By Sonja Elmquist
The News & Record
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Police officers depicted striking a suspect in a video shot in Smith Homes on June 19 were acting appropriately, police administrators said.
The Police Neighborhood Resource Center officers shown in the video used an appropriate level of force to subdue an armed and uncooperative man, said Capt. Anita Holder.
“Based on my review of the officers’ actions, I’m confident they did the right thing,” Holder said.
The video was posted on YouTube.com and has been the subject of some debate by bloggers.
According to police, Officers Jamire Jackson-Stroud and Lawrence Alexander responded to a report of shots fired in the Smith Homes community at 4:30 p.m. June 19.
When the officers arrived, one of three men they approached walked away despite the officers’ commands that he stop.
That man, Charles Montgomery, continued to ignore and resist the officers’ instructions, Holder said.
When the officers grabbed Montgomery, he took out a handgun and threw it on the ground, Holder said.
Holder said the video doesn’t show two important parts of police training that spurred the officers’ behavior after Montgomery produced the gun. One is that anyone holding a gun - however brief - is considered a deadly threat. Another is that anyone armed with one firearm is assumed to have more than one firearm.
“We’re seeing the real-world response to make training fit into the real world, and it isn’t pretty,” Holder said.
Holder said the officers reported the use of force in a timely manner, and the department has completed an administrative investigation. The results of that investigation are part of the officers’ confidential personnel files.
City Councilwoman Mary Rakestraw said she was upset to have learned of the incident from a blog rather than from the police department, and the actions depicted in the video make her question the officers’ professionalism.
“They are holding onto this man by his pants and standing in a circle like kids at a playground,” Rakestraw said. “Why didn’t they get this guy to the ground?”
The police department is conducting a second review of the incident based on a complaint from the video’s producer, Timothy X of Greensboro, Holder said.
Contact Sonja Elmquist at 373-7090 or sonja.elmquist @news-record.com
The video of an arrest was posted on YouTube and discussed by bloggers.
Copyright 2008 The News & Record