Pratt Seeks Inquests by Coroner When Police Kill Civilians

With the vocal backing of several colleagues, San Diego City Councilman Wes Pratt called Wednesday for the city attorney to formally ask the county coroner to reinstitute a policy of conducting a public inquest in all cases of civilians being killed by police.

Pratt’s resolution came during a three-hour public hearing on law-enforcement issues that included council members, senior police officers and community members. The lively session suddenly grew quiet with the tearful testimony from relatives of two men slain by police last month.

“My husband participated in the community, fighting drug traffic and supporting all efforts to make San Diego a better place to live,” Mary Dubose said. “And yet, for no apparent reason, he was gunned down by a police officer’s bullet.”

Dubose’s husband, Tommy C. Dubose, was shot to death March 12 by officers who had entered the Dubose home to search for drugs.

Also bringing a hush to the crowded council committee room was Lula Baker, who related how her nephew, Johnny Douglas, was fatally shot during a police chase March 6.

“There have just been too many police shootings and killings of black community members,” she said. “When my nephew was shot in the back of the head, he was shot for running, for trying to evade false imprisonment.”

The special hearing was also highlighted by a lengthy presentation by Police Chief Bill Kolender, who addressed a wide range of public-safety issues and once again warned the council that drug and gang activities are causing a sharp increase in crime in San Diego.

“You could put a cop on every street and you’re still going to have problems,” he said.

In calling for coroner’s inquests, Pratt said he believed that a “shadow has been cast” over the public image of the Police Department because of a recent rise in police shootings and the refusal of the coroner and the county grand jury to conduct an independent investigation into the Dubose slaying.

“We must dissipate this shadow,” he said. “We must cast the bright light of public trust back up on the good deeds of law enforcement.”

Under Pratt’s proposal, which is to be addressed Monday by the full council, a public coroner’s inquest would be held after every controversial police shooting. He said state law “allows and directs” county coroners to conduct public inquests into all violent, sudden or unusual deaths.

He said inquests are commonly held in many counties, including San Francisco and Santa Barbara. He also said that the Contra Costa County sheriff routinely holds inquests into police shootings that even allow the family of a victim to publicly express their concerns.

“The inquest system is not a new one,” he said. “It has been allowed by law for well over 25 years. It has been employed time and again to address the concerns of citizens throughout California. San Diego used to conduct inquests and many counties still do.”

Pratt originally asked Coroner David Stark to hold an inquest into the Dubose slaying, but Stark rejected that request. Stark said at the time that such an inquest would merely reaffirm the cause of death but provide no new evidence into the circumstances leading to the death.

Stark reiterated his concerns in an interview Wednesday night.

“The problem with a coroner’s inquest, I could tell the community right up front, is that it is not going to resolve or air their concerns publicly,” he said.

Stark said an inquest jury could only discuss the cause of death, and not make any public statements about civil liability.

“They can place no responsibility,” Stark said. “They cannot even name the person who was responsible for the death. And they could not editorialize on the procedures of the Police Department or anything about the decedent that may have contributed to his death.”

He said the majority of the counties in California do not hold public inquests, and he said San Diego stopped the process in 1970 when the law changed and prevented “juries from assigning a mode of death and discussing the entire incident.”

“If we were back in that time, this would be a forum that could be used,” he said. “But we’re not.”

Although Mayor Maureen O’Connor and several other councilmen said they favored Pratt’s resolution, City Atty. John Witt cautioned about the legal limitations of a coroner’s inquest.

“The conclusions would not disclose any new information not already on the public record,” Witt said. “It may not prove as fruitful as you would hope.”

City Manager John Lockwood said he has confidence in the current system, in which the Police Department’s internal affairs unit and the district attorney’s office investigate police shootings. But he added that he would not be opposed to a public inquest, as long as it was conducted by a “legally constituted body.”

“We believe the system should be open,” Lockwood said. “But I do object to a kangaroo court.”

Kolender said he too would be in favor of a public inquest, if so desired by the council. “As long as the body is legally constituted, I have no objection,” he said.

Many of the private citizens who testified at the hearing, such as Dubose and Baker, said an independent public investigation is deeply needed in every instance of a controversial police shooting.

“I can’t help but feel many of the facts in my husband’s death are being kept from the public,” Dubose said. “The city must be afraid to let the people know the true facts. Why haven’t the police told the people in San Diego what went wrong and what they’re doing to prevent it from happening again?”

“My only purpose,” she added, “is to see that such tragic occurrences do not happen again.”

Baker said residents of Southeast San Diego live in fear of the police, particularly when people are shot by officers who are not held accountable for their actions. She asked the council to lobby Congress for a special prosecutor to come to San Diego and investigate the recent police shootings.

“The black youths of Southeast San Diego cannot walk the streets without worrying about being illegally detained or shot by the San Diego Police Department,” Baker said. “Every black youth in Southeast San Diego is considered a gang member. We are not safe even in our homes because San Diego police knock our doors down in the middle of the night.”

Both women cried during their testimonies, forcing them to stop briefly until they could regain their composure. When the women left the podium, many of the more than 100 people in the audience applauded.

Several in the audience called for Kolender’s resignation. However the council and several other citizens testified in strong support of Kolender and his department. And Kolender said his officers are doing all they can to stem the increase in gang- and drug-related crime.

“Drug abuse is the most significant issue affecting the Police Department and the people of San Diego today,” he said.

Kolender noted that, last year, police made more than 18,000 drug-related arrests and that more than $68 million in property, not counting cars, was stolen to finance drug habits. “That’s $186,000 every single day,” he said.

He also said police are concerned that the gang problem in Los Angeles is moving south to San Diego. “These gangs have structure,” he said, “including levels of authority, money laundering, controlled killings and vast resources at their disposal.”

The chief also discussed crime prevention and police community-relations issues, as well as the Civilian Advisory Panel on Police Practices, which reviews how police internally investigate citizen complaints.

Several public witnesses at the hearing sharply criticized the advisory panel, saying it could not be trusted because its members are chosen by Kolender and Lockwood. However Mayor O’Connor noted that the Charter Review Commission is considering asking for a November ballot initiative for a new police review board.

“They can put it on the ballot and we are all free to campaign for or against it,” she said.