New Procedures Required to Prevent Repeat of Incident Where Deputies Tased and Beat Severely Disabled Young Woman

Alameda County sheriff’s deputies were at a facility for the care of people with developmental disabilities and mental illness when those deputies intervened in a situation where trained staff were calming down a young woman in crisis. The young woman has the mental capacity of a four year old child. The deputies pushed aside staff, and Tased and beat the young woman into submission. Then despite learning what was going on, they arrested and took her to jail. The young woman was release after three days and all charges against her were dismissed. Haddad & Sherwin sued the deputies and the Sheriffs Department for civil rights violations. In addition to winning a settlement for this young woman which included Alameda County paying $160,000 into a trust fund for her and paying her legal fees separately, Haddad & Sherwin insisted that the Sheriffs Department agree in writing to new procedures for when deputies may be called to that facility again. Now, deputies may not intervene in a medical crisis like this without first talking to staff, and deputies are required to be trained and use de-escalation tactics on such an impaired person to avoid the need for any force.