. He then claims to want to help youth like himself. This man even though he wanted to help youth like himself and become a social worker, wasn’t ready. He was not mentally there to do this kind of work. He was still battling his demons. Based on the video I had seen through police cam, this guy was just out of it completely, I am assuming that he must of been on some type of drug to act out the way that he did. Everyone is blaming the cops here, but I think it goes much deeper than that, because the question is what lead to the police having to be called, what actions did Hampton do to have the police called on him that day and articles mention him breaking into the door of home of a woman and her new born and then clearly in the video he has a glass bottle in his hand and he attacks an officer with that bottle Jesus this man was not ready to get his life together, so many years of trauma, doesn’t just disappear and so he ends up putting his traumas on innocent people. I have been a victim of violence myself and the people that harassed me and my two children were drug users and heavy drinkers, the two men were constantly watching me and my kids, I did not even know them, when it got worse I had to call the cops because I feared for my children’s lives, including my own. You cannot always demonize the cops because you may need them to stop a violent offender who will not stop trying to hurt you or your loved ones. The cops too, were also traumatize in no way did they want to shot Hampton, but this this dude wasn’t going to stop, not even with a verbal command, I have lived in a building that housed drug addicts and violent offenders, there is no reasoning with these types of individuals. I clearly understand this because I had to get 15 restraining orders in my building, telling these people to stop wasn’t enough and I wasn’t going to allow my children and I to get hurt, I question a lot of the people getting all upset and angry over this, and thinking the police are wrong, but was it also necessary to kick down the door of a home that is not yours or assault an officer with a glass bottle? I am sure if he choose never to do these actions in the first place it would not have gone down the way it did, Sure his life growing up was tough, but so are many other people, but there are a majority of them that refuse to sink that low and become a menace to society, they choose to do right and over time are successful. He in no way did not have to go that route. You may not agree with my post, but from my personal experience everything starts at home and for this man it surely did, I feel sorry for him, but at the same time he should have known better and lived up to his ambitions.
I don’t see the video embedded in this article – only someone filming z portion of it at the meeting (am I miissing something?).
I’m did find it on Vimeo – by going to
after the domain name.
After allegedly breaking down the door and terrorizing a woman in her own hone (where her baby is present), then trying to break into cars, the first thing Jamaica Hampton does when the officers pull up is run toward them and attack one officer with a bottle to the face, and then chase after him to try to attack him again.
The officer’s partner draws his gun and orders Jamaica to stop, which he refuses to do.
What you armchair critics seem to be missing is the intensity of this situation, which involves officers who are also HUMAN BEINGS. After rushing towards an officer, Jamaica is shot by one of the officers. If you watch to the end of the video, this officer is clearly in anguish… he is crying. He says repeatedly, “I didn’t want to do it. I didn’t w do it.”
And why did Jamaica put these officers in that situation? Why did he terrify a woman in her own home? Why did he immediately attack the officer when he pulled up?
These officers have an incredibly difficult job… This officer will also be scarred by the situation that Jamaica put him in.
V I m e o (dot) com / 380148633
The Examiner wasn’t as confident as you that this was a bad shooting.
Marcic was accused of lying under oath? I thought in you previous article you reported the judge said he was not credible. “Lying” and “not credible” have different meanings.
The Department of Police Accountability baldly and unambiguously accuses Marcic of lying under oath. It’s all in the story: “SFPD officer accused of lying under oath after severely beating bicyclist in SF’s Mission”
https://missionlocal-newspack.newspackstaging.com/2019/10/sfpd-officer-lied-under-oath-after-severely-beating-bicyclist-in-sfs-mission/
JE
DPA has zero credibility.
A judge’s salary is not effected by the decisions he makes. The Department of Accountability needs to find officers at fault to justify their existence, increase funding, and expand their empire. Find officers at fault or perish, which is by its very nature an inherent conflict of interest. However, you chose to quote a compromised DPA over a judge.without any apparent conflicts.
Looks like you missed the part in the article about the judge in this case throwing out Officer Marcic’s testimony because he found it conflicted video evidence. Per the judge: “Let me just say, I have concerns about Officer Marcic’s credibility, and particularly in light of the video we saw today.”
Thanks for your little song and a dance here about the DPA, but it seems you’re on pretty thin ice.
JE
Rick —
You need to read the words on the page. We took pains both in prior articles — when we hunted down the footage ahead of everyone else — and this one to denote what constitutes a justified shooting: “Reasonable” as opposed to “necessary” (the new, higher standard that will come into play on Jan. 1). We took pains to note that, going by the current standard, it would be difficult to categorize this as an abhorrent shooting.
