OAKLAND — Authorities right here have stated little concerning the mid-October demise of former NFL operating again Doug Martin, solely describing it as an in-custody demise after a “brief struggle” with Oakland cops.
The Oakland Police Division has refused to launch 911 dispatch recordings that might shed extra mild on the moments main as much as the 36-year-old changing into unconscious, after officers discovered him inside one in all his neighbors’ homes within the Oakland hills.
“At this time, the City has determined that the incident does not meet the definition of a ‘critical incident,’” learn an unsigned assertion from OPD, which cited AB 748, the legislation signed in 2019. “Therefore, the mandatory disclosure provisions applicable to critical incidents do not apply.”
The refusal to launch the footage drew a direct rebuke from First Modification and police accountability advocates, who questioned the police division’s lack of transparency within the case, however acknowledged the division won’t need to launch the movies. AB 748 defines “critical incidents” as cases when officers fireplace their weapons, or when “the use of force by a peace officer or custodial officer against a person resulted in death or in great bodily injury.”
“Transparency is the oxygen of accountability,” David Loy, authorized director of the First Modification Coalition, stated. “The public has an overwhelming interest in how the government does their job, especially how police officers do their job. Even if they’re not legally required to release it, there’s no reason I believe they should not release the video.”
Few info have been publicly launched six weeks after Martin’s demise.
Shortly after 4 a.m. on Oct. 18, a number of individuals known as 911 as Martin banged on his neighbors’ entrance doorways and wandered by the backyards of homes on the 11000 block of Ettrick Avenue. The previous operating again for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Oakland Raiders had been staying in a longtime household residence on the block, which rests within the Oakland hills close to the Oakland Zoo.
Police initially acquired a name about an individual breaking into an occupied residence on Ettrick Avenue. They “simultaneously” acquired discover that an individual believed to be a burglar was having “a medical emergency,” in response to an announcement launched on the time by the OPD.
A “brief struggle” with Martin ensued when officers contacted him inside a home and tried to detain him, police stated. Martin then grew to become unresponsive after being taken into custody, in response to Oakland police. Police haven’t described the character of Martin’s “struggle” with an unknown variety of officers who haven’t been recognized, whether or not he stated something to them and the size of time he spent in custody earlier than falling unconscious.
The Alameda County Coroner’s Workplace has not accomplished Martin’s post-mortem.
His mind is anticipated to be preserved and examined by neurologists for proof of power traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. A number of households of deceased NFL gamers have taken the identical steps to find out if repeated hits to their family members’ heads triggered a illness that may solely be decided after demise however has been present in tons of of former NFL gamers lately and, at instances, linked to extreme psychological sickness.
Martin’s household — who’ve spent the week getting ready for Martin’s memorial service, scheduled for Thursday — declined to remark. It’s unclear if his household was allowed to view the body-camera footage.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers operating again Doug Martin (22) walks off the sector after a staggeringly profitable day towards the Oakland Raiders in an NFL soccer sport, Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012 at O.co Coliseum in Oakland, Calif. Martin rushed for 251 yards and 4 touchdowns, because the Buccaneers gained, 42-32. (D. Ross Cameron/Workers)
Born in Oakland, Martin grew up enjoying soccer and was a star at St. Mary’s in Stockton, earlier than spending 4 years at Boise State, the place he left in 2011 because the third-leading rusher in program historical past. His 2012 rookie season in Tampa Bay was his best as a professional. The again nicknamed “Muscle Hamster” for his eagerness to tackle bodily taxing assignments rushed for 1,454 yards and 11 touchdowns that season, incomes his first of two profession Professional Bowl appearances.
His NFL profession was additionally marred by accidents and off-field challenges. In 2016, Martin was suspended 4 video games for violating the NFL’s substance abuse coverage after testing optimistic for a banned substance. He later sought therapy and publicly expressed remorse, vowing to rebuild his well being and fame.
He quietly retired after the 2018 season and had lived a personal life till the autumn encounter with Oakland police.
His demise additionally got here because the OPD — which has been beneath federal court-ordered monitoring for twenty years — has confronted renewed scrutiny over its transparency.
Simply days earlier than Martin’s demise, the police division started encrypting its radio channels — a choice that proved deeply controversial, given how these radio feeds had been open for many years whereas offering a key window into crime throughout the town. Due to the swap, the general public couldn’t hear in or assessment the 911 calls, and the police’s response.
When OPD joined different East Bay businesses in silencing the radio feeds, Oakland Metropolis Administrator Jestin Johnson vowed to make his metropolis’s police conversations simply obtainable to the general public. In a late-August assertion, Johnson careworn that “we also need to maintain transparency and accountability to the public” amid the push for encryption, whereas including that “we are committed to making sure when there are requests for this information that the department is responsive.”
Civil rights lawyer Jim Chanin, a lead lawyer within the landmark Riders case of the early 2000s that compelled the OPD into federal oversight, stated he noticed no motive to withhold launch of the body-camera footage, no matter whether or not it fell beneath the purview of AB 748.
“I have the point of view that when in doubt, release it,” Chanin stated. “And that’s my point of view in this case.”
If officers acted inside the bounds of division coverage, then the movies might assist present that, added Loy, of the First Modification Coalition.
“That’s precisely what people have the right to decide for themselves,” he stated.
