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Incidents of Public Interest

2019-03-04: Protest near 50th St and Folsom Blvd

Incidents of Public Interest

2019-03-04: Protest near 50th St and Folsom Blvd

Summary

On March 4, 2019, at approximately 6:50 p.m., the Sacramento Police Department (SPD) responded to the area of 50th Street and Folsom Boulevard regarding a group of approximately 100 protesters marching through the residential area(s) with whistles and amplified sound.

Initially, protesters marched in the street peacefully. Over the next two hours, however, the circumstances began to change. The group of protesters blocked access to a hospital in the area. Multiple vehicles were vandalized during the protest (photos attached). Officers continue to conduct follow-up and gather information on vehicles that were vandalized. A verbal confrontation with a homeowner took place followed by a heated argument and assault. A protester was observed walking and holding an unknown object that was on fire. Our helicopter captured video footage of this subject (photo attached).

At approximately 7:20 p.m., the gathering was declared an unlawful assembly and the group was ordered to disperse through a series of announcements, giving participants the ability to leave the area on their own accord. For approximately one hour and forty minutes, thirty dispersal orders were given. Officers gave 15 announcements via loudspeakers from a patrol vehicle. Additionally, due to the amplified sound and whistles the protesters were using, a Long-Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) was utilized 15 times. This was done to ensure the protesters heard the announcements.

Some participants left the area, however, a large group remained. In the interest of community safety, protection of property and after multiple requests to disperse were made, officers proceeded with an orderly arrest process. Throughout the course of the protest, 84 people were arrested for unlawful assembly. Of those 84 people, one person was arrested for unlawful assembly and for being in possession of a prohibited weapon.

On March 8, 2019 Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert announced that no charges would be filed in relation to the 84 arrests on the evening of March 4, 2019.

Press Releases

March 8, 2019: March 4th Protest – East Sacramento

Audio and video releases

The release of this material is done at the discretion of the Chief of Police as an ongoing effort to improve our organizational transparency and is not being released under the City Council’s Police Use of Force policy. All video and audio that was released has been processed for redactions to ensure the confidentiality and privacy of those involved. The faces have been blurred and audio redactions are signified by muted audio with no accompanied sound.

Please click on the links provided below to review those records presented to the Sacramento City Council on March 12, 2019 in response to this incident of public interest, as well as video footage recorded from the SPD's helicopter unit on the date of the protest. This material is now available to the media and citizens through the YouTube links below:

Update

The Sacramento Police Department (SPD) is dedicated to ensuring the safety of our community while upholding the constitutional rights of every individual. In the wake of the March 4, 2019 protest we heard concerns from members of our community regarding the arrests that were made at the conclusion of the event. As a result, we implemented several changes to improve future outcomes.

We expanded our Outreach Unit’s community liaison program to include meeting with community leaders and clergy prior to planned demonstrations. This will allow us to improve communication, proactively address issues and build community trust.

We have also clarified the language of the orders we use during protests. The updated language more clearly states where and how participants may disperse before we announce that arrests will be made.

Also, we worked with our media partners to craft a new media relations policy which addresses mutual expectations that are in compliance with the law, while maintaining the need for community safety. Once finalized, the new media relations policy will be available on SPD's transparency webpage.

Finally, we provided additional training to our employees related to planned and unplanned demonstrations.

The Sacramento Police Department is committed to reviewing policies and procedures in order to learn and continually improve. We want to thank our community for helping us identify issues and solutions to ensure our neighborhoods remain safe.

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