True to their word, Inyo County Sheriff Jeff Hollowell and the Sheriff’s Office Public Information officer Carma Roper, promised to be responsive and transparent as quickly as possible on the Sheriff deputies use of force during the arrest of George Barlow III on July 24 at the Bishop Chevron Gas Station. It looks like they are making good on that promise.
Press Release on Use of Force: Officer Body Cams footage
Press Release – The Inyo County Sheriff’s Office has reviewed body camera footage for the use of force incident that took place early the morning of July 24. In order to provide total transparency, we are sharing the footage of the incident with the public.
Please be advised that the content is sensitive: Critical Incident Video
“We want the people we serve to have as much information as possible when we have a critical incident, even before the investigation is complete and the facts fully known,” stated Sheriff Jeff Hollowell. “I understand how important this case has become to our public, it is equally important to me and my staff, and I hope we can evolve through this together as a community.”
The public is encouraged to contact the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office at 760-878-0383, option 4 if you have any additional information regarding this case.
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My cousin who had schizophrenia and manic depression had many incidences with the police. However the police knew his father, who was an inspector for the San Francisco PD. He died of lung cancer about the time my cousin became violent. The cops knew my aunt, and were able to handle him by using many officers. So my cousin Steve was not injured, he was placed in a mental institution for awhile and put on meds, it happened many times. I felt so sorry for him, as his disease ruined his life. He died in his 60s.
I have known several people with mental disorders. Most cops are not trained to handle them. I don’t have an answer but saw several manic depressives get very violent, and hurt other people. I worked in a psychiatric facility as a pharmacist. It was scary. They did restrain patients who were violent. I saw one guy break the arm of another patient. After he got on the right meds he was fine. But then he would get out and stop the meds and it would happen again.
We have no facility to treat the mentally ill around the east Sierra.
I don’t have an answer, except for police to have better training. But legally they can’t give drugs to prisoners. They can’t just put them in jail.
I wish we had a better way.
It’s extremely evident cops can’t handle themselves in basic situations. Fire all involved.
Dog Lives Matter
Video has already been taken down by Youtube for “violating community standards”
George Barlow III was out for a walk with his dog at almost three in the morning. There was a beautiful full moon, Saturday, warm temps and probably no air conditioning back at home. Who knows what his mental state was. Some of us have backyards we can safely wander into at three am, and no one will know about it or think anything of it. Two hundred years ago, George Barlow could have walked freely and without the boundaries of a reservation. Barlow was in the wrong place, wrong time. Anyone commenting here could have been in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Nothing guarantees safety. I still remember when they found Cara Knott.
Officers were there to answer a domestic dispute call. Apparently, George Barlow wasn’t the subject of the domestic violence call. Perhaps the deputies could have walked back to their cars, taken a breather and made a call to dispatch. All conjecture…and what if? As to his dog. What dog goes into attack mode when it’s not part of its day-to-day reality? The dog was a pit bull, a breed with a prejudice against it but loved by many. Petey was the dog of Spanky and Our Gang. The dog looked confused in the video. Where was animal control? If it had been a 51/50, typically animal control would have been called and the dog impounded.
“Intense but fair?” How so? “If somebody is going to charge an armed police officer what’s he or she going to do to an unarmed citizen?” Perhaps not in this case.
Sadly, on top of dealing with straightforward violations, law enforcement is saddled with dealing with all human complexities. A criminal arrest is more straightforward. Not so easy to make a judgement call about a person’s mental state. They couldn’t even call a medical doctor because that’s not our system works. Whatever you think of George Barlow, he is in ICU.
WB, perhaps so in this case.
The dog was confused but eventually did what he should have… protected his human.
Cops couldn’t handle the situation and allowed it to escalate.
Officers clearly lack necessary training.
Thanks for stating that, as his actions on video were crazy. I am glad he got arrested
Generally speaking, looking, sounding, and/or acting crazy is not against the law. If so, there’s the possibility that half of our friends and relatives might end up arrested…if not, we ourselves! The problem with this episode was that there is no justification for a level of violence directed at an unarmed and obviously “distressed” citizen that ended in putting him the ICU.
I have a former brother-in-law who suffers from schizophrenia. He has had run-ins with police and he, unsurprisingly, has gotten into a few violent encounters with them. Usually, what seems to happen, is the police end up arresting him because he is ‘unresponsive to their commands” and ends up “resisting arrest;” two pretty obvious signs that he is mentally ill or disturbed. And let’s be honest, if someone started whaling on you or on someone you care about, it is natural to act in “self-defense” and to become extremely upset over it. Having said that, I have empathy for both the victim/s and the police in this instance. Police are ill-equipped to deal with those among us with severe mental issues, alcohol, or substance use. This is not to say that George is mentally ill, I don’t know him, but his behavior was at best “disturbing,” if not concerning. But to essentially “destroy” him in an ill-advised attempt to “save him” should be unacceptable. Then there is also the long- and strongly-held belief by many members of our tribal communities that they are all too often targeted by local policing authorities, and that much of that attention is based on racist and bigoted beliefs.
The point I am trying to make is that there is a mismatch between our police officers’ training and their main purpose, which is to keep the peace. We have lost sight of that with the emphasis on “law enforcement” and in some instances, the militarization of police, or the need to automatically resort to use of force. If your only tool is a hammer then every problem looks like a nail. Unfortunately, in this case, Barlow appears to have been the nail.
Use of Force is often a recipe for disaster in policing, especially when it results in violations of civil and human rights. There are far too many examples of it. And it is a false choice that needs a solution. Let’s hope that our local tribes (all of them), local police authorities, government agencies and entities, and, yes, community members, care enough to to attempt to come up with better alternatives to what happened in Barlow’s arrest. Let’s find a solution; not spend all our efforts on who to blame. There’s enough of that to go around.
Charles, that was really well articulated. The only thing I can add as a mental health professional of 50 years, is that the area where mental health and criminal justice overlap is frustrating for everyone. The limits to what laws and budgets allow mental health workers to do, and the limited resources for law enforcement, are a tragic combination of restrictions that serve no one well. These are general concerns: Like you, I don’t know George Barlow or his circumstances. My heart goes out to his family.
NO amount of unruly behavior or disrespect shown to law enforcement by an individual should result with the person severely beaten and hospitalized, much less on life support. What is wrong with you people? I watched the video, I didn’t see ANY time that one of the Sheriff’s deputies lives were at risk. Yes, I saw disrespect towards the deputies, I saw the man walk towards the deputies saying bad things, BUT NONE OF THAT SHOULD RESULT IN THE INDIVIDUAL BEING BEATEN OR ATTACKED BY a K9 dog and end up in the hospital on life support.
THE only time this should happen is when an officers life is threatened. The dog was a threat, the deputy took him out, therefore threat REMOVED. Law enforcement officers should be more professionalism and have more restraint than for any incident get to this point.
I do see where the deputies used more appropriate measures to subdue than many individuals get in the US today, such as a taser first but I didn’t see much de-escalation being used, just looked like high school boys out for a rumble because they were bored.
These deputies need to be FIRED!
Lori, what would you have done differently if you were one of the officers?
Just a reminder, Barlow was walking towards an apartment complex and police have an obligation to protect the public too.
It’s real easy to say what coulda shoulda woulda, ain’t it?
Lori- When is the last time you faced an attacker who was charging you? You forget… these deputies are professionals (and they absolutely dealt with this situation professionally), but they are also human beings. Human beings who do their best to help people (they were responding to a 911 call regarding a possible restraining order violation) because someone CALLED FOR THEIR HELP. They are also human beings who who have families that they want to return to at the conclusion of their shift. I promise you this: those deputies didn’t have a pre-shift checklist that included fighting with George Barlow and having to neutralize a dog. Nobody wants that. You are so incredibly naïve…
I find it interesting that their video ends abruptly just as Mr. Barlow is put in cuffs. Why not show the rest of the footage? Could it be because they beat the sh*t out of him AFTER he was in cuffs? SHOW THE REST OF THE FOOTAGE, ICSO!!!
