Alternative Media: Going Beyond Police Sources to Uncover Police Abuse

The Hayward BART station, where Jerrold Hall was killed (cc photo: Mospeada/Wikimedia)

For most mainstream papers, police reporting means relying mainly on police sources—a practice that contributes to the undercoverage of police brutality. The impact that an independent reporter can have by listening to unofficial sources points out the importance of alternative media —and the influence such outlets can have on the mainstream.

On Nov. 15, 1992, 19-year-old Jerrold Hall was exiting a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station in Hayward, Calif., when he and a friend were stopped by Fred Crabtree, a BART police officer, on suspicion of stealing a $60 Walkman from another passenger. At the end of the confrontation, Jerrold Hall was dead.

Most of the Bay Area media based their reports on the statements of BART officials, who claimed that Crabtree shot Hall in the chest after Hall tried to seize his gun.

Refusing to rely solely on the claims of BART personnel, Tim Redmond of the San Francisco Bay Guardian, an independent weekly, conducted an independent investigation. Redmond interviewed a range of sources, including eyewitnesses, the victim’s family and community groups. Redmond discovered that Crabtree’s claims were inconsistent with the physical evidence and medical report, which proved that the officer shot Hall in the back of the head as he was walking away.

After Redmond reported this evidence, the official BART explanation changed: Crabtree had shot Hall as he walked away, but he was afraid that Hall would circle around and shoot him. Redmond, unlike most of the media, questioned the implications of a police officer shooting someone for something that might be done at some future point. He also reported Crabtree’s testimony that he did not think that Hall had a gun, and witnesses’ accounts that the sirens of approaching back-up could be heard before the shooting.

From December to June, Redmond wrote columns pointing out the lack of independent supervision over BART police officers, as well as flaws in the internal BART incident review procedures. Redmond revealed that in five years, the BART review board had rejected every one of the 162 complaints it received.

The columns stirred community outrage. Copwatch, one group that has led protests against the killing, learned of the controversy from Redmond’s Dec. 9 article, according to Copwatch’s Dennis Mobley. These protests led to investigations by Alameda County and the FBI.

Redmond’s columns also forced the story back into mainstream media. Barry Witt of the San Jose Mercury News told Extra! that Redmond’s reporting “absolutely” prompted mainstream media coverage. “After the long Bay Guardian piece and then the community protests at BART hearings, I said, ‘We just can’t ignore this anymore.’”

Robert Oakes of the Contra Costa Times said, “The alternative paper shook things up enough that when [Jerrold Hall’s] brother stood up in the hearing and demanded an investigation, it pushed it over the edge and made it an issue.”

In January, when protests and public interest had sparked official action, the story became highly visible in mainstream media. Although some outlets merely followed the “newsworthy” events and quoted BART spokespeople without citing past inaccuracies or conducting their own investigations, most stories did incorporate a wider range of sources, including community groups and the victim’s family.

The unrelenting coverage in the Bay Guardian, combined with the vocalness of the family and community protests, raised public awareness of the issue of police violence. Three Bay Area cities have passed resolutions calling for civilian review boards for BART police, and the FBI has now turned over the investigation to the Justice Department. A graffiti art exhibit against police brutality is on display in Oakland.

Six months after the shooting, the case finally began receiving national media exposure. The New York Times (4/24/93) published an op-ed article written by the victim’s brother, Jeff Hall. Their father, Cornelious Hall, is scheduled to be interviewed on Connie Chung’s new CBS show, Eye to Eye.

While some critics charge alternative media with preaching to the converted, the Bay Guardian’s articles demonstrate the power of independent media when added to community organizing and protest. They effectively forced an issue into mainstream media and public consciousness. With continued community pressure and media scrutiny, maybe Jerrold Hall’s death will be the catalyst for change that will save the lives of others.

Assistance: Barbara Johnson.