On October 25, 2018, the DA’s Office received the police report and related materials from the Sacramento Police Department regarding the Stephon Clark officer-involved shooting.

As with any officer-involved shooting incident, we strive to complete our review within 90 days of receiving all of the related reports and materials.  The materials submitted by the Sacramento Police Department are voluminous and may take significant time to comprehensively examine.  After reviewing these materials, we may determine that additional investigation or information is needed.  Our review process may be delayed, depending on the circumstances.  We will take whatever time is necessary to complete that process, as we balance our desire to complete this investigation review in a timely manner with the overarching need to ensure any conclusions we reach are the result of a thorough and methodical evaluation of the facts and the law.

As a reminder, the District Attorney’s Office does not review these types of shootings or use of force incidents to determine whether the officers could have taken some other action, or used some other tactic, in addressing the situation.  In addition, we do not review whether the agency could be civilly liable or whether any policy or procedure of the agency is the “best practice” for this type of incident.  These are all valid areas for review, discussion, and potential outcome improvements.  However, our review is strictly limited to an analysis of the action the officers actually took and whether that action is a prosecutable crime under the law.

Because this matter is under review and is still pending, ethical obligations prevent us from commenting further at this time.  Once a decision is made, further details will be provided.

If you have questions regarding the officer-involved shooting review process, a copy of the review protocol is available here and answers to Frequently Asked Questions are available here.  If you would like to leave a message for the District Attorney’s Office regarding our review of this shooting, you can send an email to OIS@sacda.org or call (916) 874-2000.

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