HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-03POLICE CITIZENS REVIEW BOARD
A Board of the City of Iowa City
410 East Washington Street
Iowa City IA 522401826
319 3565041
December 11 2009
To City Council
Citizen
Dale Helling Interim City Manager
Sam Hargadine Chief of Police
Officers involved in complaint
From Police Citizens Review Board
Re Investigation of PCRB Complaint 0903
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This is the Report of the Police Citizens Review Boards the Board review ofthe
investigation of Complaint PCRB 0903 the Complaint
BOARDSRESPONSIBILITY
Under the City Code ofthe City ofIowa City Section 887B 2 the Boards job is to review the
Police Chief s Report Report ofhis investigation of a complaint The City Code requires the
Board to apply a reasonable basis standard ofreview to the Report and to give deference to the
Report because of the Police Chiefs professional expertise Section 887B 2 While the City
Code directs the Board to make Findings ofFact it also requires that the Board recommend that
the Police Chief reverse or modify his findings only if these findings are unsupported by
substantial evidence are unreasonable arbitrary or capricious or are contrary to a Police
Department policy or practice or any Federal State or local law Section 887 B 2 a b c
BOARDSPROCEDURE
The Complaint was initiated by the PCRB at its June 8 2009 meeting As required by Section 88
5 B of the City Code the Complaint was referred to the Chief ofPolice for investigation
The Chiefs Report was completed on September 1 2009 and was filed with the City Clerk on
September 3 2009
The Board met to consider the Chiefs Reort on September 8 October 13 November 3 and
December 11 2009 At the September 8 meeting the Board voted to review the Chiefs Report in
accordance with Section 887 B 1 a on the record with no additional investigation
Page 1
This complaint was based on Complaint 0902which was filed April 20 2009 by a person without
personal knowledge of the incident The Chiefsreview of the complaint was filed with the
Board on May 1 2009
At the June 8 2009 meeting the Board considered Complaint 0902 City Code section 883B
Definition of Complaint states that any person with personal knowledge ofthe alleged police
misconduct may file a PCRB complaint with the board In order to have personal knowledge
the complainant must have been directly involved in the incident or witnessed the incident It
was the conclusion of the Board that the complainant was not directly involved and had not
witnessed the incident and therefore did not have personal knowledge ofthe incident
It was however noted by the Board that there still should be some investigation into the allegations
made in Complaint 0902 The Board felt that although the complainant was not directly involved
in the incident a complete investigation would remove any doubt about police misconduct
O p
On September 1 2009 the Chief completed his review of 0903 and submitted his rt the C
Clerks Office on September 3 2009 cC 6tc
FINDINGS OF FACT rn
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The original incident happened on April 10 2009 at 500am in downtown Iowa Cry and s
observed by Officers A B and C who were on foot patrol The officers observed Citizen being
tackled into a tree That assailant was arrested During the course ofthe investigation into the
incident it became apparent to the Officers that Citizen A was under legal age and intoxicated He
was flippant and verbally aggressive with the Officers who described him as mouthy Citizen
A was then arrested for public intoxication A specimen ofhis breath showed a BAC of 164 over
twice the presumptive level for under the influence
Officer A observed a scrape on Citizen As cheek He assessed the wound as superficial and mostly
likely caused by tree bark Citizen A did not complain ofthe injury at that time
Officer B had minimal contact with Citizen A did not know the grounds for the arrest or recall
seeing an injury or hearing Citizen A complain about an injury Officer B then transported Citizen
A to the Johnson County Jail
While the Officers were preparing to transport Citizen A and the assailant Citizen B approached
Office A and reported that he too had been assaulted Officer A took information for an incident
report Citizen B then approached the Officers again reporting that the man who had assaulted him
was at the Fieldhouse bar Officer A walked toward the Fieldhouse with Citizen B but then Citizen
B told the Officer that the assailant was gone again There was another assault call at the
Fieldhouse bar so Officer A checked for the assailant inside the Fieldhouse bar
Officer D was summoned to College and Clinton Streets by Officer A at the request ofCitizen B
Citizen B complained that Citizen A had been assaulted and arrested He said that he himself had
been assaulted Citizen B also complained to Officer D that he had approached two other officers
Page 2
who were dealing with another subject on the plaza about having located the man who had assaulted
him near the Third Base bar He stated he felt it was unAmericanthat two officers were dealing
with one person that it shouldnttake two officers to deal with one person and was upset that the
officers had told him that they were busy He felt that his assault was more important than whatever
the officers were dealing with at the time During the time Officer D was with Citizen B Officer D
