Chief Sends Wrong Signal on Shootings : Law Enforcement: Burgreen has said that he expects police will shoot and kill 10 to 12 people a year. He needs to convey, instead, that he wants no fatalities committed by his officers.

Let there be no mistake: To be police chief of San Diego, the nation’s sixth most-populous city, is an awesome responsibility. No dispute about that.

Let there also be no mistake that in 1990 there were 26 people shot by police, 12 of them fatally. Somebody was shot by San Diego’s finest every two weeks. A numbing statistic.

The first police shooting this year occurred Wednesday night. And Police Chief Bob Burgreen has made it clear in recent months that he expects there will be more. Unfortunately, some of his comments--undoubtedly meant only to reflect the realities of police work--may be sending an indirect message that shootings are acceptable.

For instance:

In August, when seven people had been killed by police and Burgreen was announcing a review of shooting policy, he said, “You’re going to shoot and kill 10 to 12 people a year, that’s just the way it is. There’s a hell of a lot more violence out there than ever before.”

The chief’s prophecy was fulfilled.

Then, in December, after the four-month study and seven community forums, Burgreen announced that $600,000 would be spent on extra training, stun guns, police dogs, Mace canisters, rubber bullets and electric Tasers.

He said he hoped that these measures would lower the number of shootings by police.

But Burgreen went on to say, “Even if we implement all of these changes, we cannot for sure predict what is going to happen out there today or tomorrow.”

Burgreen certainly didn’t mean to convey to his police officers with these comments that he was giving them a license to kill. But, for all of his effort, for all of his good intentions, he is sending them contradictory signals.

He is their employer, not one of the boys on the beat. And when he tells his work force that “ . . . (We’re) going to shoot and kill 10 to 12 people a year,” or “we cannot . . . predict what is going to happen,” the psychological lid is off.

The numbers “10 to 12” become meaningless. Each individual police officer, with his own panic point, caught up in an ugly, frightening situation, has in the back of his mind the knowledge that the boss has “approved” the killing of people in the line of violent duty.

Burgreen has served in high administrative positions in the San Diego Police Department for a long time. He understands authority. He runs the shop. He knows the power of the chief. He sets the tone.

But with these comments he is setting the wrong tone.

Yes, it is a jungle out there. Nobody is deluded on that score. That the police deal with the scum of our society day in, day out, is a given. But, whether it is a person who is a chronic offender or whether it is a person unwittingly thrust into the police orbit for the first time, the taking of that life is irrevocable.

Burgreen knows that more than most of us. Violence is his line of work.

As an employer and a public official responsible to all city residents, Burgreen’s message should be that he does not expect even one person to be shot by police officers.

With that message, an officer who does consider pulling the trigger, for whatever threat or provocation, knows that he or she will be committing an act that the chief does not approve of.

That is a far different mind-set than having a finger on the trigger for a chief who expects the killing of 10 or 12 a year.

The chief carries the heavy burden of leadership. The city administration has full confidence in his ability to lead, or he would not be chief. That he does not condone 10 to 12 fatalities a year goes without question. Obviously, he wants no fatalities committed by his officers.

That is exactly the point he must communicate, in no uncertain terms.

Burgreen should deliver that message immediately and convey to his force that he is deadly serious. Working people understand when the boss really means business.