By Jondi Gumz
Santa Cruz Sentinel
LIVE OAK, Calif. — Stockton Police Capt. Scott Meadors has seen a lot in his 26 years in law enforcement.
When he was 23, his first partner was killed in the line of duty.
He was working narcotics when his sister-in-law, a heroin addict, died at 36.
He knows two retired officers killed themselves last year.
His city is one of six chosen by the U.S. Department of Justice in March 2015 for a three-year pilot program designed to improve relationships between law enforcement officers and their communities.
This month, Meadors came to Santa Cruz to train Santa Cruz County deputies, part of an initiative launched by Sheriff Jim Hart in late 2015 after reading the President’s Report on 21st Century Policing.
Hart has been using the report as a template for making changes under his watch.
“The justice system is continually evolving and law enforcement needs to be nimble enough to adapt and grow with the changes that are occurring around us,” he said.
A year after the sheriff’s initiative began, a confrontation in Corralitos ended at 3:15 a.m. when a deputy fatally shot Luke Smith, 15, who had stabbed his father and uncle after ingesting LSD.
Deputies wear body cameras, and the sheriff released video footage of that incident in the interest of transparency.
CONFRONTATION
The eight-hour training from Meadors covered how the public views the fairness of the policing, biases people unintentionally apply and mending relationships damaged through historical tension and mistrust.
For the first time, three community members participated along with 50 deputies.
“We’ve never done that,” said Sheriff’s Sgt. Chris Clark, who oversees professional standards and conduct.
The reason community members were invited to this training is because of Lt. Jim Ross, a 25-year veteran who oversees the recruit training program.
He and Deputy Danny Cruz, a field training officer, attended a law enforcement class in Sacramento with community members.
Ross sat next to a pastor from Richmond, who found the training eye-opening.
So Ross wanted to bring that approach back to Santa Cruz County.
IN CONTROL
Meadors showed a video of a police chasing a suspect filmed inside the cruiser capturing the officers’ running commentary, ending in a crash with guns firing.
“Consider the public view of how events like this are seen,” he said.
He added, “This is not about using force. If you think I’m telling you to slow down, I’m not. Use it to the best of your training and de-escalate.”
Another video showed a man 6-foot-4 and 320 pounds who was tased twice after being uncooperative. The man failed to stop his car when signaled and did not comply when officers asked him to relax his arms so they could handcuff him.
Officers got his name, gave him options and a third taser jolt was not given.
Afterward, one deputy said, “We cannot lose. If we lose, we are going to get killed.”
Another added, “If I’m incapacitated, that gun is up for grabs.”
As deputies deal with call after call, there can be pressure to get a situation under control quickly.
“You want to go home at the end of the day feeling we made a difference,” one deputy said.
Meadors pointed out there may be occasions when you need to step back and “not create something.”
US VERSUS THEM
Next, Meadors asked deputies about their interaction with the community.
One talked about going Christmas shopping with kids, organized by the Deputy Sheriffs Association with help from Valley Churches United Missions.
One was happy to the Sobering Center is replacing jail for people who are drunk in public.
One wished opioid addicts would get treatment.
“You can’t force them into a program,” observed one veteran deputy.
Meadors turned the discussion on how an “us versus them” attitude can develop in law enforcement.
Officers are so watchful they are hyper-vigilant, sitting with their backs to the door at a restaurant just in case, and can be short-tempered at home.
Once off duty, they relieve the stress by working out or vegging out.
“Being emotional is viewed as weakness,” observed one deputy.
Another recalled handling a call about a death near the end of a shift.
“Making that mental transition can be difficult,” she said.
Belita Magee, a leader in the local NAACP chapter who attended the morning training session, welcomed the opportunity.
“This is very informative — revealing,” she said. “I’m hearing their perspective.”
HISTORY
Later in the day, Meadors talked about what has led generations of Americans to mistrust law enforcement, starting with the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, known as the “bloodhound law.”
He talked about Jim Crow laws that segregated blacks from whites, the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till based on an accusation recanted only this year and Alabama Gov. George Wallace in 1963 refusing the desegregate the University of Alabama, the Stonewall riots involving the LGBTQ community, and 1991 Rodney Kiing riots in Los Angeles.
“This is not ancient history,” Meadors said. “This is a narrative we all inherited.”
He showed a video example of how bias can be deadly.
Police were looking for whoever killed two Las Vegas officers eating lunch at Cici’s Pizza and the scene was chaotic.
An officer chased a suspect in Walmart expecting a black or Hispanic man with a gun, and when he saw a woman, he wondered, “Why is she here?”
Then he realized she was the suspect he was looking for.
AFTERMATH
A couple of deputies shared how episodes of violence affected them.
One said that since a homicide took place near a restaurant he used to go to, he hasn’t gone back there to eat.
Another recalled a shot that whizzed by his ear 17 years ago; the memory comes back when he’s at that location.
Meadors shared his experience when three armed robbers held up the Bank of the West in Stockton with three hostages.
“It doesn’t get any more difficult than that,” he said, adding that a suspect with an AK-47 shot at officers in pursuit, hitting the car. “One hostage was killed. It was my agency’s gunfire. We had no control. We never had the opportunity to negotiate.”
One deputy brought up the importance of what happens “after we control the situation and make it safe.”
Meaders agreed those interactions make a difference in relationships with community members.
He recalled how in 2002, he made the decision that led to police fatally shooting an African-American man. The man’s daughter showed up to talk to him, and she was handcuffed.
Meadors said he worried the man would kill himself and his daughter, but no one at the scene told the daughter that.
“We forget about the impact on the family,” he said.
Years later, when he saw this woman again, he took the opportunity to introduce himself and explain to her what happened.
They began building a relationship.
She asked him to speak to her son, who was afraid of police.
At her invitation, he attended a memorial for her father 15 years after his death.
“That doesn’t usually happen,” Meadors said.
Jessica Nifield, an attorney who is active in Santa Cruz County Community Coalition to Overcome Racism, noted the sheriff has stayed with the 21st century policing initiative despite the leadership change in the White House.
“It’s wonderful to see what gets taught,” she said.
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©2017 the Santa Cruz Sentinel (Scotts Valley, Calif.)