Both Martin Halloran, the president of the S.F. Police Officers Association, and Supervisor David Campos went on Phil Matier's Sunday morning program on CBS 5, Matier in the Morning, to have an in-depth discussion of the police shooting of Mario Woods two weeks ago.
Halloran defends the officers involved saying that one of them had to have perceived an imminent threat by Woods, who had a knife in his hand, refused to drop it, and by all accounts appeared to be limping away from most of the officers looking like not much of a threat when one officer stepped into his path and multiple officers then fired on him.
Campos says that regardless of the debate about Tasers, "we need fundamental change around [the rules of] de-escalation." He says that officers should have been able to de-escalate that situation without shooting and killing Woods, and that the SFPD needs a specific unit designed to deal with situations involving people with mental health issues.
See the entire discussion in the video above.
Previously: Police Commission Meeting About Mario Woods Shooting Erupts In Chaos