By Steve Pomper
When I was a rookie police officer, I expected the blood, guts, gore, violence and contempt I would get from criminals. I was even aware of the problems rank-and-file cops can expect from their department and political leaders.
But I never really thought about getting sued. I thought that just happened with rare occasions of true police misconduct. Well, I don’t think I was on a year before I was named in a lawsuit. I remember one police training on lawsuits when the instructor asked the class, “How many of you have been named in a lawsuit.” Every hand went up.
So, a lawsuit story by Mike Callahan at Police1 struck me. Now, most lawsuits against cops are frivolous. The allegations bear no resemblance to what actually happened. The plaintiffs just repeat the same charges that have gotten other people big paydays.
A man with a history of mental illness named Richard Turner died in police custody in Champaign, Illinois as police were attempting to take him into protective custody. Unfortunately, that is not unusual. Many mentally unstable subjects suffer from underlying medical conditions or are overdosing on drugs during these incidents.
However, after reading the November 3, 2020 decision by the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, there was one specific aspect that struck me. The Court referred to the “undisputed facts” of the case. Further, the Court said, “As a result [of officer testimony and… dashboard camera footage], all but one of the facts recounted below are undisputed. We note where a fact is in dispute.” It appears the only dispute was a matter of semantics.
The only dispute I read was in “how to characterize… [Turner’s violence].” This referred to when Turner pulled away from an officer who’d grabbed him by his shoulder. After pulling away, Turner “shoved [an officer] knocking his radio off his uniform.” The plaintiffs believe Turner was violent because he was having difficulty breathing. Why a person is violent can’t matter to cops, only stopping the violence quickly matters.
The Court’s decision describes an eminently believable story that also conveys this lawsuit was unnecessary. Should this incident have been investigated thoroughly? Of course; especially because it involved a death. But there doesn’t seem to have been any legitimate questions, or incriminating evidence, about the officers’ actions that would warrant a lawsuit.
“The district court found that undisputed facts, including a coroner’s findings that Mr. Turner suffered no physical trauma but died of a cardiac arrhythmia, showed that the officers did not use excessive force. We agree and affirm summary judgment for the defendants.” Reflexively suing cops happens when cities gain reputations for settling rather than defending frivolous lawsuits.
In 2016, officers responded to check the welfare of Turner, who was loitering and digging in the trash at the University of Illinois campus. Three officers and later one sergeant responded. The sergeant said he’d known Turner for decades and said police had sent him for a mental health assessment many times with no violence. He noted Turner had been declining mentally since 2010.
On arrival, one officer saw Turner rolling on the ground with his pants down. He contacted Turner after two additional officers arrived. They asked Turner to leave the area. Instead, he ran across the street and then back again. Officers decided to take the disoriented man, who appeared to be a danger to himself and possibly others, into protective custody. Officers contacted Turner and asked him if he knew what day it was. They said they couldn’t understand Turner’s babble.
After an officer told Turner to sit on the curb to wait for the ambulance, Turner again ran away. Turner presented a danger, running into traffic, so officers chased him. When one officer caught up, he grabbed Turner by his shoulder. Turner pulled away and then pushed the officer. Then he kept grabbing at the officer’s hands.
The plaintiffs argued the officer grabbing Turner’s shoulder amounted to an “unlawful seizure” under the 4th Amendment. The Court didn’t buy it. The officers got Turner to the ground, turned “him onto his stomach,” and one officer placed a knee on Turner’s shoulder. During the handcuffing, Turner kept trying to kick the officers.
A sergeant had heard the call and volunteered to respond. The officers requested he bring a hobble to secure Turner’s feet. Turner initially kicked out of the hobble, but officers finally attached it.
After Turner stopped resisting, the sergeant asked if he was still breathing. He was not. Officers immediately retrieved an AED (portable defibrillator) from a patrol car. The device advised “no shock” and “begin CPR,” which the officers did. Paramedics arrived three minutes later and took over care and transported Turner to the hospital. They could not revive Turner.
The official autopsy showed a heart arrhythmia had caused his death. The report stated, “The medical evidence showed no other causes of death. There were no signs of suffocation or trauma to Turner’s body.” On the job, I reserved a special leeway when dealing with people with mental illness, which, at times, can leave some with no control over their behavior.
Also, while family grief is understandable, despite undisputed actions, they accused of wrongdoing the officers whom the evidence showed had done nothing but try to help their family member. They accused the officers of civil rights violations, excessive force, wrongful death, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Remember what the court said, the description of the incident was undisputed, except for where the family conjectures Turner had difficulty breathing and then apparently leaps to a conclusion the officers caused Turner’s difficulty in breathing when no evidence supports that claim.
To pile on, they also accused the sergeant of failing to intervene. Intervene is the definition of what he did when he volunteered for the call to assist his officers. And they tossed in the city, accusing them of engaging in “unconstitutional policy, custom, or practice.” Seems they threw malicious accusations against the wall to see what would stick. Fortunately, nothing stuck. This is not to address just this family; many people do this. The current anti-cop justice system makes it so you’re almost stupid not to sue.
Again, I understand the emotional pain a family experiences at the death of a loved one. But does that absolve people who lie about police actions? Is the lure of a large cash settlement enough to compromise principles and put innocent public servants through undeserved emotional anguish? Unfortunately, in many cases, it might be.