San Francisco Chronicle/Vivian Ho, 5/30/14. "Daly City officers cleared in killing after standoff."
| Six member police/SWAT team armed with guns against one irrational guy armed with knifes. Other officers, appeals, civil charges? |
Chang's family told investigators that he had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and had been behaving irrationally for several days prior to his death. He had fired the family gun into the ceiling, the incident that his father said led him to hide the weapon and ammunition. .... Chang's doctor did not respond to calls for assistance at the time.
.... "It is our belief that both officers conducted themselves in a
professional, reasonable and proper manner and to the last moment sought
to avoid the very result demanded by the conduct of Errol Chang,"
Wagstaffe wrote." Read article.
Related updated article - San Mateo County Times/Erin Ivie, 6/2/14. "San Mateo County DA: Officers 'justified' in fatal shooting of mentally ill Pacifica man." "The homicide of Errol
Chang, while tragic, was legally justifiable homicide," said District
Attorney Steve Wagstaffe. "The use of lethal force was absolutely
necessary to save the life of Officer (Mario) Busalacchi ... The conduct
of (Busalacchi and Officer Stephen Woelkers) can only be described as
exemplary, and the community was well served by their actions. Through
the course of his office's investigation, Wagstaffe said he learned
both Busalacchi and Woelkers "likely" fired eight shots into Chang's
chest. The two Daly City SWAT officers weere assisting Pacifica
officers."
Related: This article is from the link posted on Ian Butler's Wavelength interview (5/12/14) with Matt Chang, brother of Errol Chang who was killed March 18, 2014. For related articles of the shooting, see Fix Pacifica search: Errol Chang.
Note: photograph above, other photographs, text and video by brianw453@ski-epic.com see "2014 Errol (3/18/2014)" ski-epic.
Posted by Kathy Meeh
71 comments:
626, thanks for the link you provided for this article, as posted on the Wavelength article, 5/12/14.
Interesting that it never came out about Errol firing the gun into the ceiling. All the cop haters and arm chair swat people would probably cry like a baby if they had to go into that house. Can we improve how our PD handle these situations? Yes. But to call cops murderers crosses the line.
No surprises here. Civil case ahead.
He tried to stab the cop in the face. Could have been fatal if he hit an artery. There's no grounds for a civil case here.
1247 That's up to a jury. Time will tell.
1124 Interesting that there's no mention of when he fired the gun into the ceiling. His father says it's why he hid the gun and ammo so sometime before the seige and confrontations? The comparison of untrained civilians to trained, armed, armored cops is absurd. That what you were going for?
@1209: Likely any civil suit will end in an out of court settlement with no admission of wrong doing. Cities usually decide to settle for less than what they project will cost them to go to court.
@355 Absolutely. Juries are notoriously hard to predict. These cases are becoming very common and that alone could predispose a jury to perceive a dangerous trend in law enforcement. They might want to send a message. They're only human.
You get the money, you won. And, while they lack the drama of a jury trial, out of court or pre-trial settlements have a powerful way of changing public policy. The civil suit system is one of society's checks and balances, the people's court.
Is there an actual DA report that I can read? This SF Gate article seems to lack any depth.
I don't believe Pacifica has any liability in this. These cases don't always end up in settlements.
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_24218896/federal-judge-clears-police-excessive-force-san-jose
Pacifica cops must learn to handle disturbed folks who don't pay attention to the cops. Maybe our Council--all democrats--should step up.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/PACIFICA-Man-dies-after-police-shock-him-with-2741340.php
PACIFICA / Man dies after police shock him with Taser / Relatives had requested help calming him down.
This was a $400K settlement.
602 I wonder if that earlier settlement against the city influenced the way PPD handled Mr. Chang after tasing him. In the earlier case the man died after being tased and then forcefully restrained. Mr. Chang's brother has already said the PPD called him off at gunpoint when he tackled Mr. Chang after the tasing and that allowed Mr. Chang to take refuge in the house. Did the earlier settlement lead to a change in police policy and procedure?
@555 dream on.
555 That case you cite involved a disturbed man with a knife who was killed by police and there the similarity to the incident on Pedro Point ends. Did you even read the entire article?
602 What does being Democrats have to do with any of this?
Anyway, these are tough situations. Humans aren't always going to perform perfectly. Sure we should train police to deal with these kinds of things. But sometimes people are going to be killed. Especially if they stab an officer.
How in the world can anyone "believe that Pacifica has no liability in this"? It happened in Pacifica, under the jurisdiction of the Pacifica Police Department. If Pacifica has no liability, then nobody does.