stepped away to deal with a bar fight Officer D also noted that Citizen B was intoxicated and that
Citizen B admitted to being intoxicated
The Chiefs report also notes that this was not the first interaction that Citizen B has had with
Officers A and C On February 25 2009 at 1243 am Citizen B was cited for a PAULA violation
and for being under 19 years of age and in a licensed alcoholic beverages establishment after 10 pm
A statement attributed to Citizen A includes the following allegations 1 he was threatened with
having the police fill the police car with tear gas 2 he was not allowed to tell officers his account
of what happened nor did any officer ask him for an account ofwhat happened nor was there an
acknowledgement of his having been assaulted and injured 3 he was offered no medical attention
nor was medical intervention provided by the jail staff
A statement attributed to Citizen B includes the following allegations 1 Officers were non
responsive to his inquiries about Citizen A and the assaults 2 officer threatened Citizen A with
force if Citizen A did not quiet down and were rough with Citizen A when they put him into a
police car 3 later in the night when Citizen B saw his assailant officers refuse to assist him and
refuse to give him their names and 4 when he tried to pick Citizen A up from jail jail staff told
him he could pay Citizen As fine or he could leave
The Police Chiefs Report finds the incidents regrettable but goes on to state that both onscene
and postevent investigations have been hampered by Citizen A and Citizen B At the scene
Citizen B was aggressive and intoxicated He failed to follow through with evidence the
cellphone photograph which he stated directly related to the identification ofhis and possibly
Citizen As assailant The Report goes on to state that Citizen As arrest was predicated entirely on
his level of intoxication and corresponding behavior that night He was detained initially so
Officers could evaluate his role in the conflict Only as the contact between Citizen A and the
Officers continued was the decision made to arrest him due to his flippant nature which is clearly a
demonstration ofpoor decisionmaking and judgment him being under legal age and being
profoundly intoxicated and unable to attend to his own actions safely and satisfactorily
Officer D initiated a Report ofInquiry ROI an internal document used to identify performance or
behavior which is either in question or performance which is ofan exemplary nature This ROI
addressed performance by members ofthe Police Department which was being questionebya
community member Officer D spoke with Officers A B and C in connection with R
Di n
Officer D prepared and submitted a second ROI regarding a phone conversation tl4tBtffieerD
with Citizen Asmother Citizen As mother was concerned that Citizen A had bssaulted
not been seen for a head injury that he had a headache and that he had a laceratioiisS e
felt the injuries should have been ofconcern to the officers and that the evaluatior5 inqua
In response to Officer Ds inquiry as to why Citizen A hadntdiscussed his injuriand hiache
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with jail staff she stated that officers had told Citizen A to shut up or they would beat him and that
one ofthe officers had hit him with anight stick When she was told that that particular officer did
not carry a night stick she then said that officers had threatened to shoot Citizen A with a Taser
Following Officer Ds submissions ofthe ROIs the Watch Commander followed up onthe
investigation by interviewing the officers involved The information obtained by the Watch
Commander was consistent with that gathered by Officer D
The assault reports were submitted and turned over to the Investigations section for follow up The
Investigations Commander learned that Citizen B had a picture of his assailant on his cell phone
Citizen B was asked to submit that photo to aid in the followup investigation but as of September
1 2009 had not done so Citizen B had not made Officer D aware of the photo at the time he made
his complaint on April 11 2009
The Investigations Commander also contacted Citizen A who advised him that the person who
assaulted Citizen A is a friend ofthe person who assaulted Citizen B The first assailant was
contacted initially lied about his own identity and refused to discuss anything about the identity of
any friends who were with him or who may have been involved in a fight Citizen A shared nothing
more about his attackers Attempts to contact a witness who was listed on the incident report as
having accompanied Citizen B to make the report to Officer A were made witho succ Citizen
A advised the Investigations Commander that he did not know the witness ca r1n
According to the Chief s Report additional followup has occurred on the case e gase
remains in openactive status ern
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Inquiry was made to the Johnson County Sheriffs Office regarding activities thaplcirrQat the
Johnson County Jail The Sheriff s Office provided intake information and aphone wai which
indicated that Citizen A had waived his right to a phone call and signed the waiver Jail staff
confirmed that Citizen A appeared to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs and that Citizen A
admitted to drinking or taking unprescribed drugs The intake form indicates that Citizen A
