California Justice Dept. will review policing in Sacramento, joins probe in Stephon Clark case

Black Lives Matter protesters stand with their hands up in front of California Highway Patrol officers as they block an entrance to Interstate 5 during a demonstration on March 23, 2018 in Sacramento. The California Department of Justice will review policing practices in the Sacramento Police Department after the fatal police shooting of Stephen Clark. less Black Lives Matter protesters stand with their hands up in front of California Highway Patrol officers as they block an entrance to Interstate 5 during a demonstration on March 23, 2018 in Sacramento. The ... more Photo: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images Photo: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images Image 1 of / 65 Caption Close California Justice Dept. will review policing in Sacramento, joins probe in Stephon Clark case 1 / 65 Back to Gallery

SACRAMENTO — With tensions high and protests going strong nine days after the police killing of an unarmed African American man, state Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced that the state justice department has joined the Sacramento police investigation into the shooting and will review practices in the department.

Sacramento Police Chief Daniel Hahn said he asked Becerra to assist with the investigation into the police killing of Stephon Clark due to “the extremely high emotions, anger and hurt in our city.” Becerra called Clark’s death “tragic” and said his office will ensure the investigation is “fair, thorough, and impartial.”

Officer-involved shooting investigations are typically reviewed by the local District Attorney’s office, but some community members expressed skepticism with how the Sacramento County district attorney has handled previous officer-involved shootings.

“I feel this will help build faith and confidence in the investigation in our community,” said Hahn, who became the city’s first black police chief when he took the helm last year.

But the California Department of Justice’s involvement didn’t ease concerns for members of Black Lives Matter in Sacramento, who said they wanted an independent, community-led investigation, not a government agency investigating another government agency.

“There have been federal investigations of police killings, state investigations of police killings, and I don’t believe the government can govern itself,” said Tanya Faison, who leads the Sacramento chapter of Black Lives Matter. “They need to answer to the people. We have a Sacramento community police commission. It’s already in place. It just has no power at all. That needs to be the entity that oversees the investigation.”

Clark, a 22-year-old father of two, was shot at 20 times by two Sacramento police officers in the backyard of his grandmother’s home in South Sacramento on March 18. It’s unclear how many times he was struck. The officers said they believed Clark had a gun when they shot him during a foot pursuit around 9 p.m. after they responded to calls that someone was breaking into cars in the area.

Clark was holding a cell phone, police said, not a weapon. His funeral is planned for Thursday. His family called for the officers to be charged with murder.

Hahn said the state Department of Justice will look at Sacramento police’s use of force practices.

“I recognize that we have difficult days ahead as we grieve and confront the death of Stephon Clark,” said Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg. “The country is watching us. Let us show how a city in pain, together, with all of our partners, achieved a better way.”

Protests led by Black Lives Matter are scheduled for the next three days outside Sacramento District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert’s office. Schubert faced criticism last year when she cleared two officers in the 2016 killing of a mentally ill black man who was wielding a knife when officers shot him 18 times.

Appearing at the press conference alongside Becerra and Hahn, Schubert acknowledged the “tremendous anger, tremendous grief and those distrustful of our system.”

“My job as your district attorney is to conduct a full, fair and independent review of this shooting,” Schubert said. “At the end of the day, it’s to follow the facts and the law.”

There is no timeline for when the investigation would be completed, but Schubert asked for the community to be patient because it “will take time.”

Assemblyman Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, said the attorney general stepping in to review Clark’s death highlights the need for an independent body to consistently investigate officer-involved shootings. McCarty introduced bills in 2015 and 2017 to create an independent unit within the state justice department to oversee deadly police use-of-force cases.

The bills died separately in the Senate and Assembly appropriations committees. McCarty said Tuesday that he will try again this year to pass a bill.

“Police should not police themselves,” McCarty said. “California can rebuild public trust in law enforcement by requiring independent investigations of officer-involved shootings.”

After announcing Becerra’s involvement on Tuesday, city leaders made multiple calls for peaceful protests in the days ahead.

Last week, hundreds of protestors briefly shut down a freeway, blocked major downtown intersections and kept thousands of fans from entering the downtown Golden 1 Center arena for a Sacramento Kings NBA game. On Friday night, some protestors jumped on police cars in what became a tense standoff.

Longtime Sacramento resident Ollie Mack urged protestors to focus on their message, saying “jumping on cars, spitting on people” diminishes their voice.

An earlier version of this story misstated how many times police officers shot Clark.