But what anybody believes is irrelevant. These things are almost always a matter of a negotiated settlement. In the rare cases where they go to trial, either side can come out winner or loser. It's a roll of the dice. Most cities don't want to gamble the entire city budget on that. But sometimes they do. We'll see what happens.
833 How? It's a sock puppet thing.
The Changs may decide enough and not pursue it. Nothing will bring their son back. Regardless, after this horror, people will think twice before they call the PPD for help with a disturbed love one. That creates a risk we can all share in. Another symptom of a dysfunctional town.
I love how Ian Butler always gives us unbiased professional reporting.
"these inappropriate actions by police"
"it seemed like they treated a mentally unstable person as a criminal"
Really Ian? Is that your professional expert opinion? Or did a commission rule on this?
12:00 AM, I "love" your insensitive, anonymous "jack ass" comment, not. And since you may not have watched Ian Butler's interview, it was with Matt Chang (Errol Chang's brother). The other guest was Martin T. Fox, Esq., an attorney who specializes in mental health cases.
If the SF Chronicle is correct, its possible no psychologist or psychiatric expert was consulted during the entire 6 hour ordeal leading up to the death of Errol Chang. The videos and photographs indicate the police/SWAT team had limited training in handling or containing a paranoid-schizophrenic disturbed person. Ian's comment that Errol was treated more like a criminal is both common sense and observable.
10:54 pm The Chang family already hired an attorney.
we need a city council hearing on this to review the events and decide on a better way to address these situations. Why a canned press release before the actual report is released? Report best be on the city website for everyone to read. Where was the Pacifica Police Chief?
9:51
City Council is on it! Right after they conduct town hall meetings on Highway 1.
Butler has provided a valuable community service. Ditto for those who posted photos. The cops went military on Errol Chang. Treated a man they knew to be mentally ill like an armed enemy combatant in his own home and literally scared out of his mind. The more info that comes out about this, the worse it gets. How simple to just say he stabbed a cop and that got him killed, case closed, everybody try to do better next time. It's not that simple. When the police killed Errol Chang they were dealing with a situation they created through their decisions that day. Money can't replace a loved one, but it can teach a town an obviously much needed lesson. I hope the Changs prevail in any legal action they pursue. Meanwhile, I wouldn't call these cops to deal with a rowdy drunk, let alone someone with mental illness.
I watched Ians biased interview. Tom Brokaw he's not.
It is also not true what Ian and others have said about Errol out the window for an hour with his hands up. There are only still photos. He kept pulling his head back inside and never had it out for more than a couple of minutes at one time.
Why lie if you have truth on your side?
Yeah 1251, the more info that comes out, the worse this looks (for Errol).
1.Officers have been cleared of criminal charges. That means they followed correct procedure.
2. Errol shot a warning shot through the ceiling. A little tidbit that was left out of the brothers story. The police going in knew this. They did evrything they could have including trying to contact his shrink but Errol was not surrendering in ernest.
This tragedy is not the fault of police or anyone.
Uh huh. Yeah, that's what I would take away from all this. The deceased wasn't continuously hanging out the window long enough and Butler isn't Brokaw.
426 Two DC Swat officers will not face criminal charges for shooting Mr. Chang when he attacked them with a knife. At that point not much else to do. Stand alone fact.
No other shrink or mental health resource? An absurdity. Perhaps the most tragic one.
There's nothing in that article that says Mr. Cheng fired what you're calling a warning shot. It does say he fired a shot into the ceiling at some time and his father then took the gun and hid it and the ammo separately. Could have happened earlier that day or days before. We don't know and I doubt you do. Assumption on your part. Convenient.
616 Don't put words in my mouth. I never said it happened that day. I don' believe it did. But the fact that he shot the gun threw the roof shows he wasn't afraid to use it.
BTW 812 was me.
Hutch, well bless your heart. I suppose you were 426 also. Why am I not surprised?
Obviously we see this event very differently, but your use of the phrase 'warning shot' in your 426 post is a spectacularly bad choice of words. Clarity is as important as facts. You wouldn't want anyone to think you play fast and loose with the facts when, really, you're just misunderstood. I know you feel have strong feelings about the shooting. Glad you cleared that up.
This guy followed the Police Officers orders and did not get shot.
May 21, 2014
PRESS RELEASE
On 05-16-14, at approximately 11:29 PM, officers responded to the 600 block of
Arguello Boulevard after a resident reported a subject on the roof of their residence.
