Portage Police pay $90,000 settlement for excessive use of force on choking man

[rambone]

Wowzers.

Contentious Tasers Earn Praise
NWI police departments embrace weapon in spite of instances of lawsuits



Portage police have no plans to eliminate Tasers from their nonlethal arsenal, despite a $90,000 settlement the city had to pay as a result of an excessive force lawsuit.

And, in the adjacent city of Hobart, police are planning to add Tasers to their department for the first time within the next 30 to 60 days, Hobart Police Chief Rod Gonzalez said.

"They are absolutely going to help our officers and protect our citizens," Gonzalez said. "It's a method to subdue a violent offender."

The advantages -- which include the elimination of bodily harm for police and suspects -- outweigh any of the negatives such as occasional lawsuits that can target police for a variety of scenarios, Merrillville Police Chief Joseph Petruch said.

"There will continue to be lawsuits," Petruch said.

Merrillville police, which eliminated Tasers from their department for about three to four years because of charging problems, re-introduced the weapons about a year ago.

"They've upgraded them so much we went back to them. ... Any given day there will be a Taser on the street," Petruch said. "We can't afford to have every officer have them, but we do have at least one officer per turn."

Although most area police departments use Tasers and sing their praises, there is a downside to the weapon if not used properly, Merrillville attorney Stephen Bower said.

"The reason I don't like use of them is because it doesn't take into consideration other things that might be occurring," Bower said, adding, "There have been deaths from the reaction. The Tasers are not intended to kill, but that's happened."

Bower was the attorney for Portage resident James Wring who filed the lawsuit against Portage police and city officials following a November 2004 incident.

Wring was 17 years old when police officers used Taser guns on him 16 times, sprayed a chemical in his eyes, threw him to the ground and hog-tied him before taking him into custody, the lawsuit stated.

Bower said Wring, who was at his girlfriend's Portage home, apparently had gotten something lodged in his throat after he, his girlfriend and her mother had gone to a nearby fast-food restaurant.

The girlfriend's mom had called 911 when Wring came out of a bathroom staggering and mumbling, and apparently police arrived and reacted before the paramedics, Bower said.

Although police and the paramedics reported they thought Wring was intoxicated, tests showed that wasn't the case.

"Speculation was that when he choked, he shut off his air pipe, which made oxygen deficient to the brain, and it made him impaired," Bower said.
The lawsuit hasn't really changed the Portage Police Department's Taser use, police Sgt. Keith Hughes said.

In fact, his department just recently placed an order for 21 more Tasers, a purchase that will be paid for through federal grant money.

Hughes said the cost to buy video cameras is prohibitive for his department right now.

But he believes plans by Hobart police to buy the accompanying units with Tasers is a wise one.

"In a case of legal action, people like to fabricate how many times the weapons were shot. That's all kept on record with the video units," Hughes said.

Portage police Sgt. John Ryan, who trains officers on an annual basis, agrees that Tasers aren't the end-all, and there are cases in which they're not appropriate.

He said Portage police only used Tasers 10 times last year, and the weapon is a deterrent to some crime for "a lot of people just knowing they're out there and they don't want to experience them.

The Tasers emit an electrical charge into the body that causes muscle confusion, which makes the person not want to fight.

"We're keeping them in our tool box," Ryan said.

 

[sporter]

Pay to play. I bet the city cracks down once they start having to pay for negligence.

 

[oldfb]

Oh this had to be a swell night for all involved...

Since we were not there and do not know the whole story...

Well a judge or jury decided that using OC and a Taser are no longer an alternative to the hind lick manuver or is that the heinekin remover? I always get those confuzzeled.

 

[bw210]

So how fast were you really going when you got pulled over then busted for the open beers, DWI, underage prostitutes and pound of weed?

Seriously how on earth could you hate every portage po po there is? I would really like to know.

Used to work construction in the area alot for several years. Pulled over all the time in my work van. Never speeding, drinking, smuggling weed, etc. Show them a LTCH and never to fail, in cuffs and treating me like a criminal. . I suppose my long hair at the time could have provoked the hippi haters. Never ever had a ticket or citation either, just pulled over.

 

[oldfb]

Used to work construction in the area alot for several years. Pulled over all the time in my work van. Never speeding, drinking, smuggling weed, etc. Show them a LTCH and never to fail, in cuffs and treating me like a criminal. . I suppose my long hair at the time could have provoked the hippi haters. Never ever had a ticket or citation either, just pulled over.

Man some people just havebad luck or a poop magnets. I have traveled all over this area and hung out in dark parking lots fooling around with the wife on date night before we were married and didn't have motel$...
Even on Illinois plates in a drop top black firebird breaking every posted speed limit by ten or more depending on road conditions and portage, hobart or any of the other locals have never looked at me sideways.

