San Francisco police shooting of Chinese Man

SanFranciscoSentinel.com
Friday April 8, 2004 Volume 4 Issue 249
SanFranciscoSentinel.com 2004

Second San Francisco police shooting of
Chinese American draws community ire


by portia li
NCM Ethnic Media Nationwide

Thursday, April 8, 2004
There has been another police shooting of a Chinese
American male with mental health problems in San
Francisco, the second case involving a Chinese
American in four months. Unlike the first incident,
this time the injured party may have suffered
permanent injuries. San Francisco Public Defender Jeff
Adachi questioned whether the police officers involved
used proper force in dealing with the incident.

Both of the victims shared many similarities. They
were Chinese immigrants from the Toisan province of
Guangdong and spoke the Toisanese dialect. Both men
appeared to be in emotionally unstable states and were
currently receiving mental health care from Chinatown
facilities.

The first police shooting occurred on Nov. 18, 2003.
Police were called by the parents of Xi Tao Wu, 32,
who were worried about their son's well being after he
disappeared from their Commercial Street apartment and
then reappeared later on the fire escape of their
unit. An exchange occurred between the police and Wu
and it was unclear if police were adequately able to
communicate with Wu. Wu was eventually shot in the
stomach on the fire escape. According to the police
account, Wu was waving a pair of scissors at the
officers.

The latest incident occurred on the morning of March 1
near the 900 block of Geary Boulevard in the
Tenderloin district, the site of many Chinese-owned
businesses.

According to San Francisco police records, police
received a call from the owner of a liquor store
reporting a Chinese male waving a sharp knife at a
nearby bus stop. Both pedestrians and those waiting
for the bus were frightened.

When police arrived, they didn't find the Chinese man.
Eyewitnesses directed the officers to a nearby
Chinese-Vietnamese cafe, where 49-year-old Jian Ming
Yu was already sitting inside.

The police record points out since there were other
customers and workers inside the cafe, upon entering
the officers, ordered Yu to leave the cafe
immediately. He did not obey the officers order. He
first picked up one chair, put it down and then pulled
out a sharp knife from his pocket, waving it around.

The police then ordered Yu several times to put down
the knife. He refused. The officers then used pepper
spray to try to subdue Yu. But Yu continued to wield
the knife and picked up a chair and threw it at the
officer. The officer then used the baton and
ultimately used a bean bag gun.

Police records indicate the officers used the bean bag
gun and hit Yuâ's body ten times, some of the bean bag
gun's bullets hit Yuâ's right eye, causing it severe
injury. Finally Yu fell to the ground from his
injuries and the police then arrested him.

Wu, the first case's victim, was charged with two
counts of assaulting a police officer. The case is
currently being processed in court. In the second
case, 17 major charges were levied against Yu,
including assault on an officer and other criminal
charges. The court had set his bail at $100,000. Yu is
still detained in jail.

According to records, Yu had long suffered mental
health problems and for many years had been receiving
services from a Chinatown mental health clinic. He was
divorced, with a daughter, but lived with his mother.

San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi said his
office was responsible for representing Yu and Wu. He
said these two cases raised questions about whether
the San Francisco police department had provided
proper training to its officers in situations
involving persons with mental health problems.

Adachi said Yuâ's case indicated the police had not
use proper force. Mental health patients are different
from others, he said, as excessive force only worsens
the situation. Adachi said his office would vigorously
defend the two Chinese immigrants.

Interim Police Chief Heather Fong said although both
cases involved Chinese immigrants with mental health
concerns, the situations were different. As both cases
were in litigation, she would not comment.

In a related story, San Francisco's Asian American
civil rights community and health services
organizations wrote to Fong and requested a meeting.

Fong said though she was unable to talk about the two
specific cases, she would welcome a meeting with
representatives from the Chinatown and Asian American
communities to listen to their opinions.

The co-signers of the letter were: Chinese For
Affirmative Action Policy Director Ted Wang; Asian Law
Caucus Executive Director Phil Ting; Asian Pacific
American Legal Outreach Legal Director Victor Hwang;
Chinatown Development Center Director Norman Fong, and
NICOS Chinese Health Coalition Director Kent Woo.

This was the first time the Chinatown and Asian
American organizations had requested a meeting with
chief Fong to discuss the shootings.

Wang said the groups were concerned whether the police
department's current policies can adequately respond
to situations in Chinatown.

Wang added that the police record for the second
incident in the Tenderloin indicated that the request
for Chinese speaking officers was dispatched after the
police had shot and subdued Yu. This indicated there
might have been a communication problem involved in
that situation. Since San Francisco's immigrant
population has continued to increase, he was concerned
if the police department had enough bilingual officers
to handle emergency situations.

Woo said as a result of the two police shootings,
Chinese immigrants have become less confident in the
local police As a result, they are less likely to
trust police or be willing to seek help from them.

Activists are concerned that the incident sets back
efforts over the years by groups to build better
relations between the SFPD and Chinese community.
Police trust is a major problem with many Chinese
immigrants especially those from the older generation.
During the 1940's through the 1960's police would
often harass Chinese immigrants in the city on their
immigration status. After 1960, immigrants who arrived
from China and Taiwan often viewed police suspiciously
because of their own experiences in their home
countries. Asian American groups had worked hard to
break down barriers in the community as well as aided
the SFPD to recruit bilingual officers.