An outcome in which eight to 10 shots are fired in a residential neighborhood and an aggressive man with a bottle is shot multiple times seems far from ideal, however. Just because something isn’t prosecutable doesn’t mean it was an ideal or inevitable outcome.
Best,
JE
Curious what you think is necessary?
Also, with regards to Hayes shooting Jamaica; reasonable and necessary. With regards to Flores shooting Jamaica; it seems even Hayes did not think it necessary, because Hayes quickly tells Flores to stop.
The main reason I first read an article (By Joe Eskenazi | Dec 16, 2019) regarding this incident is because Mission Local (By Joe Eskenazi | Dec 16, 2019) reported the following:
“He then runs west on the sidewalk before abruptly careening between two parked cars, into the street, and in the direction of a second officer — though, it appears, not directly at him.”
However, the camera footage shows Jamaica clearly running directly at Hayes when Hayes shoots him, and this subsequent article by Mission Local seems to back-peddle the assertion in the previous article (By Joe Eskenazi | Dec 16, 2019) that Jamaica was not running directly toward Hayes.
Mission Local unfortunately got this one wrong, and SFPD somehow told the truth on this one.
Steve —
I’ve watched the footage repeatedly and if you’re seeing Hampton running “directly” at Hayes, then you’re seeing things I am not. We used the term “appears,” because this is just one angle and it’s hard to assess: Both men were moving. In the body camera footage, Hampton seems rather surprised to see an officer when he runs out into the street. So I’m comfortable with what we wrote: Hampton was running toward Hayes. We haven’t tried to back-peddle anything; you’re mistaken there.
We also noted, in both prior articles and this one, that the burden of proof to bring action against the officer is high. Use of force must be “reasonable” rather than “necessary” — a change that will occur when AB 392 comes into effect in January.
Best,
JE
Not sure how you can miss that footage at 19:36 to 19:39 in this video
— it clearly shows Jamaica Hampton is running directly at Hayes (with a bottle) when Hayes shoots him.
You can claim to see something else, but then you’re not telling the truth; it’s pretty clear in the video I provided a link and exact point in the video.
It’s more important that journalist’s tell the truth than SFPD, so please, just tell the truth the first time.
Thanks!
Steve —
I am familiar with this footage. Since both men are moving, it is very hard to say he is running “directly” at the officer. We used the term “it appears” because it was very difficult make a hard ruling — and, having now reviewed the footage repeatedly, it still is. I’m glad you have 100 percent conviction on what you saw, but we do not.
We noted that he is running toward the officer — and, as we’ve made resplendently clear in multiple articles and comments, it appears that the “reasonable” standard governing police use of force has likely been met.
Your attempts to impugn my truthfulness are unnecessary and incorrect. Mission Local, long before any other publication, described these videos to our best ability and, I would argue, accurately. We have presented all of the available evidence and have also explained the legal and procedural steps moving forward.
I can’t satisfy every last internet commenter, but I am satisfied with our coverage.
JE
Why does the bad guy get the benefit of doubt, but not the officers? And let’s be clear, he is a bad guy. But I have no doubt the officers feared for their safety , clearly and justifiably as demonstrated by the injuries actually and factually and proven to be inflicted on the officer by said bad guy, Carribean island, who does not deserve any acknowledgement of identity.
Joe, I want to see you reacting to somone in rage running just in your general direction, holding a bottle in his hands. Taking into account this happens AFTER he attacked you in your car before you even could get out of your, hit your partner multiple times and after that very chaotic chase (where he was chased as well chasing you).
I bet you would run for your life.
I saw the video and he was CLEARLY running TOWARDS the officer. As I german I am always critical about the way american police handles things because our police force uses guns as a very last resort. But to me that was very clearly a clean shoot
Lubg —
While what you’re saying has some level of merit, it’s kind of a bankrupt premise. What *I* would do as a police officer is akin to what I would do as a professional football player or circus acrobat. These professions are judged by their own standards — not by the standard of random people plucked from the crowd and placed into a pressure situation.
Our story states, clearly and repeatedly, that Hampton is running toward the officer. Slow down and read the articles, please.
Best,
JE
“If you never served, you have no standing to comment.” is a tired refrain used to insulate the military and paramilitaries against democratic civilian oversight by mystifying their jobs.
That dog don’t hunt in an electoral democracy.
At 19:30 it appears Hamilton has a more reasonable path of escape by continuing W on 23rd, instead of cutting btw the parked cars toward where the officer(s) in the street awaited. Granted, there’s a lot of adrenalin flowing, but Hamilton has already advanced on officers in the video 3 previous times (17:40, and 18:01-10). At 19:30 he is already in the lane while the officer is just over the lane divider, probably apt 10′ apart; armed with a bottle. Since the cops have already tried to pepper-spray unsuccessfully, the fact that perp was shot in the leg seems more due to inaccurate rather than purposeful shooting.
