SHOOTING LEADS S.F. POLICE TO REVAMP TACTICS

Cops in stakeout did not identify themselves as police Jaxon Van Derbeken,
Chronicle Staff Writer 1998 San Francisco Chronicle

Faced with accusations that plainclothes cops mishandled the shooting that
left a 17-year-old girl dead, San Francisco police are revising how
officers equip, train and plan for such confrontations.

Police Chief Fred Lau said the overhaul of police procedures had been
prompted by the May 13 shooting by two undercover officers who were
attempting to arrest a drug fugitive.

Shots intended for the fleeing driver killed Sheila Detoy, a passenger.

This week, District Attorney Terence Hallinan said he had found no criminal
wrongdoing by the two officers who fired but that a ``gray area'' remained.

He said he would make a final decision on whether to file charges after a
preliminary hearing is held in October for the alleged driver of the
fleeing car, Michael Negron, 24. Negron is charged with murder in Detoy's
death.

Meanwhile, the officers remain under investigation by the Office of Citizen
Complaints -- a probe that ultimately could end with them being cleared,
suspended or fired. They are also the subject of two internal police
investigations.

Lau said one lesson the department has drawn from the shooting is that
plainclothes officers need to clearly identify themselves as police during
such confrontations.

Negron's attorneys have said their client thought the two men who
confronted him at the Oakwood Apartments complex near Lake Merced were
trying to rob him, not arrest him. ``One of the concerns we hear a lot is
that people say they don't know, or they allege they don't know, that these
people are officers,'' Lau said. The chief said officers may be required to
wear their stars and badges around their necks or to wear identifying
jackets when they make raids.

``We will do whatever is the safest for everybody and is the most
efficient,'' Lau said. ``We want to make sure we don't leave any doubt that
people know these are police officers.''

The officers in the Detoy shooting, Greg Breslin and Michael Moran, said
they positioned themselves in a driveway and were charged by the Ford
Mustang in which Detoy was a passenger.

Police said Breslin feared that Negron would run him down, so he fired at
the Mustang. Moran then fired from behind.

Breslin's shot killed Detoy, a Santa Rosa college student who worked in the
area. The department is working to change tactics so that officers in such
situations avoid being pinned or trapped without cover, Lau said. Breslin
said he fired because he felt pinned in by the oncoming car.

``I think no matter what, if nothing else, we need to really be able to
train our officers to minimize the placement of themselves and other people
in harm's way,'' Lau said.

Lau said he hopes to improve planning for such arrests as well.

Other details of the case have emerged. According to the autopsy report,
the bullet that killed Detoy struck her in the side of her head and the
wound was angled slightly downward, from left to right. She had nearly 3.5
grams of cocaine on her and her urine tested positive for cocaine.

Detoy's friends and a police watchdog group have denounced police
investigators for saying Detoy was not an ``innocent victim'' and have
demanded that Hallinan prosecute the officers.

Van Jones, head of PoliceWatch, said a rally was slated for today to mark
the three-month anniversary of Detoy's death and denounce Hallinan for his
inaction. ``Terence Hallinan has been a do-nothing D.A. with respect to
police brutality,'' Jones said. ``He has never prosecuted an officer for
that during his entire tenure.''

He said Breslin had not been in any danger and should be charged.

``The shot that killed Sheila made no sense,'' Jones said. ``The shot came
directly from the side of the car. How can the officer have been in danger?''

Jones welcomed the changes in police policy, but said they were ``too
little, too late.''

``The existing policies and laws would have prevented this child from being
killed, if they were followed,'' he said. ``The problem in this town is
that the police are too loose with their guns, and the D.A. never
prosecutes.''

1998 San Francisco Chronicle

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski