July 18, 2008 10:58 pm
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By Debby Woodin
dwoodin@joplinglobe.com
The mother of a man injured by police questioned police Chief Lane Roberts on Friday night about the use of Taser guns and other force in a case that resulted in the departure of one police officer and disciplining of two others.
Questions about the injury of Joplin resident David Neal, 25, that resulted in the city paying a $5,000 settlement occupied the largest part of a neighborhood meeting staged by the Police Department.
The meeting was one of six the department is putting on this year to have open discussions about any issues residents want to talk about. This session was scheduled at the Jesus Headquarters church, 801 Central St.
Nearly 20 people attended the session. Among them was Angela Mitchell, the mother of Neal, who was injured April 20 when he resisted arrest.
The chief told Neal’s mother and the others that the officer who resigned, Homer Knisley, was generally regarded as a reliable and competent officer until he made the mistake of reacting to provocation and struck Neal inappropriately “whether it was accidental or not.”
The chief said he couldn’t discuss the specific act Knisley committed because it was a closed personnel matter.
But, he said, “It was a single incident in a six-year career” that will end Knisley’s career as a law-enforcement officer. He said that the state agency that certifies officers to work in law enforcement, the Police Officers’ Standards and Training (POST) Commission, will strip Knisley of his certification as a result of the excessive-force finding.
Knisley’s act against Neal followed an attempt by several police officers to arrest a combative Neal, according to police. Neal’s mother said at the meeting that Neal was intoxicated and under the influence of mood-altering drugs at the time of the altercation and his arrest during a traffic stop.
She questioned the police chief about witness statements that police used two Taser guns on Neal even when Neal held his arms out and was not moving. She also questioned the safety of using repeated Taser strikes to control a person. She said her son was struck in some areas of the body she regarded as dangerous, including the jugular vein and the temple of his head.
Roberts said officers are trained to try to strike the trunk of the body with the Taser, though the two points that dispense the electric charge can strike randomly. He said one of the Tasers malfunctioned, which prompted another officer to wield the second Taser. Neal was not struck by two Taser guns at once, the chief said.
He called on Lt. LaMonte Ratcliff, a black officer and the department’s excessive-force training officer, to discuss the use of the Taser and the use-of-force policy. Ratcliff said the officers use Tasers to avoid using more dangerous weapons like a metal club. He also said that use of force is guided by a policy developed from a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allows enough force to be used to overcome the resistance. Force can be used if resistance doesn’t actually occur but a person’s demeanor suggests a threat to an officer, Ratcliff said.
Officers at the meeting were asked why they did not use arm or body holds solely to try to restrain Neal.
The chief said Neal was so forcefully combative that three officers could not control him by using traditional means. He said the use of Tasers and other force during the initial minutes of the arrest attempt on the street after a traffic stop were justifiable. It was after Neal was brought into the jail that the inappropriate use of force came from Knisley. Roberts did not specifically say why Knisley overreacted, except to say that an officer must resist the attempt to be provoked by name calling or actions of that type. Roberts said he could not publicly discuss the particular action that Knisley took that amounted to excessive force.
Neal’s mother said she expects to see that for herself when she is allowed to view videotapes of the incident. She said police had not let her see those tapes yet because they were considered evidence in the investigation.
She told the police chief that her son made mistakes too, and regretted the abuse of drugs and alcohol that led up to the confrontation. She asked the chief how they could work together to try to reduce drug abuse in the community. The chief said they could ask the government to fund more addiction-treatment programs.
Several audience members also suggested getting churches more involved in drug-treatment programs.
They also said that incidents like Neal’s fosters mistrust between police and minority residents.
“I simply want you, as a community, to believe that we hold ourselves accountable,” the police chief said.
After the meeting, Neal’s mother said Neal suffered broken bones, eye and facial injuries, lacerations from the Tasers and now is plagued by post-traumatic stress.
He still faces criminal charges resulting from that night and extensive medical bills. She said she did not know anything about the $5,000 he decided to accept from the city to settle any claims he might have filed. She said he did not want to talk to reporters. “He just wants to get on with his life.”
As for her, “I am satisfied with what has taken place. I asked for an investigation. There was an investigation. I never said my son was right. They did find there was something wrong (with what police did) and they did correct it. I am satisfied.”
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