SPD
officer avoids firing over serious misconduct
The 2012 incident also led to a
rare examination of top department commanders, including an assistant chief who
was ordered to undergo training for failing to assure that use of force was
documented.
Video from a holding-cell
camera shows Officer Clayton Powell with a man in custody. Powell has been
suspended rather than fired over misconduct.
In a case that drew widespread
attention, a Seattle police officer who pulled the hair of a man and later
physically threatened him in a holding cell has avoided being fired after
agreeing to a lengthy suspension, reassignment and additional training.
In all, the department found
that Officer Clayton Powell, 52, engaged in multiple acts of misconduct arising
from an Aug. 2, 2012, incident in South Seattle.
The discipline is similar to
that meted out in 2011 to then-gang Detective Shandy Cobane, who had threatened
during a robbery call to beat the “Mexican piss” out of a prone Latino man.
But Powell’s case included an unusual
twist: At the direction of a civilian watchdog who scrutinizes internal
investigations, the department expanded the review to examine why top
commanders failed to make sure that a timely use-of-force report was completed.
As a result, Assistant Chief
Nick Metz was ordered to undergo additional training regarding the lapse — a
highly unusual action for a top-ranking commander.
All of the actions, detailed in
internal-investigation documents disclosed Friday under a public-disclosure
request by The Seattle Times, come at a time when the department is continuing
to respond to a federal mandate to curtail excessive force found by the
Department of Justice.
As part of a settlement that
runs until August 2016, Powell’s union, the Seattle Police Officers’ Guild,
agreed not to appeal his discipline.
In turn, Interim Police Chief
Jim Pugel set aside an initial determination that Powell be fired and instead
suspended Powell for 30 days without pay — the most severe discipline short of
termination. However, 10 days were held in abeyance.
Powell will be subject to
termination if he engages in serious misconduct of a similar nature in the
future.
In addition, the 20-year
veteran was reassigned to the department’s Community Outreach unit under the
supervision of an assistant chief. Among other things, Powell is to undergo
training in that unit, perform outreach duties, meet with community leaders and
participate in the production of a department training video on “fair and
respectful” policing.
On a more personal level,
Powell is to continue counseling sessions.
Powell came under scrutiny
after he and other officers were called to a possible assault of a 9-year-old
victim with an air-soft pellet gun.
While surrounded by a hostile
crowd, Powell and a young man in the crowd began arguing.
After the man made a statement
about wanting to face Powell again when he wasn’t on duty, Powell threw down
his badge and police baseball cap and challenged the man.
In the exchange, captured on a
YouTube video, Powell pushed the man at times, including one time when the man
advanced on him, according to the internal-investigation documents. One push
occurred after the man purportedly spit on Powell, an allegation the man has
denied.
While another officer attempted
to handcuff the man, Powell grabbed the man’s hair and hat and pulled him down
toward the hood of a patrol car, according to patrol-car video cited in the
documents.
At a South Precinct holding
cell, where the man was taken, Powell appeared to display a middle finger to
the man and make a threatening gesture with his fist, surveillance video
showed.
The man, Ismail Abdella, has
filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit against the city.
Pugel, in an interview Friday,
noted that Powell, like Cobane, had been “straightforward and honest” about
serious misconduct. Cobane, who was nearly fired, was suspended for 30 days
without pay, demoted and required to mend fences.
Pugel called Powell’s actions
“unacceptable behavior.”
In the official findings, the
department found Powell violated the law, used unnecessary force and profanity,
and acted in an unprofessional and discourteous fashion.
Powell’s case was reviewed by
the City Attorney’s Office for a possible criminal-assault charge. But an
outside expert advised it would be difficult to prove criminal conduct,
although the expert said Powell’s actions should be evaluated “regarding his
fitness to continue in police service.”
