Ohio Police Shooting - Body Cam Video (raw and unedited)

[flyandscuba]

Yep - the rpm limiter is working overtime against a "pedal to the metal"

 

[John B.]

Judge set 1 million dollar bond on him this afternoon.

 

[Snow Bird]

2 Policemen lied about what they saw. I think they are on paid vacation.

Something came to me today about police. Why in the hell would you reach into a car with the engine running and try to shut it off? Not a very bright idea to me.

 

[Jeb21]

Read an article reporting that since 1979 more than 5000 innocent bystanders have been killed during police car chases. Most of these chases are for minor crimes. Just last month a 60+ year old grandmother was killed as a result of a car crash prompted when a shoplifting suspect was being pursued by the police. We don't really hear about these deaths, but more than half of all police related deaths are the result of these high speed pursuits.

I could not find the article but I found similar information:

USA Today, April 22, 2010: About 360 people are killed each year in police chases, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Geoffrey Alpert, a professor of criminology at the University of South Carolina who has studied police pursuits since the 1980s, says the actual number of fatalities is "three or four times higher." Another complicating factor: bystanders killed after police stop chasing suspects — even seconds afterward — are not counted.


91.4% of all chases are for non-violent crimes.
spacerspacerspacerspacerspacerspacerspacerspacerspacerspacerspacerspacer—The IACP Police Pursuit Database, 2008, page 56 (pdf)

"90 seconds. That's the time an officer saves between driving 80 and 100 mph over a 10-mile stretch."
spacerspacerspacerspacerspacerspacerspacerspacerspacerspacerspacerspacer —Former Illinois State Police director Larry Trent


Pursuits are the most dangerous police tactic, killing more innocent bystanders than a bullet from an officer's firearm.
“A traffic crash constitutes the most common terminating event in an urban pursuit.”
spacerspacerspacerspacerspacerspacerspacerspacerspacerspacerspacerspacer—Ret. Police Chief D.P. Van Blaricom, Bellevue, WA

“Nationally, we say about one-third of our police pursuits conclude in a collision. You tell me another law enforcement activity where one-third of the time it goes bad and they continue to do it.”
spacerspacerspacerspacerspacerspacerspacerspacerspacerspacerspacerspacer—Capt. Travis Yates, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Police Department

It is estimated there are about 70,000 chases each year in the United States. However, there is no national database to provide this information. PursuitSAFETY's stance on penalties for drivers who flee.

 

[flyandscuba]

What you fail to mention - is that it is usually the fleeing vehicle that crashes and kills the innocent parties, not the police vehicle. Take out the deaths of the fleeing suspects themselves, and the numbers are reduced - as they are certainly not innocent.

The U.S. Supreme Court decision of Scott v. Harris ruled that the injury or death to the fleeing suspect is not a liability tort of the pursuing police. However, the unfortunate deaths of the third party casualties can be a liability tort if the pursuit is handled improperly.

Many of the crashes occur AFTER the police have called off the pursuit - as the suspects continue to flee, placing everyone in their path at risk.

The media news has glorified pursuits - this emboldening many suspects to seek their 15 minutes of fame. The ultimate fault lies with those who choose to commit the crimes and flee in the majority of police pursuits today.

 

[Jeb21]

You are right that normally the fleeing suspect causes the crash. The numbers should not include the suspects themselves. As for calling off the pursuit before the crash, I disagree on that one. The stats specifically exclude fatalities that occur after the police call of the chase even if it is only seconds before the crash. Bottom sentence of the first paragraph that I posted reads " Another complicating factor: bystanders killed after police stop chasing suspects — even seconds afterward — are not counted." If we counted those fatalities as well, then the numbers go from shocking to disgusting.

I just finished working on fatality caused by a police car chase of a person attempting to pass a bad check. A 12 year old girl was killed for no reason. Afterwords a host of LEO witnesses claimed there was no pursuit or that the pursuit was terminated before the crash. The video and the audio showed otherwise.

