Police Force, in Color

   by Greg Meyer

    The Hollywood Division officers "caught on tape" in a use of force incident provide the latest example of public outrage over police use of force.  Although the public and the media want immediate answers, it will be awhile before anyone can provide an objective analysis of the entire event.

    The increasing proliferation of video cameras guarantees that more and more police incidents will be captured.  So it seems to me to be useful to attempt to provide some context about how such incidents are analyzed.  For the past 17 years, I've worked as an expert witness on civil and criminal use of force cases around this country, usually in favor of the police, sometimes not, and some with video, some not. 

    The truth almost always lies deeper than the video.

    Many are tempted to pass judgment on the basis of a shocking video.  "It speaks for itself, the police beat this guy for no reason," many would say (and have already said in this case).  We have the usual outraged headlines and outraged Southern California ACLU judgment before the facts are in, and we have the usual outraged attorney with dollar signs rolling in his eyes.  All of that is par for the course.

    Regardless of the eventual analysis when all the facts are included, there are a few glaringly obvious facts about this video.

    First of all, there is not just one video.  There are three videos of this incident posted on YouTube.  One is 19 seconds long.  One is five seconds long.  One is one second short.  They each capture a different part of the incident.

    The videos were captured via someone's cellphone camcorder.  You should wonder (I do) about why the two shorter videos published on YouTube are so short.  And you should wonder why the longer video suddenly stopped just as the suspect's right hand was approaching the gun holster of one of the officers.  Were the videos edited to someone's advantage?  Or was it just the luck of the draw and the vagaries of an amateur pushing buttons on the cellphone?  We would all be better off if entire incidents were captured, but we rarely have that luxury.   Still, it's important to note that such videos don't capture the point of view of the officer involved in the heat of the incident.

    Second, newspapers have published excerpts of the officers' own report of the arrest, in which they admit hitting the suspect in the head after describing the suspect's alleged resistance to arrest.  It's very clear watching these videos that the officers are attempting to handcuff the suspect (one cuff is already on one wrist), but the suspect is not allowing that to happen.   

    Third, it is very interesting that the court commissioner who looked at the video (which was recorded in August) refused to dismiss the criminal case against the suspect, and stated, "The issue here is not whether the officers had to use force. The question is whether or not the defendant used force in resisting the lawful arrest, and I find that he did resist, using force."

    The fact-finding missions by the internal affairs processes of the Los Angeles Police Department will play out, as will the investigation by the FBI, as will the criminal court case involving the suspect, as will the suspect's forthcoming lawsuit.  It will be quite awhile before all the facts and opinions are in about whether the officers acted reasonably or not.

    Use of force by police in this country for the past 17 years has been judged by Graham v. Connor [490 U.S. 386, 109 S.Ct. 1865 (1989)].  Very few citizens have had the opportunity to sit in judgment, whether criminal or civil, in police use of force cases.  There aren't that many criminal cases brought (cops, after all, are the only ones that society gives authority to use force proactively), and the civil suits are most often settled or dismissed before trial.

    When there is a trial, what jurors wrestle with are the requirements set forth by the Graham case.  When police must use force, the Court says, the force must be "objectively reasonable" with respect to the facts and circumstances the officer is facing, and without 20/20 hindsight.

    The court decided that, "The ‘reasonableness' of a particular use of force must be judged from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, and its calculus must embody an allowance for the fact that police officers are often forced to make split-second decisions about the amount of force necessary in a particular situation."  Also what must be considered are the severity of the crime, the immediate threat to the safety of the officers or others, whether the suspect is resisting arrest or attempting to evade arrest by flight.

    The list of facts to be considered is lengthy, but its highlights include: the number of suspects and officers involved; the size, age and condition of the suspect; the known or perceived fighting ability of the suspect; the duration of the action; the experience level of the officers; the distance from the officers to the suspect; and the weapons (including the officers weapons) in the immediate vicinity of the suspect.

    Law enforcement officers are unique in society because they are permitted by law to use physical force to compel others to do their bidding.  Officers intervene in a variety of urgent, unpredictable situations, and their mission is to keep the peace or to restore it.  This awesome power must be wielded sparingly in a democratic society.  The public rightly holds public administrators, including police officials, responsive to public preferences and demands.  When officers use force they must do so to control a situation, not to punish an offender.

    Use of force by police naturally upsets onlookers across the street as well as viewers of the six o'clock news.  Conditioned by fictional media depictions of sanitized violence on one hand and fantastic "megaviolence" on the other, most people have no frame of reference other than personal emotions to evaluate an incident.  The average viewer has little or no experience with real violence and the chaos that typically surrounds it.

    People tend not to understand even legitimate use-of-force incident dynamics; people are repulsed when they see force applied to a fellow human being.   But force is used in relatively small percentages of police confrontations, and people should not be surprised or offended that police must occasionally use force.

    Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa are right to express concern about the Hollywood incident because the incident is obviously of concern to the public.  But the Chief and the Mayor are also right to withhold judgment until the various investigations play out.

    The public—and the media—would do well to listen to them.

