Hyattsville

Mount Rainier might escalate request for Shand shooting video

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Mount Rainier City Council appears favorably disposed to make an official request to Hyattsville city officials for body camera footage from the 2019 police shooting that killed Leonard Shand. 

During its Aug. 6, 2020, Mount Rainier City Council meeting, Councilor Scott Cecil said he was planning on making a second request for Hyattsville to provide video filmed during the incident from Hyattsville officers’ body cameras. One Mount Rainier police officer, Damien Graham, was on the scene during the incident, along with 10 other officers from Hyattsville and Prince George’s County who opened fire. In his prior request, Cecil said Mount Rainier government officials should have access to the footage to help them better understand an incident that involved on of its officers. 

“I am planning on making a second written request to Hyattsville’s mayor and Council asking them to send the body camera footage. I understand there is an investigation happening, but I don’t personally have a ton of faith in the process,” said Cecil during the meeting. 

Cecil’s first request was made without Mount Rainier City Council backing.

Mount Rainier

Mount Rainier activists hope to build hyperlocal ‘Defund the Police’ movement

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Now, as the national debate around policing has re-emerged – and the  “defund the police” movement found a wide audience – a group of activists hope to build a lasting, grassroots movement to pressure Mount Rainier officials to rethink how the city approaches law enforcement. 

Tentatively called Mount Rainier Community Action, the ad-hoc group of activists hosted a protest in Mount Rainier June 20, 2020, that served to inaugurate the hyperlocal movement. An estimated 200 people participated. The event featured music, marching, calls-to-action, speeches and eulogies for the victims of police violence. 

“I think there’s a lot of momentum in this moment to all of us develop and better understand how we can have an impact right in the community,” said Alicia Skeeter, one of the organizers, in an interview with Route 1 Reporter. 

Police reform issues are unique in American political discourse. While issues surrounding the intersection of racism and law enforcement are national-level issues, those with the most power over the police are local officials in charge of the police departments that patrol cities, counties and towns across America. Mount Rainier, which has had to endure its own issues with police accountability, is no different.

Edmonston

Edmonston launches ‘duty to intervene’ rule for police

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Edmonston police officers are now required to at least attempt to stop other officers from using inappropriate levels of force. The new rule was incorporated into the city police department’s “General Orders,” a document that lays out standard practices for police operations. It was announced in a June 13, 2020, email to Edmonston city residents. In the announcement, Edmonston Chief of Police Demetrious Harris said the new rule was a reaction to the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police May 25, 2020. “The purpose of this order is to establish operational guidelines meant to create a culture to prevent another death like George Floyd’s,” reads the announcement.

Homepage Featured

After protest, Hyattsville official says Shand killing ‘consistent’ with police policy

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Protesting the re-instatement of six city police officers who shot and killed Leonard Shand in September 2019, police reform activists staged a drive-in demonstration in front of Hyattsville’s City Administration Building on Gallatin Street May 4, 2020. The event later prompted Hyattsville City Administrator Tracey Dougals to reveal city officials reviewed the events surrounding Shand’s death and found no violations of internal policies. 

“Preliminarily, the [city police] command staff conducted an executive review of the unfortunate death of Mr. Shand and determined that the actions were consistent with departmental policy,” said Douglas during Hyattsville’s May 4, 2020 City Council meeting. “While I know that is of little comfort to the Shand family and friends, the chief made the decision to ensure that the residents had uninterrupted law enforcement services.”

Douglas also said the city has begun to research new technology and equipment that could be used when “non-lethal equipment is not as effective.” The comment is notable because, according to narratives put-forth by county and local police officials, Shand was shot after police tried several times to tase him early in the encounter, all unsuccessful. 

“We are awaiting the results of the investigation to glean any knowledge or insight from that, but also in conducting our executive review we did look at the type of equipment that we did use and the type of equipment that we could potentially use in the future,” said Awad, following up on Douglas’ comments. The drive-in demonstration was organized by the group Community Justice, which has accused Prince George’s County law enforcement agencies of systematically aggressive policing of minorities and the poor. 

Route 1 Reporter did not witness the event in person, but watched live-streamed videos from activists on the scene as they blocked entrances to the parking lot, honked horns, chanted slogans and made brief speeches excoriating city officials for their decision to re-instate the officers. Hyattsville officials announced mid-April six unnamed officers would be re-instated from administrative duty to full-time active duty to shore-up patrol staffing on the city police force during the coronavirus pandemic.

Hyattsville

Hyattsville Administrator: Bringing officers back was right decision in pandemic

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Hyattsville City Administrator Tracey Douglas addressed the full-duty re-activation of several police officers involved in the still-under-investigation fatal shooting of Leonard Shand in 2019. Douglas’ comments, during Hyattsville’s April 22 City Council meeting, came in response to a prompt from Councilor Joseph Solomon to address the decision, which was conveyed to City Council after its April 6 meeting and disclosed to the media in an April 14 press release. “That was a decision that the chief of police made. It was an important decision. It was a very difficult decision that she grappled with.

Coronavirus

Citing coronavirus, Hyattsville re-instates officers still under investigation for fatal shooting

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Six Hyattsville officers who fatally shot Leonard Shand have been placed back into “full-duty” status, despite an ongoing investigation into the events leading up to Shand’s death. Normally, the officers would remain on “administrative leave” until such an investigation is complete. In press releases issued at the time of Shand’s death in late September 2019, Hyattsville officials identified eight city police officers on the scene of the shooting. Three Prince George’s County officers and one Mount Rainier officer were also present. The announcement said, in a statement attributed to Hyattsville Chief of Police Amal Awad, that the department has “been operating with minimum staffing for more than a year.”

News

Coronavirus hits Prince George’s police force

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Two Prince George’s County Police Department officers have tested positive for the new coronavirus, according to announcements. Police announced the first confirmed diagnosis among its force April 2, 2020, the same day the test results came back. According to that announcement, the undisclosed officer began feeling ill nine days earlier on March 25, 2020. Since that day, the officer has been under self-quarantine at home. As a result of his diagnosis, several other officers were under quarantine.

Homepage Featured

Hyattsville won’t share video from fatal police shooting

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Hyattsville officials now say they cannot yet share with Mount Rainier officials body camera footage its officers recorded during the events that led to the fatal 2019 police shooting of Leonard Shand. 

In a statement read during Hyattsville’s Jan. 21, 2020, City Council meeting, City Administrator Tracey Douglas said she had been advised against releasing additional information on the incident until after Prince George’s County police completed its investigation into the shooting. Douglas’ statement was a response to a Jan. 6, 2020, request from Mount Rainier City Councilor Scott Cecil to see video from Hyattsville police officers on the scene of Shand’s death. Shand, 49, died after 11 officers, including six from Hyattsville, opened fire him at the end of a half-hour early-morning walking standoff that started Sept.