Point Reyes Light- July 27, 2000
Cops hope video cameras will reduce lawsuits
Each year, Marin County Sheriff's deputies respond to over 30,000 calls ranging from the mundane to the perilous. Every response is unpredictable, and many have the propensity to become confrontational.
While lawmen are trained and equipped to deal with violent situations, a fine line exists between appropriate and inappropriate force, and the public does not always agree with peace officers where that line should be drawn.
Nearly every large city in America has had its share of highly visible police brutality cases, whether it's the Rodney King beating in Los Angeles, immigrant Abner Louima's assault by New York City police officers, or the shooting and gang-beating this month of suspected carjacker Thomas Jones by Philadelphia police.
Yet even the Marin Sheriff's Department gets its share of complaints about police brutality. Between 1993 and 1999, 42 plaintiffs filed 24 lawsuits against the county accusing Sheriff's deputies of false arrest, excessive force, or assault.
$420,000 in settlements These cases have cost the county over $420,000 in settlements and awards, plus the legal cost of defending them. Of course, the expense of defending police brutality cases is hardly unique to Marin County.
For example, between 1994 and 1996, New York City paid about $70 million to settle brutality claims against its police department. Between 1991 and 1996, Los Angeles paid about $79.2 million in damages and settlements for alleged misconduct by its peace officers, and Philadelphia paid $32.6 million between 1993 and 1996, according to The American Prospect magazine.
Deputy county counsel Jack Govi, who has defended many of the police brutality cases brought against Sheriff's deputies over the last two decades, said Marin County's cases are not nearly as severe as those brought against police forces in larger cities. "In Marin County, a police brutality case is handcuffs scraping a person," he told The Light last year. "People will sue over anything here."
13 suits dismissed Govi noted that Marin Superior Court dismissed 13 of the 24 lawsuits brought against Sheriff's deputies between 1993 and 1999 because they were deemed frivolous or without merit, and many of the other cases were settled as a cheaper alternative to fighting them in court.
Of the 11 successful cases brought against the county during that six-year period, four were settled for a "nominal nuisance" amount of no more than $1,500 per plaintiff. Two other suits were settled for the cost of defending against them at a combined expense of $15,000.
However, two of the larger settlements stem from incidents in West Marin:
Musician Jason Owen contended that Sheriff's deputies assaulted him in 1997 outside the Old Western Saloon in an attempt to quell a late-night "riot". After an arbitrator sided with him, the County of Marin settled the case for $16,000.
Rancher Veana Pearson claimed that Sheriff's deputies and lawmen from the Marin County Major Crimes Task Force used excessive force to detain her while they searched her Chileno Valley property for stolen vehicles. Although a jury unanimously decided against Pearson, Judge Lynn O'Malley Taylor threw out their verdict because it was not supported by any of the evidence. Because the Task Force gets billed by county counsel for legal advice, it chose to settle the case for $27,500 rather than return to court for a new trial.
$350,000 for two cases Even larger settlements were reached with two plaintiffs who argued they were injured during two separate altercations with Sheriff's deputies in Marin County jail. These two settlements cost the county a combined $350,000.
Following the second jail incident, the Marin County Civil Grand Jury suggested in 1999 that video cameras should be on hand to document future altercations. "A policy requiring those on the scene not actually engaged in subduing the inmate to videotape should be implemented," grand jurors suggested.
"It would be beneficial if the ability to videotape, and the existence of policies requiring it where feasible, were known to the public," their report continued. "It would be assumed that the absence of a videotaping of an occasion of alleged excessive force supported the allegation... The ability to demonstrate that alleged excessive force was not used would substantially reduce the litigation exposure to the county."
Only a few cameras up Although the Sheriff's Department has requested video cameras for the jail's common areas, they have only been installed at the booking room, where incidents periodically occur, in the jail's kitchen facility, where inmates work with civilians, and at the jail's entrances and exits, said Sheriff's Capt. Dan Payne, the commander of the jail.
Hand-held video cameras are also available to tape inmates on suicide watch and when deputies move inmates who are likely to create an incident, Payne said.
Dr. Alan Ager of Nicasio used footage from the surveillance camera in the booking room last year to challenge his one-year jail sentence for growing pot. Ager, who smokes marijuana to treat chronic back pain, claimed that Sheriff's deputies shoved and mocked him in the booking room.
Judge John Sutro released the footage to Ager and his attorneys, but it was never made public for security reasons. In this instance and others, Capt. Payne said, the use of videotape has protected Sheriff's deputies from spurious lawsuits. He added that such incidents are also reviewed critically to improve existing jail policies.
Cameras in patrol cars "We'd like to see more cameras, definitely," he said. "In the long run, it does help reduce liability issues for the county."
Many municipalities in the Bay Area have taken the additional step of installing video cameras in their patrol cars to record every interaction between their police officers and the public. Lt. Angel Burnal of the Mill Valley police department said the footage from its six patrol cars provides valuable evidence for arrests, prevents spurious lawsuits, and keeps police officers honest.
"If they know they're being monitored, they're going to be on their best behavior, even though their behavior should always be exemplary," he said.
Since 1997, the Association of Bay Area Governments has been providing grants to its constituent cities to install video cameras in their patrol cars as a way to reduce their liability for civil complaints.
Although no firm evidence has yet been gathered showing how the equipment reduces the police departments' legal liability, nearly every eligible city from Benicia to Belvedere to Half Moon Bay has participated in the program, said Marcus Beverly, ABAG's director of risk management.
Keeping cops honest "They have become almost standard issue for police vehicles. I think they're here to stay," he said. "They have prevented claims, and they keep the cops honest. That's the bottom line."
Commissioner Dwight "Spike" Helmick of the California Highway Patrol said his department is slowly installing the equipment into its 3,000 or so patrol cars. The only negative comments about the equipment, he said, revolve around their price of about $5,000 per unit.
Although the Marin Sheriff's Department has started experimenting with different models of patrol car cameras, Sheriff Bob Doyle said that given his limited budget for new technology, installing the equipment in the department's fleet of about 30 patrol cars is not now a high priority.
For one thing, he said, deputies do not regularly make traffic stops, which are the events most effectively recorded by a dashboard camera. He also questioned whether the reduction in liability matches the equipment's cost.
Can't record everything "In our business, whether it's in the jail or in the field, we have thousands of contacts with people. It's impossible to videotape everything," he said. "You have to be practical. We are going to get sued."
Deputy county counsel Govi also doubted whether the Sheriff's Department could reduce its liability by videotaping interactions between deputies and civilians. Like Sheriff Doyle, he doubted whether such a procedure would be practical for the type of work performed by deputies, and he too noted that some people are just litigious by nature, whether cameras are around or not.
Because there is no apparent pattern to the police brutality cases filed against the County of Marin, the only way to reduce the county's liability is to vigorously defend the cases where a defense is warranted, Govi said.
"In any jurisdiction, you're going to have a certain amount of claims. I think that goes without saying," he said. "The way that we cut down on claims is by fighting them. Otherwise, word gets out that it is easy money."
Both Sheriff Doyle and Govi were also more than content to let their track record in court speak for itself.
"When cases do proceed to trial, there have been either no adverse findings or only nominal findings against the Department," Govi told The Light last year. "Moreover, these trial verdicts represent the community's reaction to the activities of the Sheriff. Clearly, this should be the gauge of the appropriateness of the Sheriff."
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