Hercules Police Use of Force Policy
| Submitted | June 4, 2020 |
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Communications
From: Alison Boden
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the California Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:
All current policies maintained by the department regarding use of force.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 calendar days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Alison Bodenhemier
From: Hercules Police Department
Ms. Bodenhemier,
The records you are requesting are on our city website under Government, Police tab, and designated as SB 978. Our entire policy manual is in this section and has been since December 2019 in compliance with Senate Bill 978. Below is a link to our city website.
https://www.ci.hercules.ca.us/
Commander Joseph Vasquez
Hercules Police Department
111 Civic Drive, Hercules, CA 94547
Desk. 510-799-8272
Cell. 510-367-5649
FBI NA Class # 269
jvasquez@ci.hercules.ca.us<mailto:jvasquez@ci.hercules.ca.us>
"As iron sharpens iron, so one man
Sharpens another" - Proverbs 27:17
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From: Alison Boden
Dear Commander Vasquez,
Thank you very much for your reply. I was able to find most of the information I needed in the Policy Manual on the city website. I have 2 questions that I didn't see specifically addressed and want to be sure of the answers to:
1. Are officers required to give a verbal warning in all situations before using deadly force?
2. Are officers required to exhaust all other alternatives, including non-force and less lethal force options, prior to resorting to deadly force?
Kind regards,
Alison Bodenhemier
From: Hercules Police Department
Good Morning Ms. Bodenhemier,
You are welcome, and I am glad you were able to find the answers to most of your questions. Below are answers to your remaining questions:
1. Are officers required to give a verbal warning in all situations before using deadly force?
If an objectively reasonable officer would consider it safe and feasible to do so under the totality of the circumstances, Officers are trained and expected to provide a verbal warning. However, there are situations that are not fluid and are rapidly evolving where an Officer has no time to use anything other than their firearm to defend themselves or the public from great bodily injury or death.
2. Are officers required to exhaust all other alternatives, including non-force and less lethal force options, prior to resorting to deadly force?
Hercules Police Department requires Officers to use de-escalation techniques, crisis intervention tactics, and other alternatives to force when feasible. Our Officers receive on-going training in alternatives to deadly force and de-escalation techniques. Again, there are situations that are not fluid and are rapidly evolving where an Officer has no time to use anything other than their firearm to defend themselves or the public from great bodily injury or death. In these circumstances it would not be practical, or a requirement to exhaust all other alternatives.
I hope this information helps. Please let me know if you have any further questions.
Commander Joseph Vasquez
Hercules Police Department
111 Civic Drive, Hercules, CA 94547
Desk. 510-799-8272
Cell. 510-367-5649
FBI NA Class # 269
jvasquez@ci.hercules.ca.us<mailto:jvasquez@ci.hercules.ca.us>
"As iron sharpens iron, so one man
Sharpens another" - Proverbs 27:17
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From: Alison Boden
Good Morning Commander Vasquez,
Thank you very much for your help.
Kind regards,
Alison Bodenhemier
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following California Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on June 4, 2020. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Hercules Police Department
Dear Ms. Bodenheimer,
I just received this follow up request asking when we will be responding to your latest PRA request.
I am reading this on my cell phone so I may be missing something, but it appears that Commander Vasquez responded to your follow up question asking for clarification on two of the questions on June 10th. On June 11th you replied, thanking him for his help.
Was there another follow up question or email that I am not seeing? I’m happy to respond but I don’t know what the question is.
Sincerely,
William Imboden
Chief of Police
Sent from my iPhone
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