The Use of Deadly Force: Honsal Says HCSO Already in Line With New Law Named After the Stephon Clark Shooting

Humboldt County Sheriff William “Billy” Honsal [Photo from HCSO webpage]

Humboldt County Sheriff, Billy Honsal, answered questions in a phone interview about how this might impact his department. For the most part, he noted, the law will not change operations for the Sheriff’s Office. He explained that the Stephon Clark law “brings California law into alignment with case law and Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office policy.” He pointed out that local law enforcement departments are increasing training in de-escalation and crisis intervention techniques, and also building positive relationships with the community to reduce the need for force at future crime scenes.

Honsal mentioned Graham v Connor as case law that drives current HCSO policy. In 1989, the case determined that the standard for use of force must be objective not subjective. In other words, courts cannot acquit an officer because the officer didn’t intend to harm a suspect, but must determine if the officer acted reasonably based on the facts of the case. As a result, the Supreme Court determined that trial courts need to decide if an officer evaluated the “severity of the crime at issue,” “whether the suspect poses an immediate threat to the safety of the officers or others,” and “whether [the suspect] is actively resisting arrest or attempting to evade arrest by flight” and other factors before applying force to a suspect.

The newly signed California law is called the Stephon Clark Law after the young man who was shot after dark while holding a cell phone and not a weapon as law enforcement had feared when they opened fire. Mr. Clark was suspected of vandalizing cars in his neighborhood that night.

People, especially in communities of color, feel California law has been quite weak in holding law enforcement accountable as, until now, the law has allowed law enforcement to shoot felons who are fleeing or resisting arrest under California’s original Penal Code from 1872.

The new law codifies the circumstances when force may be necessary. When the bill was first introduced, law enforcement agencies such as the California Sheriffs’ Association, were strongly opposed. In part because they feared the split-second decisions made in the line of duty would be evaluated with the 20-20 vision of hindsight. The Los Angeles Times reported that Governor Newsom worked with both sides to develop language and amendments that led to compromise. Law enforcement statewide took a ‘neutral position’ and while they were not actively supportive, they said “their worst fears” were addressed and they dropped their opposition.

The American Civil Liberties Union has stated, even with the compromises, the new law “will save lives.” The law expands the scope of investigations around lethal incidents to include the circumstances that lead up to a deadly interaction, instead of only the few seconds when a law enforcement officer makes a decision to shoot or not. This is widely viewed as incentive for officers and departments to use de-escalation techniques more often.

In the interview with us last week, Honsal said HCSO deputies are already trained in de-escalation techniques and in CIT (Crisis Intervention Techniques) to reduce the need for using force.

However, Honsal explained Humboldt County has twice the homicide rate as the California average and that, as part of their job, deputies “get inserted into potentially dangerous situations” such as domestic violence calls or making contact with people creating a public disturbance who may be under the influence of alcohol or other drugs that can increase their propensity for violent outbursts.

He said that to maintain deputy safety, the deputies are trained to take firm control of a scene and that may include ordering people to put their hands where they can be seen before a deputy knows whether the person they are directing is actually involved in the problem the Deputy is investigating. Honsal used the example that an innocent person walking home may match the description of someone reported to have recently committed a crime. Honsal said, “We have to stop them and say, ‘Show me your hands.’ Until [a deputy] has control of the situation, you will be treated like the person [the deputy] is looking for, as a potential suspect.”

Honsal said, “We are teaching this now because we want to be vigilant until we have control of the scene, until people are complying with orders to make the scene safe.” He went on to say, “Deputies are directing people to sit on the curb or to put their hands on their heads.” Honsal said these are “good officer safety skills.”

Law Enforcement, according to Honsal, no longer finds there are any “routine calls these days.” He related the case of an officer in Corona, California who was killed when he allowed a driver to collect personal property from a vehicle that was going to be towed away. The driver retrieved a gun and killed the officer on scene.

Honsal said that while inappropriate uses of force by law enforcement have the public’s attention currently, that “three to four times as many officers are hurt or killed” on the job.

Honsal said that his deputies are working to improve relationships with communities. He said deputies are making regular appearances at local schools so kids know “we are there to help them.” He also referenced the various Coffee with Cops events. And Honsal said, “Community meetings like the one in Southern Humboldt with John Ford and Estelle help us see the human side of each other. People may not agree with us; we may not agree with them, but we all have a mutual interest in making the community better.”