Greg Meyer retired in May as a captain at the Los Angeles Police Academy.  He is a member of the National Advisory Board of the Force Science Research Center, and a speaker and expert witness throughout the country on law enforcement use of force.

Comments

[Loves LA LEOS]

Thank you for the information provided in this article. One thing that was not mentioned that perhaps should be considered a factor is the awareness of the officers that a crowd of onlookers gathering may include further threat to their own safety and safety of the public at large. If there is a way to contact the author directly with questions and to obtain other information of this type, please post. Again, thank you for this perspective. Very helpful.

[Lt. De La Torre]

Very well said.....

[George Vreeland Hill]

Very well said.
You are careful, but thorough.
I do believe that the public rushes into judgment too fast at times when something like this happens.
The only problem I had watching these videos, was with the officer who gave the man in question "one last hit" with his baton.
I felt that was not needed.
We need police, but we do not need police who do that.
As a whole, I applaud the efforts of police and those in law enforcement.
I am,
George Vreeland Hill

[Harry]

That is a very good article and expains really how it is. thanks

[Greg Meyer]

I am happy to receive questions or comments about my above article.

gregmeyer@earthlink.net

[Jim Reed]

Capt

The department lost an elegant spokesperson with your retirement. You offer professional insight that the majority of the public needs.

If LAPD and the City of Los Angeles were smart, you would be retained as an independent consultant and a professional spokesperson to bring your message to the media and to public groups. Insight and understanding helps prevent the unneeded "rush to judgement" that many in the public sector have fallen prey to.

I hope that the LAPD Command staff and the City Council will see what you can bring to the table and ask that you assist in assuring the media and the public that an independent finding will be presented and hopefully satisfy everyone.

[J Q Public]

Bratton cannot be trusted. First he says that the incident is under investigation, and in the same press release he states that all consent decree and department policies were followed.

Someone should tell him that he shouldn't release the results of sham investigations until AFTER they have been "completed"

[Mark]

Capt. Meyer,

Thank you for a fine article. It was very enlightening.

Mark
Portland, OR

[squeaky]

I find it ironic that an incident like this is captured by the public at large using technology that the police department should have had ten years ago.

[david owens]

I worry that cops will be set up by people and then phony video will be broadcast nationwide. Officers must always behave like they are being watched.

[Gary E. Rogness]

As a retired member of the LAPD and one who is, and always has been, concerned with professional policing standards, I applaud the blog by retired Captain Greg Meyers. His comments are right on point!
I am concerned the "tail is wagging the dog " in the city I served for 28 years. Media attention is paid to indivduals, who, by their dress, speech, and body inflections, appear to be members of a group of society misfits that the majority of the community fears, resents and wants the police to control. And, there comes the rub. Some (possibly many) wring their hands when they see the "cop on the beat" controling an individual or enforcing a law (passed by elected representatives). As Chief Bratton stated, "Policing is not always pretty." It's also, I might add, not always PERFECT. The men and women from "our" community that have been recruited and responded to the call to be law enforcement officers should be appaluded for their courage and convictions in wanting to serve their fellow man. This is not to say every police officer is perfect, in every way. It is to say, we recruit from our society and probably have the same "failure rate" (although I believe it is much smaller) than is found in any other occupations (read bankers, corporate executives, politicians, contactors, teachers, professors, etc.)

Retired Captain Greg Meyers was right-on his his analysis of use of force situations involving police officers doing their job in attempting to enforce the laws designed to protect society (the community) from those who have no respect for the law and are predators in our midst. His comments were the most articulate and on point that I have read in some time.
Gary E. Rogness, serial #12071, Retired Lt., LAPD June, 1992

[Pat Connelly]

Greg,

Thanks for your writing. See that one handcuff dangling down says so much to all of us that served the Thin Blue Line. Civilians just don't get it and never will. I expected a one sided story from the L.A. Times. However, I was shocked to see the lynching of the situation in the Daily News before all the facts are in....The paper has tried and convicted the Hollywood Officers. Never thought I would see the day when I would cancel the Daily News.

[Elton "Skip" Michael]

Prior to becoming a detective on the LAPD I was assigned to the Metro Division during the days of the 60’s and 70s when Angela Davis and her crowd would attend demonstration and try to capture us making arrest that required the use of force, which for the most part was provoked by the demonstrators. Utube, digital cameras, and cell phone cameras were not yet invented, but we in Metro Division were quite aware of the game plan of the Left; provoke, tape complain and sue. We tried our best to make arrest with the least amount of force; but when force was needed we did what we were taught, “use that force to overwhelm your attacker and take him or her into custody.” Today the officer on the street is mandated to use “only that force necessary” an ambiguous definition at best. I find it interesting that Chief Bratton comes from the “neutered” New York Police culture where the police are not proactive but static and only act when they are called after the fact and where several thousand highly unionized police officers oversee a soaring “job security” crime rate. Maybe this is what Los Angeles wants, lots of cops standing around doing nothing, crime soaring and finger pointing. The law abiding be dammed.
Skip Michael, Det II 10887 retired