Upon arrival, officers located a male subject on a residential roof, later identified as a 34
year old resident of Pacifica. Officers made verbal contact with the subject who refused
to come down from the roof. The subject asked responding officers to shoot him.
Members of the Pacifica Police Department Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) responded
and assisted in communicating with the subject. CIT officers are trained to
communicate with individuals who may be in crisis.
After approximately eight hours of speaking with the subject, he came down from the
roof on his own, where he was detained by officers. The subject was uninjured during
this incident.
Refer: #14-1714
Chief James Tasa
Chief of Police
By: Captain Daniel Steidle
The important difference about the incident reported in the press release is not that the subject followed orders (he didn't, he wouldn't come down), but that instead of calling in a SWAT team, the police called in the Crisis Intervention Team, officers who are trained to deal with individuals in crisis. Perhaps the Pacifica Police learned an important lesson from the Erroll Change incident.
This happened on May 16th. Timing is everything in life and there are all kinds of crazy.
No anon 1243, the big difference in these two events is only one person was violent, threatening and brandishing a weapon with possible access to a firearm that he had recently shot through the ceiling.
Wow. This press release was sure written to highlight the difference in how these two incidents were handled. Several similarities with very different outcomes. Eight hours, in the dark, no mention of DC SWAT. The message is all in Tasa's final sentence...the guy is alive.
Thanks 1146 for sharing the press release. Doesn't support your regular position but good reading.
Protect and serve.
120 On the ceiling again? If you weren't so full of hot air, you wouldn't have that problem. Not so easy to fix the others.
Errol Chang had been alone in his home for six hours. Not violent or threatening to anyone during that time, but the SWAT geniuses sure changed that!
Yes it illustrates that if you pose no threat or don't attack officers you will not be harmed.
1243, San Francisco called a "Crisis Intervention Team", rather than Pacifica calling the Daly City SWAT Team. Imagine that, San Francisco dialed the appropriate phone number.
1251 assessed the situation perfectly. The crisis: A paranoid-schizophrenic male (not medicated) undergoing a psychotic episode, unable to understand or follow directions, in a house, armed only with a knife or hatchet, trying to protect himself. The .22 caliber rifle in the house was disarmed by the father prior. Going in, SWAT might have known they could encounter a mattress/furniture barricade, and the perpetrator would protect himself with knives. As 142 says "protect and serve". What was the strategy to protect both police/SWAT and Errol, was there one?
Its doubtful that ANY psychiatric/psychologist professional would defend the "if resist, terminate" strategy used by police/SWAT 3/18/14. Police may have been exhausted, they may have lacked training; they called SWAT, but did they call Crisis Intervention? And when police were unable to reach Errol's doctor (according to the article), did they communicate with an agency or any psychiatric professional? Or, was the SWAT strategy: if there is perpetrator resistance, "shoot". (Sure, technically this was a clean shoot, except Errol was in a psychotic state, agitated, didn't know what he was doing, and now he's dead). Attached is an updated article: San Mateo County Times/Erin Ivie, 6/2/14, "San Mateo County DA: Officers 'justified' in fatal shooting of mentally ill Pacifica man."
Bob 346, Ian Butler may not be a highly paid news anchor (as retired Tom Browkow was); but some of us think, Ian Butler is our community eco-version of Charlie Rose. His volunteer time involvement, energy and intellect in putting together timely interviews for the benefit of this community is very much appreciated (even if we don't always agree with him). And without Ian's commendable effort, there is another information void in this city. The Matt Chang and Martin T. Fox (attorney) interviews discussed the personal and legal (plaintiff) follow-up to Errol's death from the view of the Chang family. (The defending police and municipal agencies might not want to discuss their position at this time, prior to a lawsuit.)
Kathy
What does SF have to do with anything. We were all talking about Pacifica?
323 Resist and die seems a particularly barbaric strategy for dealing with the mentally ill whose inability to think and act rationally is at the heart of the problem. Barbaric police response.
I'd like to respond to Hutch's comments above.
First off, I absolutely agree that I'm no Tom Brokaw, and am in fact biased. Wavelength isn't a news program, it's an interview program, and my goal is to better understand the guest's point of view. Hopefully, in the process, the viewer can do the same.
Now as for this comment of Hutch's:
"It is also not true what Ian and others have said about Errol out the window for an hour with his hands up. There are only still photos. He kept pulling his head back inside and never had it out for more than a couple of minutes at one time. Why lie if you have truth on your side?"
