Grand Jury Studying Police Behavior : Review: The county panel is looking at the use of excessive force by law enforcement officials, including questioning the district attorney about his justification for legally clearing officers.

The San Diego County Grand Jury is studying excessive force by law enforcement officers, requesting specific cases involving sheriff’s deputies and questioning the district attorney about his justification for legally clearing officers, jury foreman Richard Macfie confirmed Friday.

Although quick to point out that the jury has neither begun a formal investigation nor decided whether to issue a report, Macfie acknowledged that the five-member Law and Justice Committee has adopted the topic of excessive force as a “study issue” and made an unannounced visit to Dist. Atty. Edwin Miller last week to press him on the issue.

“It’s becoming an increasing problem,” Macfie said. “So we are going to look at it more than (the jury did) last year. We want to know what the sheriff, the chief of police and the district attorney are doing about it.”

Last year, Macfie asked Sheriff Jim Roache to provide any cases in which allegations arose about excessive force. Roache said he told Macfie that the demand was too broad and asked him to request specific cases.

“They have made several requests,” Roache said Friday. “When we conclude our investigation, they are welcome to have a copy. As I understand it, this is nothing more than an informal inquiry.”

Neither Roache nor Macfie would identify which cases had been forwarded, but Macfie said some have appeared in newspaper accounts and others have been raised by the public over the past year.

“We’ve had complaints and inquiries. We read the newspapers,” he said. “Some (of the cases) are shootings and some are the physical handling of people who cry foul. Most are directed at the Sheriff’s Department, although we plan to talk to (San Diego Police Chief) Bob Burgreen also.”

Assistant Police Chief Dave Worden said he knew of no recent grand jury inquiry of city police.

Both the San Diego Police and Sheriff’s departments have had problems involving excessive force in recent years. In 1990, San Diego police shot 28 people, 12 of them fatally, and have been involved in two recent incidents in which suspects died after police used a restraint hold.

In the Sheriff’s Department, one deputy has been accused of assaulting or falsely arresting five people over seven years.

On Christmas Day, two sheriff’s deputies shot to death a 60-year-old gardener from Tecate, Mexico, who swung a homemade shovel at passing cars. The man’s relatives said he posed no threat, but sheriff’s officials argued that a 5-foot shovel was a dangerous weapon.

Five days later, a deputy sheriff in Vista mistakenly shot someone in the leg while arresting another man.

Although past juries have studied the issue, none has issued a comprehensive report on the topic of excessive force. The district attorney’s office has rarely charged law enforcement officers with criminal wrongdoing in the line of duty sparked by excessive force complaints.

Last week, the committee studying the issue made an unannounced visit to Miller’s office. Macfie said committee members were adamant about finding out from Miller what he interpreted to be excessive force and asked other questions about his legal rulings on such cases.

“I guess they said, ‘Let’s get it straight from the horse’s mouth’ and ended up storming his office,” Macfie said. “I’ve apologized on behalf of the grand jury.”

Linda Miller, a spokeswoman for Miller, declined to comment, saying that all grand jury matters are kept confidential.

Jurors will eventually ask Miller, Roache and Burgreen for their positions on excessive force and when it may be used, Macfie said. All three maintain that deadly force may be used if an officer fears for his life or the life of another. However, an officer can face internal discipline if it is determined that his fear was unreasonable and there was no reason to shoot.

The grand jury is seeking to determine whether all law enforcement officers and prosecutors in San Diego County share the same definition of excessive force, Macfie said.

“It’s not just important what Ed Miller or Jim Roache thinks,” he said. “It’s important what everyone else who works for those men think. We’re not primarily interested in specific cases, but in systems and policies and procedures. Did everyone follow those procedures and where did breakdowns occur?”

To get a better idea of when officers must use deadly force, a dozen of the jury’s 19 members visited the sheriff’s tactical training center near Miramar Naval Air Station in January.

One exercise at the center simulates potentially dangerous situations on a screen in which the participant decides whether or not to pull the trigger.

“I shot a guy in the chest who did nothing more than walk toward me,” Macfie said. “He had ripped a toilet out of a floor, broke bottles over his own head, cold-cocked my partner and came toward me. To me, he was a lethal weapon by himself. I shoot him today, and tomorrow we find out he’s someone’s daddy.”