The Sheriff officers gave Mr. Barlow so many chances. Although I didn’t hear some things on the video that the Sheriffs dept. stated Mr. Barlow said, It looks like officers had no choice but to use excessive force. My final thought, Mr. Barlow should also be charged with animal cruelty and never be allowed to own another animal! That poor dog.
I recommend the Police just refuse to answer the calls. This Hate the Police and support criminal behavior is insane. Use of force is not pretty but it is necessary when criminals refuse to obey lawful authority. White is a color, so if white people have to obey the law then why do other colors not have to obey the law? By the way, why did the facts of Barlow disarming one officer and attacking the officer with the pit bull go un-reported? This is a deliberate attempt of fake news. America wake the heck up!!!
I am concerned about the victim of this incident in Bishop, the women whose keys and phone were taken by this man. He may have been personally unarmed but he had an attack dog, and fought like crazy. Was he on drugs? Was he mentally ill? I hope a complete investigation and report to the public will follow.
People can be upset about police apprehending a violent man.
My cousin was a bipolar schizophrenic. His dad had been a lifelong inspector for the San Francisco police but died of cancer. My aunt was alone with her son when he got violent. My cousin was in his 20s, strong and scary. My aunt called police and they sent 5 officers. That was what it took to put him in custody. My cousin lived into his 60s, he had several violent occurances. Finally he took medication, He didn’t live in and institution once he took meds, and had a condo in Berkeley from money left by his mom.
That man in Bishop acted inappropriately and dangerously. He needed to be arrested. The police who apprehended him did their job.
The man in question, George Barlow III. who was taken into custody by the Inyo Sheriff’s deputies, is not the same man as the one who allegedly had stolen a woman’s phone and keys in the phone call to Sheriff dispatch. Neither of them, the man or the woman, were ever seen or identified by the deputies when they arrived at the reservation. You have apparently mis-read that part of the story. Please, re-read the press release from the Inyo Sheriff’s Office: Press Release Issued by Bishop Police Chief on Chevron Station Incident. You had an SNL Roseanne Rosannadanna moment…and that’s okay. Happens to me all the time. “Nevermind!” Our sympathies on your cousin’s battle with schizophrenia.
The suspect was not identified, but that does not mean that Mr. Barlow is not the same man. He could have been, but they do did not know at that point. Which is why they wanted to talk to him.
Is anyone else concerned that the original 911 call, the beginning of this incident, is not explained. The call seems vague and confusing. Why was this man out and standing in a well lit place, at 2 am, barefoot, with an unleashed pit bull? Who else had threatened or frightened this man prior to this incident? How is it that someone in the same apartments where the original call was made, was ready to film at 2 am? Is this a coincidence, really, of wrong place wrong time? Comments here mention that this man has been causing problems to this area..hmm. Is it possible that we are missing something? More than meets the eye? Motive?
Charles, put yourself in the shoes of the officers. They respond to the location, cannot find the caller or the suspect from the call, and find Mr. Barlow in the immediate vicinity shouting in the parking lot of a closed business. I would at least want to ask him some questions to see if he is the person from the call or maybe witnessed something pertaining to the call, wouldn’t you? I’d like to add that that was what the officer appeared to be attempting before he was charged. Do you expect every deputy to be able to recognize and identify every person in Inyo county? Have you served in law enforcement? How about not passing judgment until you walk a mile in a police officers shoes. The entire situation is unfortunate and I hope Mr Barlow recovers, however, I’m not passing any judgment on the police officers because I wasn’t there. I’m just glad that we have officers out there who are willing to try and keep our community safe for people like you and me.
Mr Barlow has been on a rampage and raising hell for a couple months in our area. Much praise to our law enforcement officers who have to put their lives at risk and deal with this kind of behavior and constantly apprehend and arrest these perpetrators over and over again.
If somebody is going to charge an armed police officer what’s he or she going to do to an unarmed average citizen?
Poor dog.
If George Barlow was at the US Capitol on January 6th, he would’ve been beating the cops on the Capitol Steps while carrying a Confederate Flag because “My president ordered me to do it.”
Dr. Robert Binocter out of deep DEEP left field.
Please stay on topic.
Doctor, for real?
This police incident looked intense but fair. The use of a police canine was a good idea, way better than a weapon.