THE PARENTS OF A POLICE CADET who died last month after participating in a training exercise for the San Francisco Police Department Academy have filed a claim against the city, hoping that it will help reveal more answers surrounding the death of their “perfectly healthy” son.
Jon-Marques Psalms, 30, died at a San Francisco hospital on Aug. 22, two days after completing a high-intensity exercise while training to become an SFPD officer. SFPD has not specified exactly what type of exercise Psalms was engaged in, but said that he had suffered a “medical emergency,” according to a statement the department released on the day of his passing.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the death an accident caused by rhabdomyolsis from overexertion, a condition where muscle tissue breaks down that can lead to organ failure.
But Christina and Marcus Psalms, the grieving parents of Jon-Marques, are demanding more transparency around exactly what happened that led to the death of their son, they said at a press conference Wednesday afternoon in San Francisco.
“We don’t know enough about what happened,” Christina said while choking up. “It just doesn’t make sense.”
She said that there has been a lack of communication from SFPD, with little to no information being provided to her.
“From the time I arrived at the hospital, no one with SFPD came and approached to tell us exactly what happened prior, besides just intense calisthenics,” she said. “As far as what his day looked like, when it started, who he was working out with … As of today, zero information supplied that. It’s almost like that didn’t happen.”
After a request for comment about the allegations, the police department said it cannot comment on any litigation.
According to the complaint, the autopsy report noted that there were head injuries at the time of Jon-Marques’ death.
“We do not yet know how or when that injury occurred, but it would seem logical that he received that injury during training,” said Brad Gage, the family’s attorney. “We know that he fell down after training, he appeared to go unconscious. He needed urgent medical attention, and then his body started to deteriorate, with multiple organs failing, despite efforts from medical providers for the hospital to save them.”
“Accidents do happen, I get that. They happen every single day. But they shouldn’t happen when you’re training. Maybe twist an ankle, break an arm, get a cut. But die?”
Marcus Psalms, Jon-Marques’ father
Additionally, the Psalms believe there could be a recording of the training.
“There’s been no video produced showing what happened,” Gage said. “The explanations that we have received are incomplete and perhaps inconsistent, and so we have filed a governmental claim, which is a precursor to filing a lawsuit.”
The claim alleges battery, negligence, and assault, among other allegations .
“Battery is basically a non-consented, painful or harmful touching that causes harm,” Gage explained. “Jon might have agreed to participate in a training exercise, but (did) not agree to being paralyzed, having a head injury, being killed.”
Gage became even more suspicious of SFPD wrongdoing when he learned that a lieutenant in charge of the academy was transferred just one day after Psalms’ death.
In a statement, SFPD said that the transfer was already approved prior to the death of Psalms.
“Decisions on staffing changes at the academy occurred before Recruit Officer Psalms’ tragic death,” said an SFPD spokesperson in an email.
Given the alleged lack of transparency from SFPD as to what exactly happened, the parents of Jon-Marques said they do not fully trust the city and have sought an outside medical examiner for a second opinion, the results of which are pending.
“We are in the process now of having a second autopsy from a very well known, very prestigious pathologist in order to help get answers to these questions of why a perfectly healthy, well-conditioned young man was killed,” Gage said.
‘RedMan’ training questioned after death
Gage suspects that Psalms participated in an exercise known as “RedMan,” a controversial training designed to simulate scenarios between an officer and a physically aggressive suspect. It involves hand-to-hand combat with another person who wears a padded “RedMan” suit for protection.
“The training exercise Psalms had completed is a course mandated by POST,” the SFPD said in a statement on the day of the recruit’s death. POST refers to Peace Officer Standards and Training, a curriculum required for peace officers to become certified.
“Cal/OSHA is investigating this incident as they do with any workplace death. The SFPD is also conducting an investigation,” the department said at the time.
In 2020, a recruit who was training to be a deputy for the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office died after engaging in the exercise. “RedMan” training has been banned in the entire state of Massachusetts since 2016 after a recruit lost an eye.
Psalms’ parents feel that they have been left in the dark and believed that filing the claim against the city was one of the few options they had left to try and get to the bottom of what happened.
“Accidents to happen, I get that. They happen every single day,” said Marcus. “But they shouldn’t happen when you’re training. Maybe twist an ankle, break an arm, get a cut. But die?”
They hope that at least the death of their son will raise awareness over safety concerns within law enforcement training practices and lead to reform.
“It’s not going to bring my son back, but if the state of California can change this, then every other state can change it,” Marcus said. “It’s beyond our family.”