As a community member, I am deeply alarmed by the officer involved incident resulting in Steven Taylor’s murder on April 18th, 2020 at the Walmart in San Leandro. Upon review of the publicly available evidence, it is clear that the incident was an unjustifiable use of force under California Penal Code -§ 835a1 and the San Leandro Police Department Policy guidelines.

Based on the YouTube video released on April 22, 2020, Mr. Taylor never swung the bat at anyone, nor took any action that a reasonable person would perceive as an “imminent” threat to the officer or anyone. Quite the opposite - people were either trying to help the situation (as the 911 caller stated) or just going about in the store.

More than 4 months have passed, and the public has not received any information or updates about any of the three independent investigations into this matter. Community members have taken it upon themselves to do the jobs that our officials should be doing, and have conducted their own preliminary investigation based on the public information available. I stand with the positions of the public and hold that a number of police department policies and laws were violated during the incident (please view documents using this link www.tinyurl.com/attachmentsforjustice)

Due to the numerous probable San Leandro Police Department policy violations, and the failure to use de-escalation tactics described in the San Leandro Police Department Manual and California Penal Code§835a, I formally request that the Department terminate employment of both Officer A and Officer B as soon as reasonably possible. I also request, by court order or by other means, that both Officer A and Officer B be permanently barred from working for any other law-enforcement agency in the state of California.

As a taxpayer and resident, I cannot continue to support use of my tax dollars to fund the paychecks, health benefits, pensions, etc. of Officer A and Officer B. Paid administrative leave is also unacceptable. Having them remain on the force as police officers pose a significant threat to public safety, and I do not support having either of them police my community. I do not trust that either of these officers will execute their duties and conduct themselves in a professional manner and uphold the policies and laws they are sworn to uphold.

I demand that the San Leandro Police Department complete and announce the termination of employment of Officer A and Officer B. If it is the position of the Police Department that there is insufficient grounds for termination of Officer A’s and Officer B’s employment, I expect a detailed explanation to the public as to the reasoning for that position, and sufficient time allowed for the public to evaluate the police department’s detailed explanation, and either accept that reasoning or provide a rebuttal to that decision.

Thank you for taking the time to thoroughly read my email, and for listening to what community members have to say.