Generally I’m pretty critical of the cops. But IMO, community is outraged (reflexively?) expressed in the wrong direction. Looks like a ‘good’ shoot to me.
Was a Tox panel done on perp? As a ‘former’ addict, he seems pretty hopped up and ‘motivated’.
If Tiny and Stalinist Gloria La Riva are on this, then we’re home free.
No more Politricksters in AmeriKKKa.
In this case, reasonable and necessary.
From the Examiner:
Then on Tuesday, the District Attorney’s Office filed two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of assault on an officer and one count of threat to an officer against him. He has also been charged with vandalism in connection with an unrelated incident.
What about the original 911 call about kicking in the apartment door? For me, that would be a justification that police had to apprehend Hampton immediately and not let him run away because he was a imminent danger to the public. Has it been omitted or still under investigation? Either the woman isn’t cooperating, didn’t identify Hampton, or there is more to that story.
All of these details have been in our preliminary stories. As were the details regarding the 911 call.
As noted in this article, if there is an evidentiary connection between Hampton and the man who broke into the apartment, it has not yet been publicly established.
JE
I think the 911 call connection is moot in this specific situation based on the fact that Hampton ran up and attacked the police as soon as they opened their car door, Hampton seems to be enough of a danger based just on his interaction with the police, regardless of whether he is the one who broke into the house.
Joe, now that the video is out you can stop trying to make this into a Mario Woods kinda thing. Jamaica attacked one officer before he even got out of the cruiser. Later he runs towards an officer carrying a weapon. The shooting was justified. This one is even more clear cut than that one in North Beach where the officer “shot the guy in the back”. No use stoking the community’s rage here.
Every factor you mentioned is not only in this story but has been in the last couple of stories. Your implication that we’re stoking the community’s rage is ignorant and ill-founded. The community needs little stoking, and the SFPD’s curious decision to omit key details from a shooting that, as you say, can be argued was justified did not help.
JE
JE-
You continue to be obsessed with the fact that the initial 60 word statement didn’t contain all the details. It could not and should not. Do you not feel that it is worthwhile to take some time to figure out what actually happened?
You wanted it to include that a foot chase occurred. Look at the video. In at least two occasions Jamaica ran TOWARDS the officers. Right after the initial contact the injured officer ran away and Jamaica chased HIM. So I don’t know if just calling it a “chase” is the proper portrayal.
The video also confirms your own reporting that the officers had multiple opportunities to shoot but held back until Jamaica ran dangerously close to one of them, still holding the bottle.
Some mature journalism, please.
I agree with Nightfoghorn.
Just out of curiosity, as part of your narrative, you scold SFPD for an imprecise accounting of the event, who is the incident of the suspect hitting the officer in the face called “an alleged assault,” but then “being shot by a second officer.”
My question is, why are you tainting the narrative describing Hampton’s “alleged” action vs the police’s “actual” action when clearly both happened.
Correct typo to WHY is the incident… (not “who”)
What the police did is a matter of record, what Jamaica did will be part of a criminal proceeding where he’ll be tried. So he’s innocent until proven guilty. They state that the body cam and surveillance video show him exchanging blows, but as a reporter I’d write it as “alleged” assault as well. It’s protection against libel and the typical way that you discuss crimes that haven’t been tried yet. It’s not really something to get upset about. It’s not inaccurate accounting of the events either.
This is also not an inaccurate account from the police:
“At 8:34 a.m. officers responded to a call of a hot prowl burglary in the area of 23rd and Capp Streets. They encountered a suspect who matched the description. When they encountered the suspect, he assaulted an officer with a weapon. An officer-involved-shooting occurred. One suspect and one officer were transported to a hospital and are in unknown medical condition. “
Police Officers are also innocent until proven guilty. Only administrative investigations don’t require that standard.
I take it back. Maybe you’re not a reporter. These are facts. What is inaccurate?
Amen, Marco. You should be reporting!
Excellent question.
Just a bunch of idiotic activists with no life crying. This was a clear cut justified shooting just like 90% of shootings by police.
Thanks Joe and Mission Local gang,
‘Only one video would play for me.
Others wouldn’t play due to ‘privacy settings’.
Glad Local went all out and owns the story.
My wild guess after a thousand cop shows goes back to Jimmy Buffet …
“Some people say there’s a woman to blame.
But I know, it’s just my own damn fault.”
Sounds like an attempted, ‘Suicide by cop’.