 

[flyandscuba]

The 12 year old girl was killed because the fleeing suspect operated in a reckless manner - without concern for the safety of others.

As much as people want to blame police - the proximate cause of the incident remains the actions of the criminal suspect.

Some criminals run simply at the sight of the police...

Hopefully, the criminal in your case has homicide as a charge in addition to the bad check charge.

Of course, the public entity has the deep pockets when the grieving family seeks to ease their pain of loss with a monetary award...

 

[Jeb21]

The 12 year old girl was killed because the fleeing suspect operated in a reckless manner - without concern for the safety of others.

As much as people want to blame police - the proximate cause of the incident remains the actions of the criminal suspect.

Some criminals run simply at the sight of the police...

Hopefully, the criminal in your case has homicide as a charge in addition to the bad check charge.

Of course, the public entity has the deep pockets when the grieving family seeks to ease their pain of loss with a monetary award...

The suspect drove in a reckless manner because she was being chased by the police. Proximate cause is a legal term that is broad enough to include the pursed and the pursuer. The legal definition of causation i.e. proximate cause is not as narrow as you have described it, though it is not nearly as broad as scientist or philosophers would define it. If you an I were street racing and you lost control of your vehicle and killed someone, I am legally responsible for that death. If the street race occurred in the middle of the day along a busy street then my punishment would be enhanced by the law.

By Florida law every LEO agency must have a pursuit policy and must abide by it. Fla. Stat. 768.28(9)(d). This department, like most other LEO departments in the state, prohibited a pursuit under these circumstances because the risk to the public outweighed the need to immediately apprehend a non-violent offender.

As for governmental deep pockets, not in Florida. Any tort claim against a sovereign entity is capped at $100,000 (for the purposes of this event - it had been upped to $200,000 now). Fla. Stat. 768.28(5). So the little girls family is limited by law to 100k.
If I was her father, I would let them keep the money in exchange for one hour alone with that cop. I would not physically beat him, I would make him look at photos, and video's of the child. Listen to her voice. Explain to her grandparents his decision to chase a non-violent suspect down a busy street in the middle of a rainy day. I would make him sit in her room and read her diary, and see her friends comments in her yearbook. I would give him a photo of my daughter to keep on his desk or in his wallet.

 

[flyandscuba]

A "proper" pursuit policy is one that includes judgement on the part of the initial officer - and the allowance for a supervisor (or any other officer involved) to call it off. A "no pursuit" or "restrictive pursuit" policy is ill-advised, because no matter the reason - someone will say the officer violated policy. The department is falling right into the hands of the plaintiff attorneys with that one. I consult my clients to scrap such policies and return to one that provides guidelines and allows for judgement - with the safety provision that a supervisor or the officer themselves can call it off.

In addition, a pursuit should only involve two marked units - the lead and a back-up who makes the radio calls during the pursuit. No "circus train" pursuits as is common in California...

Yes, tort caps do exist in Florida. But as you know if something is so egregious and "shocks the conscience" - the claimant can pursue a claim bill with the Florida Legislature to seek an award above the tort cap.

Chances are, your case did not cross that threshold. I expect the agency's LEL insurance carrier would make an out of court offer below the tort cap to make the claim "go away" - rather than take it to trial.

Or, a savvy plaintiff attorney can claim that the agency involved "violated the civil rights" of the deceased and take it to Federal court where the tort caps do not apply.

A police officer initiating a traffic stop do not "cause" the criminal suspect to flee. That was a conscious choice on the part of that person. All they had to do was stop and not flee.

It is sad that a young innocent person died - but they did so as a result of the criminal actions of the suspect.

Do you propose that the police just let criminals flee?

 

[Jeb21]

A claim bill is a dream or fantasy. While it is possible to get one passed, your are unlikely to get one. In my case, no insurance company was involved. The agency after comparing the statements by the group of officers involved with the actual audio and video recordings did seek to avoid court.

