A man arrested for disturbing the peace on Veterans Day as he read aloud the names of American war dead will receive $17,000 from the city of Santa Barbara, which has agreed to revise policing policies under terms of a settlement.
Announced Friday by the ACLU of Southern California representing Michael Tocher, formerly of Nipomo, the agreement also calls for the Police Department to expand training procedures.
“A person who is trying to communicate a message is not disturbing the peace, even if some people don’t like what he is saying or how loudly he was saying it,” ACLU attorney Peter Bibring said.
“We think this settlement will benefit the whole community," Bibring said. "It accomplishes the things that Mr. Tocher wanted to accomplish, which was not only getting some redress -- but making sure this didn’t happen in the future.”
A police spokesman, Lt. Paul McCaffrey, said he had not yet learned details of the agreement. Santa Barbara Newsroom calls to the City Attorney’s Office requesting comment were not immediately returned.
While maintaining a firm presence in such situations, city police have historically taken a hands-off approach in dealing with protestors. Typically, they only get involved when safety is compromised.
However, on Nov. 11, 2004, Tocher, 37, was handcuffed, searched and arrested on Nov. 11 2004, after he read names of military personnel killed in Iraq. He recited 400 of 1,200 names through a bullhorn before police arrived and arrested him without warning or explanation, ACLU officials said.
"The irony is that I was recognizing the sacrifices of American troops in a peaceful and respectful way,” Tocher said in a statement. A father of two, he has since moved to Northern California. "I filed this case so my own kids won’t have to face the tyranny of having someone else’s will imposed on them.”
The ACLU filed a claim on his behalf in May 2005, and a judge ruled in November the arrest was unlawful. The judge reasoned that officers were inadquately trained regarding the city's disturbing the peace ordinance, lawyers for the organization said.
According to a draft of the 11-page agreement filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, revisions to police policy and training procedures must reflect a state Supreme Court ruling barring loud speech only when “a clear and present danger of violence is imminent” or “where the purported communication is used as a guise to disrupt lawful endeavors.”
Moreover, the policy must state that the second situation applies only when “there is no substantial effort to communicate or when the seeming communication is used as a guise to accomplish the disruption” and the only intent is to disturb others, according to the settlement.
Also, officers before making an arrest must issue a warning, document it, and provide time for the loud speech to end.
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