On March 5, 2019, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott and Special Agent in Charge Sean Ragan of the FBI’s Sacramento Field Office announced: “Now that both state and local authorities have completed their investigations into the shooting of Stephon Clark, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI, in conjunction with the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, will examine whether the shooting involved violations of Mr. Clark’s federal civil rights. That examination will involve a review of the substance and results of the state and local investigations, and any additional investigative steps, if warranted.”

The Sacramento Police Department (SPD) welcomes the news that the FBI, US Attorney and the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice will conduct reviews of the investigation into the officer-involved shooting that occurred on March 18, 2018 in the 7500 block of 29th Street. 

Our department pledged to our community that we would conduct a thorough investigation and deliver every bit of information available to the Sacramento District Attorney and the California Attorney General. We did that, and we now pledge our full cooperation with these federal authorities. 

We welcome the expertise these law enforcement experts bring to the table, and we believe every layer of objective review helps our community have confidence in the eventual findings. 

“Every set of independent eyes on this case adds to our understanding and our ability to improve how we police our community,” said Sacramento Police Chief Daniel Hahn. “We have made a commitment that we will continually improve how we train our officers and how we respond to critical incidents and this is another step in that process.”

Once their findings have been reported, we will conduct a final policy review covering whether the specific use of force during the incident complied with department policy. As soon as this review is complete, we will share information in compliance with Senate Bill 1421.