Change is prompted by shooting of Chargers linebacker Steve Foley
By Joe Hughes
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
SAN DIEGO, Calif. — Law enforcement officials yesterday unveiled a new countywide policy covering off-duty peace officers who encounter criminal activity – a policy prompted by the controversial shooting of Chargers linebacker Steve Foley.
The guidelines come eight months after off-duty Coronado police Officer Aaron Mansker shot and wounded Foley, who pleaded guilty Thursday to a drunken-driving charge.
The policy was developed through a collaborative effort with the Coalition for Justice, the ACLU and other groups and is believed to be the first of its kind in the county.
The new guidelines say off-duty officers should first try contacting the appropriate law agency so on-duty officers or deputies may respond. If an off-duty officer intervenes, he must – if reasonably possible – identify himself, his agency and his intent to stop criminal conduct.
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San Diego police Chief William Lansdowne said at a news conference that the “catalyst for the new policy” was the series of events that unfolded the night of Sept. 3. Neither he nor others at the conference would comment directly on the incident, which remains an active criminal case.
Mansker, 24, said he followed Foley from near Balboa Park in San Diego to Poway after seeing a 1971 Oldsmobile Cutlass being driven erratically on state Route 163 shortly after 3 a.m. The officer was wearing civilian clothes and driving his own black Mazda. Officials have said that Mansker made more than one call to dispatchers to report the incident.
Mansker said Foley got out of his Oldsmobile and walked toward the officer after the cars came to a stop on Travertine Court in Poway. Mansker said he shot Foley because he saw him reach toward his waistband, as if for a gun.
Foley was unarmed.
Moments earlier, Mansker said, a woman who was with Foley got behind the wheel of the Oldsmobile and tried to run down the officer.
Foley, who was later released by the Chargers, has sued the city of Coronado and Mansker, contending he was unjustly shot.
Chula Vista police Chief Rick Emerson, president of the chief’s and sheriff’s association, said the policy “lets the public know what they should expect when stopped by off-duty officers who are not driving a black-and-white squad car or uniform with a badge.”
Emerson also said that when an off-duty officer in an unmarked car attempts to pull over motorists, and the car is not easily identifiable as law enforcement, or the officer is not wearing a recognizable uniform, the driver may proceed to the nearest lighted area and call 911 to ask for a uniformed officer to be sent to the site.
San Diego Union-Tribune