Updated 8:45 p.m. 

Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy has recommendations for the county’s police departments after a grand jury decided Thursday not to indict 10 officers involved in a deadly 2019 shooting.

The recommendations include extensive training for flashbang usage, joint training between the county’s police agencies, a review of policies for non-lethal force, and the enhancement of mobile crisis response units. The recommendations come after Braveboy’s office found the police shooting of 49-year-old Leonard Shand in September 2019 to be “objectively reasonable and consistent with accepted standards of police practices, policies, and training.”

“I understand the [Shand] family’s pain,” Braveboy said. “I spoke with the family earlier today to discuss the findings, the recommendations, and the grand jury decision, and it’s tough anytime you have to speak with family members that have lost someone.”

On the day of the incident, three Prince George’s County, one Mount Rainier, and six Hyattsville police officer attempted to disarm Shand of the knives he brandished in each hand and subdue him through non-lethal means, according to a report conducted by Tyrone Powers, an independent investigator hired by Braveboy’s office to look into the incident.

“To be quite frank, the officers throughout the 25 or so minutes in which they engaged Mr. Shand tried many less-than-lethal methods to make the arrest,” Powers said.

Officers are seen on body camera and cell phone video footage using three tasers, pepper spray, a leg whip, a vehicle, a K-9, verbal commands, a bean bag shotgun, and a flashbang to subdue Shand.

“Mr. Shand on a number of occasions walked toward the officers with the knife out … and [the officers] back away,” Powers said. “The officers at that time could have employed deadly force, but instead they actually back away and continued to talk to Mr. Shand.”

Powers says at the time Shand was shot, he was charging toward the officers. Powers concluded that according to police department policy, the police officers were in their right to shoot Shand. The reasonable objectiveness policy says that if the officers feel their life or the lives of others are in imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury then they can use whatever force they need to repel the individual coming toward them.

While Powers generally applauded the officers for the tactics, in the report he said that certain tactics like the flashbang were inappropriate for the situation.

“When used properly, they can save lives, including the lives of criminals,” he wrote. “However, if used without proper training and precautions, they can injure and kill.”

Powers also suggested that the officers could have better communicated with Shand. In the video, multiple officers were giving verbal commands to Shand.

“With so many voices coming at one individual … who is already in a crisis situation sometimes it can actually be counterproductive,” Powers said.

Powers added that with police in the county and around the U.S. encountering more people with mental health issues, mobile crisis response units need to be put in place.

“COVID-19 didn’t help with that either; it exacerbated that. So it’s more important than ever that if we are to mitigate and prevent these kinds of situations that we put those things in place,” he said.

According to Julie Wright, the spokesperson for the Prince George’s County Police Department, the county contracts out a mobile crisis response team through a company called Affiliated Santé. The company is contracted for seven days a week between 4 p.m. and 8 a.m.

County Executive Angela Alsobrooks created a group of civilians, politicians, and police officers over the summer to look into police practices, policies, and procedures. Delegate Alonzo Washington is chair of the group and says they are looking into issues regarding the need for a county-run mental health response unit.

“The police department does not have anything that is as robust as our neighbors [in Montgomery County],” Washington said. “This is something that should be a priority and invested in as soon as possible.”

In July, Montgomery County approved an additional $600,000 to expand its mobile crisis response unit that is run out of the county’s Behavioral Health and Crisis Services Department.

Prince George’s County Senator Malcolm Augustine and Montgomery County Delegate Lorig Charkoudian are also working on legislation that would take an inventory of mobile crisis units across the state, review standards and procedures associated with them, and find a way to fund units for each jurisdiction in the state.

“In this instance, Mr. Shand had a weapon so it was absolutely appropriate for police to be involved,” Augustine said. “The mobile crisis unit is another tool when people are presenting a danger to themselves and others.”

Earlier this year the state legislature passed a bill that established a Crisis Intervention Team Center of Excellence to create standards and practices for how state law enforcement agencies should deal with mental health cases. Augustine says the bill he and Charkoudian hope to introduce in January will focus on making sure trained behavioral health experts play a role in creating mobile crisis response teams for each jurisdiction.

Other Police Indictments Announced

A grand jury indicted two Prince George’s County police officers Thursday after multiple incidents of police use of force and misconduct.

Braveboy announced the indictments of officers Bryant Strong and Luis Aponte at a news conference Thursday. Strong has been charged with second degree assault, reckless endangerment, and misconduct in office after an incident in October 2019 that left 24-year-old Demonte Ward-Blake partially paralyzed.

Luis Aponte, an officer who was already suspended from the force, has been charged with theft of under $10,000 and two counts of misconduct during incidents in June and July of last year.

Interim Police Chief Hector Velez wrote in a statement that the department awaits the outcome of Strong’s trial.

“The injuries the suspect suffered are tragic and the entire department’s hearts are heavy regarding the outcome that day,” he said.

These are just the most recent accusations of police brutality and misconduct in the county. Earlier this summer, three officers were suspended after a video showing one of them throwing a man to the ground and striking and kicking him while trying to detain him at a gas station in Langley Park circulated on social media. The department has also had multiple allegations of racial discrimination brought against it as part of the ongoing lawsuit filed by a group of current and former police officers. Police Chief Hank Stawinski resigned following those allegations and amid protests throughout the nation calling for police reform.

“I know many people today have very mixed feelings and some not so nice feelings about the Prince George’s County police,” Braveboy told reporters Thursday.

Angelo Consoli, president of the county’s police union, said they were shocked to learn about Strong’s indictment.

“We are confident that the evidence will show that his actions were fully justified and within policy,” Consoli wrote.

Strong was placed on administrative leave with pay but without police powers. Aponte was suspended without pay.

This story was updated with new information from a press conference with State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy and other county leaders.