As far as I know, Errol did have his hands out the window for most of that hour, although he did switch from one window to the other as one point. If Hutch has information that shows otherwise, I would like to see it. Even if such evidence exists, he could hardly call me a liar for saying what the photos imply. And if he can't provide proof that Errol "kept pulling his head back inside and never had it out for more than a couple of minutes at one time", then I will have to assume that it is he who is being dishonest. The time dated photos can be seen here:
http://www.ski-epic.com/2014_harold/index.html
12:43 Who said the CIT was not called for the Errol Chang incident?
Yes, Kathy, what does SF have to do with anything?
Kathy, Agree with you 100%, but for the record, 1243 was referring to an incident on Arguello here in Pacifica. We can draw some interesting conclusions on how the PPD chose to handle that event following the Pedro Point debacle. Foremost among them, the man on Arguello was treated with intelligence and compassion as a person with mental problems rather than as an armed enemy combatant. There may be hope for the Protect and Serve approach to law enforcement.
437, 524, 537, okay, multitasking, my 420 bad. Not Arguello Blvd, San Francisco, but Arguello Blvd, Pacifica.
Unbelievable, Pacifica police do know how to dial the "Crisis Intervention Team"! Apparently they just didn't do it 3/18/14.
As someone who's grown up with a brother with bipolar disorder, there is a great resource for all families, http://www.nami.org/. They are a national organization that can provide support for those who are mentally ill, their families and others. What happened was a horrible tragedy. I urge all to have compassion for both the family that has lost their son & brother and compassion for the police who weren't properly trained. But, look at what has just recently happened with mentally ill men that had access to guns lately. We need to take action as a community, support the families of the mentally ill and help them find the resources to support their child and get our first responders trained to deal with mentally ill people who have decided to go off their meds. It would be the right thing to do.
Kathy Meeh, I know you are just winging it as far as facts go, but CIT was called on 3/18/14 and were there for hours.
The circumstances were very different at the Arguello event. That person was unarmed.
754, suddenly you have appeared with the facts we've been waiting for 'ol great one. Who is CIT? You're speaking in acronyms.
Errol was armed? Technically correct. But, are you really equating an agitated paranoid-schizophrenic in a psychotic state with a knife to a professional SWAT team with guns. Does that comparison make you feel better?
Weeks ago, an Anonymous made an astute comment that had police offered Errol a sandwich (calm and nice), the outcome to contain him might have been better. Something is wrong when the alternative to live containment is death. Mentally-ill people exist and sometimes get seriously out of control. If there are not better ways of dealing with such a crisis, there should be. Another Anonymous mentioned we dart and net animals, what about humans?
Circumstances have variables and commonalities. Training for predictable, safer outcomes is better than oops, or completing a "justifiable shoot" report.
Kathy, 754 either can't or won't make those distinctions. Probably not the kind of person who would have ever offered Errol Chang that sandwich--which IMHO was someone's brilliant observation on the power of treating people humanely.
The DA's report seems to be a model of the old "it's a shitty job, but somebody's got to do it" variety. BTW, CIT is Crisis Intervention Training which some officers undergo. I think the Pacifica officers were the only CIT presence on Pedro Point. Once Mr. Chang was in the house, and DC SWAT rolled up, I don't know what Pacifica's role was. In any event, CIT is not meant to replace the professional mental health expertise so sorely needed that day on Pedro Point. Per the DA's report, the police attempt to get psych help during the six hour siege consisted of nothing more than calling Mr. Chang's shrink and not getting a timely response.
So, here we are early in the 21st Century and the best we can do in Pacifica for a paranoid schizophrenic in acute crisis is to completely fulfill his paranoid delusions that people are out to get him by using a military style police approach, flash bang grenades, and a final confrontation ordered by, according to the DA's report, a "command decision" at 630pm. They knew he was probably still armed with something--he had been armed with a hatchet six hours earlier. Once SWAT entered that house there could be only one outcome. Errol Chang was killed by ignorance. Time will tell how much an education will cost us and not just in terms of money.
Chang hugged both his parents earlier in the day and said his goodbyes.
This tells me he knew.
He would get shot and killed that day.
Or he knew, he would be locked up in a mental facility for a long time.
VA Whistleblower says Veterans were killed and neglected on purpose. Most health officials were/are not military personal but private citizens who neglected, threatened, abused, beat up US Veterans.
My question is, what makes you think Americans, in Pacifica, would care about a nut who fires a gun in his home, stabs a cop, then pretends he is surrendering??? They don't. Movin on.
729, and your reasoning is Pacificans should not care about their brother, family, friends, neighbors, community, because some Veterans were not treated well. Really?