denied when asked that there were any other medical problems or dental disorders that he was
not asked about and that he thought the jail staff should know about
On September 8 2009 the Board reviewed the Chief s Report and made the following conclusions
with regard to the allegations
The mother of Citizen A made seven allegations that the board thought needed addressed Of
the seven allegations made only two involved Iowa City Police officers
ALLEGATION 1 No medical assessment was conducted when Citizen A was arrested
When Citizen A was walked over to a planter Officer A observed a scrape on his face Officer A
assessed the wound as superficial and most likely caused by the tree bark from the tree he hit when
the assailant tackled him into Since Citizen A talked through most ofthe interaction with the
officer and did not complain ofthe injury he had it supports the officers assessment that the wound
was superficial NOT SUSTAINED
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ALLEGATION 2 Citizen As attackers were not pursued
In fact the person responsible for attacking Citizen A and tackling him into the tree was arrested
Additionally there has been no formal information received from Citizen A about the attack which
he states preceded him being tackled into the tree NOT SUSTAINED
ALLEGATION 3 No medical assistance or treatment was offered prior to Citizen A being placed
in jail This allegation involves Johnson County Sheriffs Department personnel at the County jail
As it does not involve the Iowa City Police Department it is NOT SUSTAINED
ALLEGATION 4 No continued medical assessment was conducted after Citizen A fell asleep in
his cell This allegation involves Johnson County Sheriffs Department personnel at the County jail
As it does not involve the Iowa City Police Department it is NOT SUSTAINED
ALLEGATION 5 Citizen A who had open wounds was allowed to be in the presence ofothers in
a jail cell This allegation involves Johnson County SheriffsDepartment personnel at the County
jail As it does not involve the Iowa City Police Department it is NOT SUSTAINED
ALLEGATION 6 Due to Citizen As open wound he was exposed to contaminants in the jail cell
He was not offered gauze to protect against infection This allegation involves Johnson County
Sheriffs Department personnel at the County jail As it does not involve the Iowa City Police
Department it is NOT SUSTAINED
ALLEGATION 7 Citizen A was in jail for 11 hours and while there had no access to water to
drink or clean up with This allegation involves Johnson County Sheriff s Department personnel at
the County jail As it does not involve the Iowa City Police Department it is NOT SUSTAINED
A statement attached to the origina10902 complaint was from Citizen A An investigation
was initiated on these allegations andthe findings are listed below as Allegations 8 through 13
ALLEGATION 8
Citizen A alleges that he was not read his Miranda warning
Citizen A was not asked questions about the offenses for which he was arrested and was not the
subject of an interrogation Miranda warnings were not required as information wadof being
solicited NOT SUSTAINED
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o rhaALLEGATION9crsc
Citizen A alleges that he was sworn at by police and demeaned by the officers lge I
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There was no evidence other than Citizen As allegation to support this allegation NOT
SUSTAINED
ALLEGATION 10
Citizen A alleges that he was threatened with force
This allegation is both specific and nonspecific In one allegation it was stated that the officer
would or did beat him with a night stick When the investigating officer responded that the officer
in question does not carry a baton or night stick it was then stated that the officer threatened to use a
Taser on Citizen A Investigators were unable to identify any information other than Citizen As
0allegationwhichsupportsthisallegationNOTSUSTAINEDc
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ALLEGATION 1 L v n
Citizen A alleges that he was threatened with having the police car filled with tearrn
Officers do not carry or have at hand tear gas Investigators have not been abcidtify
information other than Citizen As allegation which supports this allegation NOTEJSTAIED
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ALLEGATION 12
Citizen A alleges that he was not allowed to tell the arresting officer his account of what happened
nor did any officer ask him for his account of what happened nor was there an acknowledgement of
him having been assaulted and injured
The circumstances of Citizen As assault are captured in the officers report The substance ofthis
incident report is provided by Citizen B another person involved and nowhere in this report does
he allege that Citizen A was assaulted prior to being tackled into the tree It is the original
complainant in PCRB complaint 0902 that contains the allegation about Citizen A being assaulted
prior to being tackled During the investigation conducted by Officer A based on information heard
at the scene it was apparent that the persons who assaulted Citizen B which was the subject ofthe
report were responsible for the assault on Citizen A An investigation into this matter was initiated
on the scene and has continued via the case being routed to the Investigative Section ofthe Iowa
