The Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Louisville police say use-of-force complaints are down by half in the past few years and credit the drop to improved training.
But others think the decline - from 38 formal complaints in 2001 to 19 last year - doesn’t necessarily point to law enforcement improvements.
Some officers say the lower number of complaints reflects the fear officers have of being suspended or fired. And some community activists argue that the lower number shows that residents have almost given up filing complaints because they do not believe any action will be taken.
According to police records obtained through the state Open Records Act, only six of 144 use-of-force complaints filed since 1999 have resulted in officers being punished, The Courier-Journal reported Monday. Of those complaints, five resulted in suspensions, reprimands or additional training.
Only one, the fatal shooting of 19-year-old Michael Newby early this year, has resulted in an officer being fired.
“When they talk about 19 complaints, how can we believe that?” asked the Rev. Louis Coleman of the Justice Resource Center. “To us, the ones in the trenches every day, we know how people are being treated.”
Coleman said his center receives at least two or three calls a week from people complaining about how police use force.
But Louisville police Maj. Tim Emington, who oversees the department’s Professional Standards and Public Integrity units, said the numbers accurately reflect an improving situation.
“It’s easy for people to make accusations, unsubstantiated accusations,” Emington said. “If Reverend Coleman has those complaints, he can bring them forward and we will look into them. My question for Reverend Coleman is, ‘When have we refused to take a complaint?”’
Police union leaders say officers sometimes do not use force when they should because they worry that their bosses will not support them if someone complains.
“Basically they are second-guessing themselves, and I hope an officer doesn’t get hurt because of that,” said Richard Dotson, president of the local Fraternal Order of Police.
“Everything we do right now is under the microscope,” said Officer Kevin Hamlin, who patrols the Portland area. “We’re not just watched in our community, we’re watched by other departments across the country” that are interested in the merged city and county forces.
Officers are reporting using force at a level much lower than in 2000 and 2001, police department numbers indicate. Last year, officers reported that they used force 408 times, compared with 586 times in 2000 and 599 in 2001.
As of Oct. 14, officers reported using force 309 times this year.