A San Francisco police recruit died two days after collapsing during a defense tactics exercise in academy training.
Recruit Officer Jon-Marques Psalms was pronounced dead Friday at a local hospital, the San Francisco Police Department confirmed. He was 30 years old.
Psalms worked in the tech industry before pursuing his passion to become a cop, officials said. His LinkedIn profile said he worked as a commercial account executive for Sigma Computing until April.
An officer who agreed to speak anonymously said the recruit passed out Wednesday morning after taking part in an endurance test using RedMan protective gear, a head-to-toe getup of thick foam pads used in sparring.
“It’s a test of ability to just keep going,” the officer said, adding that the test is usually conducted toward the end of training at the police academy. “The whole thing for that is to just don’t give up. The guys you wrestle against are all in big padded suits; they toss you about, and you have a foam baton. You all wear foam sparring helmets.”
The SFPD said the training exercise Psalms had completed is mandated by the Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training — the state agency overseeing law enforcement standards and education.
In addition to an internal probe by SFPD, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is investigating the death. As is Cal/OSHA, the state's Division of Occupational Safety and Health.
Law enforcement academies use RedMan Training Gear equipment to simulate confrontations between officers and suspects — but the practice is controversial because of the risk of injury and death.
In 2020, a Santa Clara County sheriff cadet died after a RedMan training just days before his academy graduation. The 39-year-old cadet collapsed while sparring with a proctor and spent hours on life support before he was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
In 2016, Massachusetts authorities determined that failure to heed product warnings resulted in a police recruit losing an eye during RedMan training. In 1992, the Alhambra Police Department in Los Angeles reconsidered using the equipment after one officer broke a toe and several others suffered “concussion-like symptoms” from RedMan exercises.
The San Francisco Fire Department sent an ambulance to the police academy at 8:18 a.m. Wednesday for a medical emergency, officials said. One former officer with knowledge of the situation said Psalms was in excellent physical shape but felt off after defense tactical training. The ambulance took the recruit to a hospital, where he was placed on life support.
One of Mayor Daniel Lurie’s campaign promises was to rebuild the ranks of the SFPD, and the death may hinder those efforts.
The department is roughly 500 officers short of recommended staffing levels and has been expanding its recruitment efforts in recent years, yet the result has been lackluster, with smaller-than-desired academy classes and low graduation rates.
To increase recruitment, the department offers signing bonuses and high starting salaries and has even floated the idea of shortening the length of the academy.
Psalms grew up in Southern California and went to college in Louisiana before moving to the Bay Area, where he worked in the tech industry before embarking on a career in law enforcement.
“The death of a recruit at the academy is incredibly unusual and tragic,” the SFPD wrote on X. ”This is the first death of a recruit during training that the SFPD is aware of. The entire SFPD, Recruit Class 286, and Psalms’ family and friends are struggling with this tragedy.”
The department’s Behavioral Science Unit is offering counseling to Psalms’ fellow recruits and other officers who need support, a department spokesperson said.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to Psalms’ parents and brother who have asked for privacy at this time,” the SFPD statement concluded. “We will have more information about arrangements and how others can assist his family.”
Lurie offered his condolences, saying losing any officer is a tragedy — but especially one as committed as Psalms.
“As I’ve spoken to ... Psalms’ parents over the past couple of painful days, they told me about the sense of purpose he found from his work and his squad of fellow recruits,” Lurie said in a prepared statement late Friday. “He was so looking forward to graduating with all of them and joining the ranks of the SFPD. His dedication to the city will never be forgotten by his fellow recruit officers, our police department, and a grateful city.”