How Bad Apples Spoil The Bunch: San Leandro Police Officers Association's Latest Press Release
On September 14, the San Leandro Police Officers Association sent out a new press release to local media outlets, including the San Leandro Times, which published it on September 17. Other outlets opted to cover it more generally in context of recent events around our city. Additionally, the SLPOA has recently paid for their their organization's page to become advertised content on Facebook, where they have been allocating a full-time staff member to delete almost all critical comments about SLPOA and SLPD's actions since the murder of Steven Taylor by Officer Jason Fletcher.
So, here's my Socratic Dialogue in response to their copaganda spin attempts. You can see an original copy of their press release on their social media page, just in case you want to double-check anything.
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Them: San Leandro Police Officers’ Association Expresses Condolences to Family, Friends of Steven Taylor--
Me: No condolences to the family or friends of Steven Taylor, I notice.
Them: Show Support for Officer Jason Fletcher, Charged with Voluntary Manslaughter by Alameda County DA. Arraignment of Officer Fletcher to be held Tuesday, Sept. 15.
Me: I thought police officers were opposed to supporting criminals who have killed people?
Them: The San Leandro Police Officers’ Association today released the following letter/statement expressing sympathy to the family and friends of Steven Taylor and supporting fellow Officer Jason Fletcher:
Me: But, curiously, not a single press release to Steven Taylor's friends and family before this. Not a phone-call. Not an appearance at a protest. Their timing is transparently suspect.
Them: Dear San Leandro Community, As you are most likely aware, on April 18, 2020, San Leandro Police Officer Jason Fletcher responded to an emergency call for service, culminating in the shooting death of Steven Taylor.
Me: To be clear, Officer Fletcher did not provide service to Steven Taylor. He murdered him.
Them: This incident unfolded after a call for service by store employees and was a consequence of Mr. Taylor wielding a baseball bat in a violent and erratic manner.
Me: False. Steven Taylor had attacked no one and never made any movement to use the bat as a weapon. Not even towards Officer Fletcher when he tried to grab the bat. To blame Steven Taylor for his own murder is grotesque.
Them: Although the San Leandro Police Officers’ Association (SLPOA) acknowledges that any loss of life in our community is tragic and we extend our condolences to Mr. Taylor’s family, friends, and loved ones, we also ask the community to join us in our support of Officer Fletcher and his family.
Me: They can't even express their condolences on the death of Steven Taylor to his family without shifting their weight back onto the only life they seem to believe mattered in that encounter - and it isn't the Black father, son, and grandson in need of mental health assistance. No, instead it's the White cop with a history of excessive force complaints who decided in 40 seconds that Steven Taylor needed to die.
Them: Our Police Officers value the sanctity of life and have taken an oath to protect this community.
Me: But clearly not the lives of Steven Taylor or Anthony Gomez or Vasquinho Bettencourt or Guadalupe Manzo-Ochoa or Gwendolyn Killings. Clearly not Emerald Black or Barbara Silva or Mario Torres or Simon Aguirre and his brother Henry Aguirre or Alice Bias or Lydia Pacheco-Cesena or Starlah Burke or the victims of ex-Officer Fredriksson or a 16 year-old girl they tried to shoot in the back or a 17-year-old girl in the SLPD explorer's program they sexually assaulted or even their own colleagues like Dewayne Stencill, Cathy Pickard, or Deborah Trujillo.
Them: While we wish that every call for service could end peacefully, in our mission to safeguard the community, officers are sometimes left with no option but to make a split-second decision to use deadly force to defend themselves and the public.
Me: Except, in this case, Officer Fletcher took 40 seconds to decide he'd rather not wait for the back-up right behind him or for the Taser that was slowly incapacitating Steven Taylor or to even assess that this situation was something for a social worker trained in mental health instead of bullets from a gun. If wishes were fishes, we'd all eat sushi every day, and a pound of good intentions weigh less than an ounce of honest action. We never saw any evidence in all footage taken that day that there was the need for lethal force. Officer Fletcher didn't serve or protect anyone that day, especially not Steven Taylor.
Them: Although District Attorney Nancy O’Malley has charged Officer Fletcher with voluntary manslaughter, we are steadfast in our belief that this charge is politically motivated and legally deficient.
Me: Funny how suddenly the charge is politically motivated, but all the times before when O'Malley refused to charge a police officer for murder it wasn't politically motivated but just proof that the law was right... Funny how it's legally deficient despite the new standard under state law that was made specifically to stop killings like that committed by Officer Fletcher and save lives like Steven Taylor's. For an organization that is opposed to criminals, there sure seems to be some criminal like behavior going there.
Them: While the District Attorney has mischaracterized the shooting as a “failure to attempt de-escalation options,” we are confident that the evidence will establish that this incident was an unfortunate example of de-escalation techniques simply proving to be ineffective.
Me: Oh, the lies! It's easy to say deescalation was ineffective when Officer Fletcher never deescalated in the first place. He went in literally from zero to 40 seconds from yelling at Steven Taylor to shooting him in the chest. In between that there was just physical assault and Tasering.
Them: The SLPOA and its members support and believe in constitutional policing.
Me: No, you actually don't. Your current president choked an innocent man in 2015. Your previous president regularly harasses and abuses homeless people. Your members have committed murder and assault against BIPOC repeatedly.
Them: We dedicate our lives to ensure liberty and justice for everyone. We believe in fairness and justice and the rule of law for everyone.
Me: You clearly don't dedicate your lives. since you'd rather get away with brutalizing and murdering Black and Brown people. Clearly you don't believe in the rule of law by acting like the victim when you're held accountable for your own crimes.
Them: We hope and believe the criminal justice system will protect and preserve Officer Fletcher’s rights in the same manner it should of all citizens.
Me: Except we know that's not true. Because Officer Fletcher gets his day in court. Steven Taylor didn't even get 60 seconds. Your hope is one of continuously avoiding responsibility from having to protect BIPOC. Your belief is that you're above the law you've sworn to uphold and to preserve that corrupt status quo for as long as you can. Your organization even lied in a previous press release about our city's crime stats and the police budget getting the same $42 million from last year in order to scare the people of San Leandro, hide the incompetence of SLPD in stopping or solving crimes, and deflect from your own terrible sins.
Them: San Leandro Police Officers’ Association
Me: Also known as the Klan Leandro Officers Association.
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I would just like to end this post with this question: if our police officers are this angry, this afraid, and this unable to accept accountability in even the most egregious instance of misconduct, then what does that say about who they protect and serve?
Take care and take note.
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