Worst thing revealed was that the cops have an officer recently
charged with beating the crap out of a cyclist …
They have him serving as a Training Officer?
And … his rookie feels that if his trainer shoots someone, he should too.
Even if they’re on the ground.
Best thing is that the suspect is still alive.
Glad to see they’re shooting for the legs.
You can get another girl.
No proof you can get another life.
22 days til Boudin gets the case.
Great ‘starter’ challenge.
I thought the Niners game was great.
Don’t forget that Shanahan was offensive coordinator for
both teams and Matt Ryan is 7th rated quarterback of all time.
Was watching it with Luke Thomas and he kept shouting for
last two minutes that we had this one in the bag.
Intensity of last 2 seconds worth the meaningless loss.
h.
HB – it isn’t clear or established that the police were shooting for the legs. It looks to be a fortunate accident. I’m almost certain that police are trained to shoot to kill, not to shoot for legs.
Go 49ers!
Taint,
I agree with you.
I keep suggesting they change the order of shoot to kill.
I know they haven’t but maybe this case will encourage them to do so.
Sad that they are still hiring Lateral Transfers dumped by other departments
for being too violent.
Wasn’t there a cop named, Serna?
Made him a training officer and he taught the other cops that when
you’re going to kick some ass in North Beach, borrow someone else’s
jacket so victims don’t get your name.
Serna screwed up by beating up one of Willie Brown’s special
assistants (recall the lady who had a web site dedicated to her
modelling lingerie?) …
That was a mistake.
Willie quickly got him fired.
Who chooses Training officers?
Worth a look.
Go Niners!
h.
I’ll be interested to see how Boudin handles it. He could charge the officers knowing they won’t be convicted. He could give the officers the pass, like Gascon always did. But I’m betting that he will try to anger his constituency as little as possible while still protecting himself. So I’m looking for him to do a long, long investigation. Long enough for memories to fade and people to move on to the next outrage du jour. He will probably invite a lot of other agencies in, so that he will have some cover when he has to announce eventually that there will be no charges. That, or he might try to split the baby and only charge the rookie for that last shot. But whatever he does, I’m sure it will be thoroughly described in social justice language, which us non-SJWs will have to decode for true meaning and results.
‘Night’,
I thought George Gascon was the best DA in the country.
This one will be as good and he’s 20 years younger.
Dean Preston’s victory in #5 was also momentous.
Can you believe Tom Brady won’t be in the Super Bowl?
Will we>>>
Gascon for LA DA.
h.
I really appreciate the level of reporting mission local has done on this. It’s important to remember folks that just because you dont like what you’re reading doesnt mean it’s bad reporting. Investigating the cops is very necessary.
And honestly after all this and my general feelings on the subject, I dont think this was handled badly by the officers. Yeah, sure, there was probably some way to end it without guns, but I think most people would have done the same in their place. I think highly trained people might have done the same. More may come to light but it certainly seems like a truly terrible hard situation where they tried to handle it differently at first.
As for the law, yes, its “reasonable” and that’s the only law that’s currently in effect and all that really matters at the moment.
I really like that San Francisco requires the police to have a meeting and justify their actions in situations like these. It’s something to be proud of as a community. Pro cop, anti cop or somewhere less black and white, this is a good thing.
“Officer Christopher Flores allegedly sustained these wounds after 24-year-old Jamaica Flores” should be Jamaica Hampton
Yep. Thanks for the eye.
Footage here as well
Good reporting. I was there tonight. Two things struck me:
1) The police displayed 4 photos:
* A basic street map of 23rd & Mission
* Aerial picture of the neighborhood showing maybe 100 houses
* The intact liquor bottle
* Police officer injuries
I was expecting to see a diagram depicting the distances and location of the officers and Jamaica when he was shot. They were at least 8-10 feet away. And as was apparent in the video, Jamaica was not running towards the officer at all. He was running away, parallel to 23rd street.
2) In the bodycam video you can hear the officer weeping in tears but also sniffling, like he’s trying to hold back snot running from his nose. The officer can be heard saying “I tried to pepper spray him” (that is paraphrasing). It also sounded to the audience that the officer admitted he pepper sprayed himself. And one of the community members raised the question of how can an officer who is at a minimum emotionally impaired, and quite possibly physically impaired due to pepper spraying himself, but authorized to use lethal force. The police sat stonefaced and had no response.
I am thankful we have laws on the books that demand this level of transparency. But I am disappointed, though not surprised, that with it, came selective release of facts that painted the most charitable narrative for the police.
This ‘circle the wagons’ mentality is morally bankrupt and rotten.