The Police Department’s Office
of Professional Accountability (OPA) then conducted the internal investigation
that initially focused on Powell’s conduct. But the review was broadened when
the OPA’s civilian auditor, Anne Levinson, requested that the assistant chief
and captain in Powell’s chain of command be interviewed, according to
Levinson’s Aug. 9 semiannual report.
Levinson wrote that she would
have sustained allegations against both commanders of failure to properly
document use of force, while acknowledging there was “some confusion” on what
was required because of the potential criminal and policy violations by Powell.
Alleged
police brutality caught on tape on Southern Calif., report says
(CBS) LONG BEACH, Calif. -- An excessive force
investigation was under way Wednesday after a confrontation between Long Beach
police officers and a man was caught on tape, CBS Los Angeles reports.
The incident occurred Monday
evening at the intersection of Locust Avenue and South Street, the Long Beach
Police Department said.
The video, which has been
posted on YouTube, shows several officers surrounding a suspect who was on the
ground.
At least one officer was seen
using his baton to strike the suspect while another used a Taser on him.
Prior to the alleged beating, security
camera footage shows the suspect fighting another man and refusing to comply
with officers' demands.
"During this time when he
kicked one of the officers, he kicked the baton out of their hand. When they
went to try and go grab a hold of him again, he again kicked one of the
officers in the head," Sgt. Aaron Eaton said. "Eventually, at some
point, the officers were able to grab a hold of him and try to get him to roll
over. He was still refusing commands."
Police say the suspect was
under the influence of alcohol and may have been on meth.
None of the officers involved
in the incident have been placed on leave.
Authorities are encouraging
additional witnesses to come forward to help with their investigation.
Musician's
suit alleges police brutality
A three-time Na Hoku Award
nominee is suing eight Honolulu police officers over a brutal beating more than
a year ago.
Performing artist Johnny Helm,
40, said he was hiking with a friend on the Wilhelmina Rise trail in February
2012 when several officers with HPD's crime reduction unit mistook them for
armed theft suspects, slammed them to the ground and assaulted them.
"I got this slice right
here. I had to have stitches here and here," said Helm, as he pointed to a
photo of injuries of his face.
"And they had to insert a
rod into my head from the top and pop the bones back out."
Helm's attorney Myles Breiner
said the Honolulu Police Commission ruled nearly a year ago that excessive
force was used by two of the officers and that all of them were cited for conduct
unbecoming of an officer. But so far, the prosecutor office has taken no action
on the case.
Named in the lawsuit are
officers Calvin Domingo, Keoki Duarte, Ross Furuhashi, Christopher Goshi, Tyler
Maalo, Randall Rivera, Nalei Sooto and Patrick Sung. Sooto and Sung were cited
for the use of excessive force by the commission, the lawsuit said.
All of the officers remain on
duty, Breiner said.
"We filed the lawsuit
because we could not get the prosecutor or the state of Hawaii to move forward
in prosecuting the officers for violating Mr. Helm's rights," Breiner
said.
"The officers are still
carrying guns and badges."
Honolulu police declined
comment.
According to Breiner, Helm has
no criminal record and no history of violence. He said the musician suffered a
concussion, a facial fracture and a split eye lid.
Helm said the emotional toll
has been just as severe.
"I couldn't go out of my
house for a month and a half. Pretty much, I carried a bat around me. That's
not me," he said.
"Before this happened, I
was a non worrying person on stage and (now) I am constantly, constantly
looking for people that were involved in this while I'm playing, every gig,
every gig I'm looking for them."
The lawsuit says that officers
told them that witnesses positively identified Helm and his boyhood friend,
Jonah Wellins, who was visiting the islands from Connecticut, as the robbery
suspects.
However, witnesses had actually
described the theft suspect as a lone man with a dark complexion, Breiner said.
Both Helm and Wellins are Caucasian.
According to the lawsuit, one
officer -- Sooto -- tried to coerce Helm and Wellins into saying that their
injuries were caused by falling off of the trail.
"It's just weird. This
whole thing is weird," said Helm
