San Leandro Police Caught in Copaganda Scheme

Recent reporting from The Mercury News shows SLPD as a participant in a disturbing trend of contracting with a glorified propaganda firm known as Critical Incident Videos, LLC. Run by former TV news reporters, this company is contracted with over 100 local law enforcement agencies to help them sway public opinion in order to justify excessive use of force, especially lethal instances of police brutality.

The hallmark of their work is “a 3-D map of the scene, 911 dispatch tapes and text set up a narrative before viewers see selected bodycam footage … a police chief or sheriff opens the video explaining why the shooting was justified. Often, the chief is reading from a script written by an outside consultant. The edited camera footage may not even show the actual use of force – an effect far different from a raw cellphone or body cam video of a confrontation that leaves watchers wondering, “Why did they have to shoot?”

But here’s the truly shocking and shameful part: “Less than three hours after San Leandro Police Officer Jason Fletcher shot and killed 33-year-old Steven Taylor inside Walmart last year, the department began crafting its message. Video captured by shoppers had already circulated widely online, stirring outrage at the shooting, which seemed to occur after the baseball bat-wielding Taylor had stopped menacing the officer.

Before sending out a news release, then-Chief Jeff Tudor emailed Critical Incident Videos LLC, asking them to begin stitching together video and audio of the fatal encounter. He got a reply almost immediately: “Getting started,” the email from the firm to Tudor read.

San Leandro police captains gathered body camera footage and 911 tapes and sent over third-party videos. A script was written for Tudor to read on camera, then reviewed and revised by attorneys for the city, according to the emails. In the video, Tudor says Fletcher killed Taylor after he refused orders to put down the bat and Taser shots failed to stop his movement toward the officer. What is never mentioned is what independent investigators for San Leandro later concluded: By engaging Taylor so directly, Fletcher put himself in harm’s way, missing the chance to de-escalate the confrontation.
“We know this incident has garnered much attention in our community and that’s why we are releasing this video now before the investigation is complete so that we can provide as much information as possible to our community as the process continues,” Tudor said.

The edited video was released four days after Taylor was killed on April 18, 2020. Despite the video’s contentions, Fletcher has since been charged with manslaughter.”

The California First Amendment Coalition sums this disturbing behavior very well: “Bottom line is they can edit the video in order to withhold certain sensitive information but there’s no provision in either law that says you can withhold until your vendor produces a video package for distribution,” said Glen Smith, a media lawyer with the First Amendment Coalition.”

If you haven’t heard of “copaganda” before, you may be interested in original reporting from last year about the increasing trend in local law enforcement engaging in disinformation tactics combined with slick, commercialized PR in order to sway public outrage over police misconduct. You can learn more here.

In the meantime, this situation is unacceptable and the city needs to come down hard to discontinue any further practices of this nature by SLPD. We need transparency, accountability, and justice — not more thinly-veiled victim-blaming to protect the bad apples rotting the barrels of our criminal legal system.

Take note and take care.