Tentative Settlement Reached in Wrongful Death Lawsuit over Police Shooting
The family of a San Diego man who was shot to death by Harbor Police two years ago has come to a settlement in their wrongful death lawsuit against the Unified Port of San Diego. According to the report on signonsandiego.com, the tentative settlement was in the amount of $2.5 million. The incident occurred in July of 2008 when 37-year-old Steven Paul Hirschfield jumped off of a cruise ship that was chartered for a gay pride weekend.
Hirschfield jumped out of the boat into the San Diego Bay during a confrontation with police officers. According to the report, police officers stated that Hirschfield tried to grab an officer’s gun when a second officer fatally shot him.
The wrongful death lawsuit, which was filed in November 2008, argues that Hirschfield was not the aggressor in the incident and that police used excessive force, shooting Hirschfield in the back while he was unarmed. Brian Claypool, an attorney representing Hirschfield’s family, reportedly made allegations that the use of deadly force was a result of personal biases against Hirschfield and against gay people, however, police emphasized that this incident had nothing to do with any personal opinions or biases.
When a person in an altercation with police attempts to grab the officer’s gun, a police officer’s immediate reaction is to prevent any dangerous situation at all costs. In many cases, this means using deadly force in order to do so. If Hirschfield was, in fact, trying to reach for the officer’s gun, the officer’s may have reacted in such a way as to prevent any harm from coming to themselves and to anybody that may have been around during the altercation. However, there are many incidents when a police officer uses deadly or excessive force needlessly. In those cases, they should be held accountable for their actions. Unfortunately, many people believe that since the accused party is a police officer, it would be impossible to prove any wrongdoing. However, that is not always the case and even a police officer can be held accountable for their actions if they are wrong.