City Police Department This could only have been gleaned by officers listening to assertions made
by Citizen A about the assault he alleges occurred that preceded his being tackled into the tree
There clearly was acknowledgement ofthe injuries sustained by Citizen A as officers mentioned
that they observed the injuries and attributed them to him having been tackled into a tree
Allegations made by Citizen A differ in degree of injury and the manner in which it was addressed
by both Iowa City Police and Johnson County Jail staff Officers on scene and the transport officer
who serves as supervisory staff in a combat medical unit did not believe the injuries presented were
ofa degree to require onscenemedical intervention Citizen A was accepted by the jail staff
without being redirected to UIHC for further evaluation Citizen A did not offer at booking the
same assertion as to degree of injury he makes in the statement which is attributed to him in
complaint 0902
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Part ofthe investigation has included a conversation between Citizen A and Investigations
Commander At no time did Citizen A ask the Commander to file an official crime report
regarding the assault which preceded him being tackled into a tree Citizen A has failed to advance
his concern about the assault which he states occurred prior to him being tackled Additionally lack
of cooperation from Citizen B to submit the photo which he alleges that he has on his cell phone
has hindered the investigation NOT SUSTAINED
ALLEGATION 13
Citizen A alleges that while in jail he was offered no medical attention nor was medical
intervention provided by jail staff
This issue does not involve Iowa City Police personnel and should be referred to the other agency
involved NOT SUSTAINED
A statement attached to the original 0902 complaint was from Citizen B An investigation
was initiated on these allegations and the findings are listed below as Allegations 14 through
18
ALLEGATION 14
Citizen B alleges that he was told to leave the area after Citizen A was handcuffed and was not
given the opportunity to give a statement about his and Citizen As assault He also alleges that the
officer was not interested in pursuing the perpetrators ofCitizen Bs assault
Citizen B did provide information for an incident report quizzed Officer A about what he had been
told Officer A recited the facts back to Citizen B to his apparent satisfaction Officer Atienwent
to the area ofthe Fieldhouse Bar twice and inside the bar once to try to find Citien Bs sailant
NOT SUSTAINED t r
ALLEGATION 15 r
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The statement also includes references to the officers being nonresponsive to his riebout
Citizen A and the assaults
Not only were officers responsive Officer A accompanied Citizen A to try to identify the assailant
who Citizen A said was in the plaza near the 3d Base Bar The assailant was not located
Additionally Officer A made an examination ofthe interior ofthe bar for the suspect without
success NOT SUSTAINED
ALLEGATION 16
Citizen A also alleges that the officers threatened him with force if he did not quiet down and that
officers were rough with him A when they put him into a police vehicle
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It is significant that Citizen A to whom this alleged aggressiveness by the officer is directed does
not list his loading and transport as one ofhis grievances No other evidence supports this
allegation NOT SUSTAINED
ALLEGATION 17
The statement further alleges that later that night he saw the assault suspect tried to summon
officers who were with another subject and they refused to assist him and refused to give him their
names
This allegation relates to Citizen B approaching Officers B and C who were occupied with another
incident As the officers tell him they are busy and cant attend his problem Officer A approaches
and advances toward the Fieldhouse to search for Citizen Bs assailant
NOT SUSTAINED
ALLEGATION 18
Citizen B alleges that when he tried to pickup Citizen A from jail jail staff told him he could pay
the Citizen As fine or leave
This issue is for the Johnson County Jail staff to address NOT SUSTAINED
BOARD COMMENTS
Both ofthese incidents are unfortunate but both onsceneand postevent investigations were
hampered by the victims themselves
Citizen A was arrested entirely on his level of intoxication and corresponding behavior that night
and had nothing to do with the fact that he was a victim of an assault He was detained initially so
officers could evaluate his role in the conflict Only as the contact between Citizen A and the police
officers escalated was the decision to arrest him made He was arrested for public intoxication
being under the legal age being profoundly intoxicated and unable to attend to his own actions
safely and satisfactorily
Citizen B was aggressive and by his admission to Officer D intoxicated He did not like the way
the officer took report information even though the officer repeated the information back to him
He challenged the manner in which officers were dealing with a separate issue were deployed
asserting that his issue was a priority and was defiant when told differently He has also failed to
show investigators evidence related to his assailants identification the cell phone photo
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