Civil rights violations are not as easy as you might expect. We actually looked at that possibility and saw that we could not bring a claim in this case. Sad but the suspect actually had a better chance of a civil rights violation than the deceased girl's estate.

The police officer botched an attempt to arrest a woman trying to pass a bad check, the agency then compounded the error by engaging in a high speed pursuit when the woman fled. This was not a traffic stop or attempted traffic stop. Several of the officers tried to take that position, it was bogus. They were called to the scene for suspected back check, screwed up the arrest and allowed the suspect to escape, they then initiated a high speed pursuit to capture a non-violent suspect resulting in a dead child. They killed that girl, realized their mistake and started trying to talk their way out of responsibility for their actions. Fortunately, the evidence was against them.

Do I propose that the police simply let criminal flee. YES if the crime is a non violent one. Let's examine the options. You can immediately capture a non-violent criminal, but at a result someone, probably a innocent will be hurt or killed in the ensuing car chase. Or you can simply pull the surveillance tapes, identify the non-violent criminal and arrest her later and the risk of bystander injury or death is greatly reduced. Which option should be taken?

We have to decide what our police officer's priority should be, keeping us safe / keeping the peace or enforcing the law. Sometimes these goals go hand in hand but sometimes they do not. When there is a conflict, which priority should prevail?

I would like to see two changes to our police forces - first limit the paramilitary training, equipment and attitude to SWAT and other specialized units - Second, go back to putting two officers in a patrol car. So many of the police fatalities that we see on these videos would be avoided if the officer in question had a back up to protect him.

 

[flyandscuba]

I don't think we'll ever see two officers per car - the funds just aren't there and no one has an appetite for higher taxes.

If you haven't read the book by Radley Balko entitled "Rise of the Warrior Cop - the Militarization of America's Police Force", I highly recommend it.

 

[Jeb21]

I will look for that book, thanks.

I agree with you about the two cops in a single unit fantasy. As far as the expense/tax issue goes, a lot of calls will result in the dispatch of a second unit anyway, so it really is not saving us money, in fact it is costing us money in the form of more money for the extra patrol cars and maintenance and gas.

 

[MAXman]

Anyone know if the "fleeing felon rule" is still used in florida? Specifically the escambia/Santa Rosa/okaloosa area?
Anyone know what the criteria for the "fleeing felon rule"?
Anyone care to explain if the original video qualifies, if in fact the department for the campus police still allow the rule?


Partners in a car is, IMO, a great idea. At least have two cars(two officers) per call(though Jeb is right, expensive). I assume it's fairly common around here outside of traffic stops, since the only time I see officers(aside from traffic stops) it's 2-5 cars lined up. To me, partners make sense. Wether it's calling in a plate while on the road, responding to an accident, multiple suspects, etc etc. in this case, two body cams instead of one.

 

[Jeb21]

I don't know the fleeing felon rule with respect to use of deadly force. I did read an article on MSN this weekend about a psychiatrist who testifies for the officers in these unarmed shooting cases. He is basically arguing the "action beats reaction" mantra which is true but it sure is hard t swallow when it results in so many dead unarmed civilians. I have decided that if I am confronted by an officer I will go real slow and verbally telegraph my every move and receive his or her permission before making the move.

 

[MAXman]

Thanks Jeb,
I could go either way with action vs reaction. I can say trying to play catch up sucks. I've been pulled over before where the officer(s) felt it nessecary to approach my window with weapons drawn. I don't blame them, hold it against them, I can see why they did it and would expect anybody tondonthensanenin the situation. Maybe I'd feel differently if it was over a license plate issue(or bad checks) with my kid in the car.

The problem I have is that I cannot condone the"just donnas your told so you don't get shot" mentality. This is America, not soviet Russia. Law enforcemt is, in a sense, employed by me to protect me.(me being citizenry). I don't blame them for approaching cars with limo tint on high alert, but I can't excuse the death of a person over a license plate or a bad check. Regardless how many times theve been arrested.