A Plaque Given to a Sheriff’s Sergeant for Tasing 25 Times after being on the Job for Five Years

How law enforcement officers are rewarded with a plaque and commemorative coins for shooting, tasing, and any other excessive force

Shawn Silva, a San Diego Country Sheriff’s Sergeant was award a plaque by colleagues for using his stun gun 25 times. The question is, “Were they justified or had a biased agenda?”

Words on the street have always been from way back that law enforcement was required to make so many arrests within a specified period of time, targeting primarily people of color and their communities.

After Sgt. Silva had logged in his 25th tasing using his electronic stun gun, after five years on the job, was rewarded by friends and co-works in the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department with a custom-made plaque that featured a replica Taser, tally marks per incident, his career date of 2012, and his 10 colleagues signatures.

Dated in 2012, the informal commemoration recognized this mid-career milestone with a Sheriff’s Department patch in the upper left corner, 10 colleagues’ signatures on its frame, (See photo above.), proudly displayed in Silva’s office for years, visible for all to see.

It was perceived as a symbol of achievement and what would that say to others in the same department or elsewhere who saw it. It took years before that one person arrived, an outsider, who saw the plaque and was appalled, snapped a picture in 2019, and now the public knows how the San Diego Sheriff’s Department rewarded their own for tasing others.

A spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Department stated that the plaque was not an official accommodation but why permit such an atrocity? Were they not aware or just didn’t care or are they part of the systemic racist problem? While the plaque is no longer in Silva’s office, it was and it exists, that is the problem. While the Sheriff’s Department is disappointed, the public needs more than regret. What does regret by itself do for the public?

Where’s the transparency here? The public was not made aware of this situation. It appears all was done very quietly, the plaque was removed very quietly but the problem remains. Someone needs to answer why it was done and who initiated it and why.

Silva who proudly displayed the plaque in his office until word surfaced that he displayed it in his office, then it was removed. As of now, no word from him from multiple requests, and he has been assigned to another station, Poway substation.

According to the media, San Diego Country Sheriff’s Department, there seem to be similar practices commemorating shootings or other uses of force, so this quietly kept practice promoting excessive force has been perpetuated by law enforcement colleagues for an unknown period of time.

Austin, Texas, last September, it was reported that Williamson Country Sheriff’s Office officials rewarded deputies with gift cards in recognition of “good uses of force” for two deputies using stun ggunson a Black man four times while he was struggling to breathe until he died. How appalling, a gift card is given for killing someone?! This is pure insanity.

Phoenix, Arizona law enforcement has a record for stopping and harassing people of color, according to many Arizona residents. This behavior by law enforcement there has become the norm.

Two months ago while visiting Arizona, I saw this behavior first hand. Two cops stopped these two African American men, interrogated them, put handcuffs on them, searched their vehicle, (trunk and inside), found nothing, but continued their interrogation as we look on from a distance videotaping. After a long time with the cops talking with these two African American men, finally, the cops released the handcuffs, shook their hands, and then drove off.

Also in Phoenix, four officers were removed from their positions and place on administrative leave along with the police chief being suspended, after the law enforcement was criticized for the manner in which they handle demonstrators.

Suspended or administrative leave only perpetuate this bad seed in law enforcement. There is no real accountability, just a bandaid to get the pressure off long enough so they can do the same again and the cycle continues.

Equally as horrific as the Tasing plaque, officers traded commemorative coins honoring each other for shooting people protesting police brutality in their groins with pepper balls.

Now, the San Diego’s sheriff’s department decided to look into each of these 25 cases where Silva received a plaque for using his taser. They claimed they have not been able to get results on all 25 tasing situations, just 17.

Where are the real details for the 17 tasings done by Silva. Is 17 tasing better than 25? It was concluded by law enforcement that these 10 were justified. Who is doing the justification of these tasings?

According to the sheriff’s department, ten of these tasing incidents were done according to policy. The question yet remains, why was he given a plaque for 25 tasing or any tasing?

In conclusion, any award condoning violence by a law enforcement officer or sheriff is deeply offensive to what the badge is supposed to represent within the community, protect and serve.

Oftentimes, in some communities, law enforcement is the problem and not the solution. Qualified immunity has given too many law enforcement officers the license to shoot to kill and tase.

These coins and plaques are perpetrating crimes against humanity. Even if the acts justified tasing, why reward an officer for doing so. This is an atrocity against humanity and is very troubling as it communicates that use of force is honorable and to be celebrated.

For additional reads: