Chase Hammer v City of Salem, et al.

Salem Police responded to a call for a welfare check on Chase, a-27-year old Black male, reporting he was suicidal, under the influence of Xanax, and in possession of his father’s gun. When police arrived on scene, he was not there. Over an hour later, after dark, Chase approached, walking slowly and calmly up the street. Officers testified that Chase was holding a revolver, upside down and by the butt, as he approached. The officers shined their lights at him and officers simultaneously shouted different commands at him. Chase gave no sign that he understood the commands or even that police officers were present. The officers gave Chase no time to comply with any of the commands: a moment after giving them, an officer shot Chase twice, killing him. Chase’s family was nearby and witnessed his death. The police left his body lying on the street until morning. As part of the resolution of the lawsuit, Salem required (1) to develop a protocol for dealing with family members of subjects of officer-involved shootings; (2) to research and develop a more comprehensive policy to de-escalate and deal with mental health issues and people in crisis, to be reviewed by an outside expert; (3) to review and assess its law enforcement response to suicide calls for the past 5 years; (4) to continue to participate and expand its mobile crisis response teams and crisis outreach response teams; and (5) to hold a meeting with Chase’s mother. The City also paid $100,000.