By Wyatt Buchanan
The San Francisco Chronicle
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Neither of the two BART police officers involved in the shooting of a transient at the Civic Center Station in July had received crisis intervention training, a specialized type of instruction that helps law enforcement interact with people who may be suffering from mental problems, the BART police chief said Tuesday.
Kenton Rainey, the chief of BART police, spoke about the training as one of several BART officials who were questioned by lawmakers at a special hearing at the Capitol in the wake of the fatal shooting that has led to several disruptive protests against the transit agency.
The officers shot 45-year-old transient Charles Blair Hill at the Civic Center Station on July 3, allegedly as Hill wound up to throw a knife. Police were alerted to the station after complaints that Hill was carrying an open bottle of liquor inside the station and behaving erratically.
Rainey was asked about the training by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, who called the hearing as chairman of the Assembly Public Safety Committee, and he said that field officers who train rookies had gone through such courses, but the two officers in question did not.
Asked again later about the training, Rainey said he “would agree wholeheartedly” that more officers need it. He said that since last September, 24 of the 160 officers have completed the 40-hour course, which is in addition to an eight-hour course they and others receive as part of required rules in the police academy.
Twenty others are set to take it this year, which Rainey called “a lot” compared with other agencies. While the additional training is common in many parts of the country, and mandatory in several states, law enforcement agencies in California have been slower to adopt it.
Other agencies ahead
But some agencies in parts of the state have trained more than half their force.
“We’re on track to train all our personnel,” Rainey said, though he added, “This is very labor intensive. This is very costly.”
It is not clear whether that training could have helped prevent the shooting. That question was not discussed.
At the hearing, Ammiano also pressed concerns that an independent police auditor and a citizens oversight group created in the wake of the 2009 killing of Oscar Grant on a BART platform did not have enough authority to actually have an impact.
Ammiano had introduced a bill to create an office to receive and review citizen complaints, but another proposal on the issue that did not go as far was ultimately passed.
Both the new auditor and the chairman of the citizen review board said it was in the aftermath of Hill’s shooting that BART leaders began focusing on fully implementing those entities.
Mark Smith, the new independent police auditor, told the committee there was still work to do, though.
“I do have a physical office, and I’m awaiting a staff,” said Smith, who was hired by and reports to the BART Board of Directors.
Concerns over inquiry
George Perezvelez, the chairman of the citizens review board, noted some limitations. San Francisco police are investigating the Hill shooting, and members of the citizens panel have been concerned about what seems to be the slow pace. They discussed sending a letter of complaint to the San Francisco Police Department but realized doing so would require the BART board’s approval.
Ammiano said he was concerned about the amount of power the groups had.
“I sensed a palatable discomfort that they weren’t really getting information,” he said.
“We’re on track to train all our personnel. This is very labor intensive.”
Copyright 2011 San Francisco Chronicle