“And as was apparent in the video, Jamaica was not running towards the officer at all. He was running away, parallel to 23rd street.”
I will accept that you believe that, but people should take a look for themselves. It is easy enough; just go to the 19:34 mark of the video:
(it is on Vimeo, with the url ‘380148633’
The officers are in the street, Jamaica is on the sidewalk and he cuts through parked cars so that he is in the street also, much closer to the officers. So I guess we have different interpretations of the words “running away” and “parallel”.
You can assume he was running towards the police if you want. For seconds prior, Jamaica was dodging the police trying to get away. He then continues to try to escape by running what looks to be parallel to 23rd.
To believe an alternative narrative is to believe that after seconds of dodging and trying to evade 2 cops with guns pulled, Jamacia suddenly decides to run at an officer.
It is incredulous and delusional.
BT, I’m not assuming anything. I’m going by what is on the video. Have you seen it?
You can go to Vimeo dot com and paste “/380148633” into the URL. Or click on one of the several black “Sorry” boxes already in this thread. Jump to about 19:30 in the video. It directly contradicts what you say.
Even Mission Local has reported that he was running in the direction of the officer.
Perhaps one of us IS delusional but I am the one asking that people look at the video.
He had already proven to be a threat to the officers. Think you could make a better split second decision?
Total conjecture on your part to think the officer pepper sprayed himself. Crying also causes a person’s nose to run. I tried to pepper spray him sounds nothing like “I pepper sprayed myself”. The officer was simply stating he tried other options. Now if the cops were allowed to carry tasers, this likely would never have escalated to this point.
Nah. He can be heard in the video saying he peppersprayed himself.
I agree that other non lethal measures had they been attempted would have likely yielded a different outcome.
Go dubs! 2021!
Here is ALL the footage including from surveillance cameras that show what happened. The “emotional” officer didn’t become so until AFTER the shooting and that is perfectly normal when you think you may possibly have killed someone. Officers are also sprayed with pepper spray in the academy so they know what to expect and how to fight through it. They don’t have the luxury of just giving up and walking away if pepper spray gets in their face. How any sane person actually WANTS to be a police officer in places like San Francisco anymore is beyond me. Because this was a perfectly legal, reasonable, neccessary and justifiable shooting. About the only tool that could have resulted in a better outcome is the taser, which the officers still don’t have there. It’s simply amazing that in an area known as the technology capital of the world, that police officers don’t have technology that 99 percent of other law enforcement agencies have. But even tasers are foolproof, so this still could have ended up as a shooting either way. The officers did nothing wrong and everything right. Blame lies 100 percent with the suspect.
https://youtu.be/PPDMDJt_yiA
It’s not a mater of technology. It’s a matter of politics. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors continually to deny the Department less lethal tools. The BOS would rather the officers shoot someone than tase them. Leftist politics.
Here’s the link to a watchable video.
Mission Locals description of Jamaica Hampton’s shooting is misleading. And this was unwise and unnecessary (borrowing your headline).
You can borrow the apostrophe, too. It’s free.
Aww. Did your feelings get hurt?
By your bad grammar? Yes, deeply.
JE
Your a douche
You’re welcome.
JE
Oh yes, this was necessary. This criminal “suspect” just assaulted a Police Officer and was running towards another. What was this fiend going to do, give him an early Christmas hug? No, he was going to assault his second Officer of the day. This was a necessary shooting for the safety of the Officer and residents. As for the complainers, they would be thanking the Officers for keeping them away from this nice man. But they’re in no danger, so natch, whine and complain about the the Thin Blue Line. Thank you Officers.
I was there tonight and it seemed like a complicated situation. I was struck by the emotional intensity of the first 911 call (the mother had a baby in the apartment as the door was kicked down) and the flippant stupidity of the second one.
From the videos, Jamaica appeared to almost instantly attack the officers as they pulled up to speak with him (they weren’t even able to fully get out of their car before he started) and proceeded to assault them aggressively throughout the confrontation. Everyone was shouting deescalate tonight, but the officers had to decide whether to let him run free, which from my viewing of the events could’ve posed significant risk to bystanders given how violent he was. I think they acted appropriately up through the initial shooting but the second shooting as he was getting back up was harder to watch and more difficult to justify / understand.
Given the intensity of the assault on the officers it’s easy to see why they reacted the way they did but felt unnecessary. Its a horrible situation all around, and I don’t envy the position of the officers that morning.
I just saw all the videos that have been made public. The officers did a great job. Wish a speedy physical and emotional recovery to both officers. We support you SFPD
Julian,
Now that the body cam shots are public will you release them for us to see?
h.
The body cam footage is embedded within the story.
JE