How Much City Faces in Damages Has Yet to be Decided
By Loresha Wilson, Shreveport Times (Louisiana)
A judge agrees that a Shreveport police officer used excessive force and falsely arrested a man, a ruling that may wind up costing the city.
Overall, Shreveport police have done a fine job protecting the city, Judge Scott Crichton said Wednesday. But this time, he said, the officer crossed the line.
Crichton ruled that Shreveport police officer Janice Dailey committed battery and arrested Marshall Nelson without cause after she stopped to see why he was parked outside a shopping center at Greenwood Road at Jewella Avenue.
Nelson, police chief at Southern University in Shreveport and a retired police officer, left the courthouse teary-eyed Wednesday. “I’m just numb. I just have mixed emotions, period. Sort of disconnect. I’ve been in law enforcement all of my life, so this is very difficult to find yourself on the opposite send of the spectrum.”
Crichton ruled that Nelson is entitled to monetary damages. He said he will decide by Dec. 20 how much the city will pay Nelson.
Nelson sued Dailey and the city alleging that he was shoved around, struck with a police baton and sustained injuries to his hand, wrist and legs in an unprovoked incident. The city denied wrongdoing.
Nelson was talking on his cell phone outside Westwood Shopping Center when Dailey pulled up to see what he was doing. She asked who he was and why he was in the area. At some point, a heated argument ensued -- Nelson telling her that he is a retired police officer and questioning what she was doing and Dailey demanding that he follow her commands.
Dailey hit Nelson’s legs twice with a police baton before handcuffing him and putting him in the back of her patrol car, his lawsuit states.
The patrol car was parked at an angle where the camera couldn’t capture what was going on. But the microphone recorded the conversation.
Wednesday, Crichton reviewed the videotape from Dailey’s patrol car during court. You can hear Nelson tell the officer, “You’ve got to tell me why you’ve got to frisk me!” Dailey is heard saying, “I have the right.”
Dailey’s voice was not conversational, as she testified last week; but Nelson being a law enforcement officer should have known better than to act the way he did, the judge said.
“The act striking Chief Nelson with the impact weapon, the PR24, was unreasonable, unjustified and constitutes an excessive use of force. "»,” Crichton ruled. “The act of placing Nelson in handcuffs was unjustified under the circumstances. The act of employing a pain compliance technique of twisting Nelson’s fingers and hand while he was handcuffed was unnecessary and unjustified.”
A police supervisor who knew Nelson pulled up as he was being put in the patrol car. The handcuffs were taken off Nelson and he was allowed to go home. No charges were filed.
Dailey was disciplined for the incident and given a day off with pay. She appealed the decision to the Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board, which is supposed to hear the matter in January.
Police Chief Mike Campbell said he plans to study Crichton’s decision, which will take some time to digest. But the department already is working to preventing such incidents from happening, Campbell said. “What we are doing now is working on the police/citizen contacts.”