"Catastrophic": Use-Of-Force Expert Criticizes Officers' Flawed Approach To Dacari Spiers

San Francisco CA

18 February, 2022

6:31 PM

Description

By Eleni Balakrishnan, Mission Local February 18, 2022 A police practices and use-of-force expert testified Thursday that Officer Terrance Stangel and his partner acted counter to their law enforcement training, saying they both failed to deescalate the situation and calling Stangel's use of his baton to beat Dacari Spiers wholly unwarranted. What Stangel's defense has characterized as unlawful resistance from Spiers was in fact natural confusion to a poorly executed approach by SFPD officers, according to Roger Clark, retired Los Angeles County veteran sheriff and current police practices consultant. Clark, who was on the stand for about five hours, was presented as the final witness in the prosecution's case against Stangel, likely the first-ever trial of an on-duty San Francisco police officer for excessive force. Stangel beat Spiers, a domestic violence suspect, with a baton on Oct. 6, 2019, breaking two of his bones. To read the full article, click here. Mission Local covers San Francisco from the vantage point of the Mission, a neighborhood with all of the promise and problems of a major city. You can support Mission Local here.