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Alameda: Police should not respond to calls for someone in a mental health crisis

Contra Costa Times - 5/9/2021

May 9—ALAMEDA — Armed police officers should not respond to calls about people in a mental health crisis and the work should be shifted to others trained in counseling, city officials say.

What's more, the City Council wants to hear back by June 30 on a pilot program — and how it will be funded — on creating the new approach.

The council took the action during a special meeting Saturday, after hearing from about two dozens speakers, demanding changes in how police interact with the public.

The move followed the death of Mario Arenales Gonzalez, 26, of Oakland. He died as Alameda police officers were taking him into custody on April 19. Some speakers said the officers involved "murdered" Gonzalez and demanded that they be fired.

"Alameda is not that different or special, especially when it comes to police," resident Cheryl Taylor said, referring to the recent high profile national cases involving law enforcement, such as the killing of George Floyd.

The council also wants, within two weeks, to have the city manager review all bodycam footage where there's a use of force and to provide random views of bodycam footage involving interactions with the public.

Plus it wants to hear as part of a future budget a proposal for a potential new employee within the city clerk's or city attorney's office to audit and provide policy revisions as part of developing an oversight regime, including a community oversight board for consideration on the 2022 ballot that would be in the city's charter.

"We can't separate the issues," speaker Debra Mendoza said. "We can't separate racial equity and Mario's death."

Officers contacted Gonzalez after hearing a report that he appeared intoxicated or under the influence.

Body camera footage from the officers shows them questioning Gonzalez, including asking for identification.

After police force him to the ground and restrain him as he lies facedown, the officers realize Gonzalez is unresponsive. They roll him onto his side, then push him onto his back and begin chest compressions after checking for a pulse, the footage shows.

The council broadly adopted changes in policing in March, and asked city staff to come back with how they might be implemented. The changes were prompted by officers detaining a Black man after a woman said she was concerned for the man's safety — he told officers he was exercising or dancing in the street.

Gonzalez's death put policing back on the council's high priorities.

Body camera footage shows officers pinning Gonzalez facedown on the ground for about five minutes and Gonzalez becoming unresponsive while in handcuffs. The three officers involved are now on administrative leave.

The Alameda County Sheriff's Office and the Alameda County District Attorney's Office are both conducting independent investigations, plus the city has hired Louise Renne, a former city attorney for San Francisco and a former San Francisco supervisor, to carry out an investigation.

Gonzalez suffered a medical emergency as he was being detained, police said in a statement shortly after officers confronted him.

His family maintains he was killed by police using excessive force.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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