SAN JOSE (KCBS) -- Dispatch recordings show responding officers were advised by dispatchers that a mentally ill man resided at the home where Daniel Pham was shot to death by police last May.
Recordings made public on Friday by the San Jose Police Department after pressure from community groups and several news organizations indicate confusion about whether the mentally ill person identified by the family was also the man reported to be wielding a knife.
KCBS' Betsy Gebhart reports
Police were called the Pham family’s home on Mother’s Day because a knife-wielding suspect had injured someone. Officers found the victim cut in the neck and 27-year-old Pham still carrying the knife.
Callers to 911 referred to Pham both by his Vietnamese name, Son, and as Daniel. The victim was Pham’s brother.
Officers opened fire after Pham ignored repeated requests to drop the weapon. The family has complained police should have held their fire because of Pham’s illness.
Police procedure calls for deadly force in such a situation regardless of the mental state of the patient, said Lt. Rikki Goede. “If they’re coming at an officer with a knife, they’re going to use lethal force in defense of their life,” she said.
The officers involved in the incident were cleared by a grand jury and have since returned to duty. A city council committee ordered police to release the tapes several weeks ago after months of controversy surrounding the shooting.
San Jose police rarely release 911 recordings. Police Chief Rob Davis said on Thursday he supports making the tapes public, saying there was a need to balance privacy and government transparency.
(jro)
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