Apparently Errol was well liked in spite of the onset of his illness, try google. Here's a little background information on Schizophrenia, Paranoia and Paranoid disorders, and Bipolar disorder.
Guess you haven't "moving on" either, you're still trying to think about this. Eventually there may be a medical solution to fix what triggers some of these mental disorders; meantime civil agencies (even in Pacifica) need to "move on" to deal with it.
Yes Errol was not only armed with an axe, he had brandished it at officers earlier. If they had wanted to shoot him they could of right then. But they didn't and held off for 6 hours. But the fact that he may have access to a gun that he had recently illegally used forced police to end the standoff for the safety of the public. Errol using potentially deadly brass knuckle style knife designed to kill, stabbing the officer in the leg, then arm sealed his fate. It's sad, but I don't blame the police or anyone. Could we learn from this, yes. But sometimes police are going to have to use deadly force.
Moral of this story IMO is do not have guns available for a severely mentally challenged person to use. Call police, or a friend and have them hold them. We've seen too many incidents lately involving schizophrenic individuals committing murders because they had access to firearms.
After reading the DA's report I am of the opinion that the police chose the wrong course of action or acted incompetently at each and every decision point, until the outcome (attempted stabbing and then shooting to kill) was an inevitability.
It is unreasonable (and therefore inexcusable) to expect a mentally deranged person to respond to the orders (legal or not) of total strangers with weapons in an atmosphere of escalating tensions. The only safe course of action was to secure the area, move away as to not further agitate the person and wait until he was too tired to resist or surrendered. There was no one else in immediate peril that required such a response.
While the two officers mentioned in the report were cleared, the report does not address the response of the police department as a whole, whether it was able to apply the correct resources, personnel, and tactical response needed to bring this to a safe conclusion. I would love to hear an analysis of this incident by professionals in law enforcement that understand what best practices are. I also do not dismiss the responsibility of the family in contributing to the severity of the outcome by keeping weapons in the home or failing to get more intervention help earlier in his illness.
I think and believe that our Peace Officers did an excellent job.
Thank you to all of our Peace Officers who rise above all the chatter and discourse and remain.
God Bless You.
Palestinians are brutally killed daily and no one seems to care.
Errol's own father said he was afraid Errol would kill him in his sleep. He knew police would probably kill Errol but he said he had no choice but to call them. The father didn't blame police. I don't see how we can.
Errol Chang did not have to die. He was mentally ill and incapable of sound decisions about anything. Start with that fact and don't brush it aside when convenient. The DA's report clearly says SWAT chose to enter the house before nightfall to protect the officers. It doesn't mention protecting Errol or the community with this decision. They chose to escalate a situation with a paranoid schizophrenic by launching an assault on his home. Brilliant. The outcome could not have been a surprise. Why escalate?
208, Yes you're right he was mentally ill. But you're wrong in assuming he could not make sound decisions in efficiently attacking stabbing and almost killing an officer. Having a mental illness does not preclude him from being deadly, which he almost was. Just look at the many mass killings lately by mentally ill persons.
SWAT chose to enter the house because there was a gun and ammo hidden in the small house and if given enough time he may have found it. Then things could have been much worse.
@1128 Sure looks like they chose the worst possible course of action and for pretty thin reasons. SWAT acted in a way guaranteed to provoke the most extreme paranoia in Errol and then killed him when he reacted. Is there any acceptable reason for such reckless disregard for a human being?
Do any of you who are criticizing cops have any expertise, training or experience with police work?
The father says police did right
DA says they did right
What makes you know more than them?
238 Taking on SWAT with a knife--That's your idea of a sound decision. Really? The mentally ill are by legal definition unable to make sound decisions. As for the rest, you do tend to make it up as you go grinding along. Utter waste of time.
Yes 401 you are right and the father, cops, investigators and DA are all wrong. Mentally ill people are always harmless and defenceless and never pose a threat to anyone. The cops should have ignored Errol's father, the fact there was a gun in the house and just gone home. Oh all knowing anonymi you are so wise.
438 Sorry, I just can't take you seriously.
Hey anon June 4, 2014 at 12:36 PM - Why do you feel it necessary to bring in a totally unrelated issue? And while you're at it why not mention the hundreds of thousands who have been killed in the last two years only a few miles from the "Zionist Entity" in Syria? And why no mention of North Korea, Iran, the fact that homosexuals are killed everywhere else in the Middle East, the attacks on Christians, women, religious minorities or just about anyone who isn't a Palestinian?
I'll tell you reason why - you're a despicable anti-Semite.
11:00
I must have stuck a nerve.
ouch
Mazel Tov!
Oy vey
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