‘High Five’ Called Officers’ Sign of Relief

SAN BERNARDINO —  Two police officers who exchanged “high-five” hand slaps after one of them shot and killed an armed teen-ager last month were celebrating their own safety and not the young man’s death, Police Chief Dan Robbins said.

Still, their conduct “is unacceptable and cannot be condoned,” Robbins said in a prepared statement released this week.

One of the unidentified officers shot and killed Clarence Anthony Harris on Feb. 11 after a short car chase when the 17-year-old exited the car and pointed a shotgun--later found to be loaded--at the officers. Harris was under the influence of the drug PCP at the time, the investigation showed.

After the officer and his partner, a reserve officer, handcuffed the other three occupants of the vehicle, the two hugged each other and exchanged the “high-fives,” Robbins said in his statement. The officers later told their superiors they were “expressing relief in surviving a potentially life-threatening event,” said Police Department spokesman Jim Hamlin.

“This hits to the issue of integrity and professionalism,” Hamlin said. “Even if an officer is under fire and in a very dangerous situation, he still has to maintain a professional demeanor.”

The exchange between the two officers was witnessed by other police as well as bystanders, causing an immediate uproar in some corners of the community over what was perceived as an inappropriate display of emotion. An internal affairs probe concluded with Wednesday’s statement.

Robbins is “concerned that the actions by the officers left some of the community with the impression that the officers were celebrating,” the statement read. The chief has “told his officers that this type of conduct is unacceptable and cannot be condoned,” it said.

The incident has been referred to the officers’ commanders for “review and recommendations” but any possible discipline will not be publicly disclosed, Hamlin said.

The statement concluded by saying that Robbins believes “this entire event needs to be viewed within the context of the dramatic increase in violence directed toward Southern California police officers.”

Commenting on the statement, San Bernardino Mayor W. R. (Bob) Holcomb said he saw the high-five exchange “as a survival thing, not that they killed someone but that they escaped unscathed.” He said he only received two phone calls about it.

But City Councilwoman Valerie Pope-Ludlam, a leader in San Bernardino’s black community, said she was not satisfied by the explanation.

“Even if the worst possible person is on the ground dead, that’s still no reason to celebrate,” Pope-Ludlam said. “I hate to think we have police out there with that kind of attitude who are responsible for upholding the laws of this city.”

The slain youth’s grandfather, the Rev. Clarence Harris, remained critical of the high-five exchange. “This was not a sportsman’s event,” he noted, saying that the controversy would not be defused until the officers write a public apology for their actions.

“Still, that wouldn’t relieve the problem,” Harris said. “We’re still working hard to keep the peace and quiet out here because of what happened.”