Innocent Mother Shot by SFPD

(SAN FRANCISCO; APRIL 25th 2002) Vilda Curry left Kaiser Permanente Hospital yesterday afternoon after being treated for almost six weeks for a gunshot wound she received from San Francisco police officers. Police accidentally shot Curry, 39, when they opened fire on a suspect in an open bus shelter.

Curry is demanding that the San Francisco Police Department change what she calls a "shoot first" policy. At 1 p.m. on Thursday, she will hold a press conference with local watchdog group Bay Area PoliceWatch to discuss this demand and her overall situation.

"San Francisco police officers shoot first and ask questions later ­ and sometimes never," said Curry. "The police are sworn to protect us, but too often they just escalate the danger and violence."

On the evening of Friday, March 15, police received a report of a knife attack near Geneva Avenue and Mission Street. When they arrived, a bleeding teenage boy pointed officers to his alleged attacker.

Family members say that the man, Richard Tims, was defending himself from a criminal attack. Tims was a small, 100-pound, mentally disabled African-American man.

Police say that Tims did not obey officers' orders to drop his knife. Tims, 35, then allegedly "lunged" at the officers. Five officers then pepper-sprayed and then opened fire on Tims. He died less than an hour later.

Curry said she blames the police, not Tims, for her injuries.

"Richard Tims did not shoot me. The police shot me," said Curry. "If the police really wanted to protect our safety, they would have found a way to deal with this situation without shooting me and killing Mr. Tims."

Bay Area PoliceWatch is concerned that the police often use more force than is necessary. The watchdog group cites the recent spate of police violence against African-Americans in San Francisco, including another fatal shooting in February and a January assault against several young children in Bayview-Hunters Point.

"When you have five trained officers with guns and one man with a knife and no bystanders in danger, the officers should be able to resolve the situation without killing anyone," said Samantha Liapes, Director of Bay Area PoliceWatch. "Bullets cannot be police officers' only tools for dealing with a crisis situation."

Police spokesman Jim Deignan has said that the officers had the right to shoot Tims. Curry and Bay Area PoliceWatch say that if that is the rule, then it needs to be changed.

"The Police Department cannot have a 'shoot-first' policy," said Liapes. "SFPD needs to train and encourage officers to resolve crises without using deadly force whenever possible. The Police Department needs to spend more time on preventing police homicides instead of defending them."