Some people just look guilty I guess. Sorry dude! STBU still think you are giving the whole dept a bad rap and while you have the 1st ammendment here on INGO slamming a whole PD telling them to es&d is frowned upon so plz police yourself before a mod jumps in. u will thank me in the AM

 

[22lr]

Pulled over all the time in my work van. Never speeding, drinking, smuggling weed, etc.

Kinda like me and the state cops. LOL, its better now that im not driving a civic though, that thing was a cop magnet, BIG TIME.

Yet another reason why im glad I got out of the LEO world. To much crap to deal with and still try to maintain a positive outlook on life. Kodos to the guys who can though.

 

[Big John]

Man some people just havebad luck or a poop magnets. I have traveled all over this area and hung out in dark parking lots fooling around with the wife on date night before we were married and didn't have motel$...
Even on Illinois plates in a drop top black firebird breaking every posted speed limit by ten or more depending on road conditions and portage, hobart or any of the other locals have never looked at me sideways.

Some people just look guilty I guess. Sorry dude!

Yeah and my dad and uncles tell stories about driving around drinking getting caught and told to go home, being escorted home, or sharing a beer with the cops... Different time OLDFB

 

[oldfb]

Yeah and my dad and uncles tell stories about driving around drinking getting caught and told to go home, being escorted home, or sharing a beer with the cops... Different time OLDFB

Sorry for the thread jack!
BigJohn I am only turning 40 in november.lol

Pinched for way less than I deserved in my day but I learned to smile politely and wave/nod to them at an early age which disarms most since they are so used to people trying hard not to look guilty or pretend they aren't there.

FYI never ever ever... raise an IBC rootbeer bottle in salute to the po po or your HS dean of discipline while pulling out of the parking lot.lmao

 

[Soundslikejosh]

Used to work construction in the area alot for several years. Pulled over all the time in my work van. Never speeding, drinking, smuggling weed, etc. Show them a LTCH and never to fail, in cuffs and treating me like a criminal. . I suppose my long hair at the time could have provoked the hippi haters. Never ever had a ticket or citation either, just pulled over.

This will teach you not to mention your LTCH. Sorry you've had bad luck, but no need to throw them all into the fire. Are all construction workers long haired internet commandos who exaggerate?

 

[Prometheus]

Back on topic....

Taser usage needs to fall under automatic review and the same investigations take place as they do when an officer discharges their firearm.

Tasers are (wrongly) placed into the "less than lethal" category because they don't fully fall into the lethal category. IMO there needs to be a another category for tasers to be placed into.

The "go to taser" methodology of todays police officers is killing people.

I do believe they have a place in the LEO's toolbox, but that place is extremely small niche.

What happened in this case is text book example of stupid cops. Having worked Fire Rescue for several years I can tell you, some cops have the mental capacity of a pea. On the flip side, I've seen a deputy pick up on a "drunk driver crash" as a diabetic emergency as we were getting on scene and instead of beating the guy and pepper spraying him (their dept didn't have tasers back then), he knew "something was off" as he put it and he figured it out.

Kudos to him and many other officers who take the extra second to put the pieces together.

In this situation, you have action and no thought.

Oh yeah... IBTL, lol

 

[jedi]

Used to work construction in the area alot for several years. Pulled over all the time in my work van. Never speeding, drinking, smuggling weed, etc. Show them a LTCH and never to fail, in cuffs and treating me like a criminal. . I suppose my long hair at the time could have provoked the hippi haters. Never ever had a ticket or citation either, just pulled over.

bw210 are you "non-white" by any chance? I'm brown and I've learned from my younger years working for NIPSCO as a summer field gasline inspector to stay clear away from PORTAGE, HOBART, CHESTERTON, VALPO, heck anything EAST of I-65 because even with the freaking NIPSCO decals on the car or wearing the "yellow vest" I would get pulled over for no other reason that "Son what are you doing here" crap line!

It got to the point where I end up switching with another summer hire and took my chances in Gary and Hammond to just avoid the cops and their "what you doing" pull you over, look in your car, call it in, etc. By the time I finished meeting my daily gasline quote it was evening time frame no thanks to the cops and the 30+ mins of waiting I had per day.

 

[MeltonLaw]

Personally I'd like to see more lawsuits filed against police departments for excessive force in the deployment of tasers. I believe, and could be wrong, that there have been over 500 deaths attributed directly to the deployment of a taser on a person in the last decade. If more departments were sued for negligent use of this semi-lethal devices then maybe they would attempt to listen to a person, talk to that person, or attempt to calm that person prior to discharging a weapon into their chest.

 

[kevinj110]

Back on topic....

Taser usage needs to fall under automatic review and the same investigations take place as they do when an officer discharges their firearm.

Tasers are (wrongly) placed into the "less than lethal" category because they don't fully fall into the lethal category. IMO there needs to be a another category for tasers to be placed into.

The "go to taser" methodology of todays police officers is killing people.

I do believe they have a place in the LEO's toolbox, but that place is extremely small niche.

What happened in this case is text book example of stupid cops. Having worked Fire Rescue for several years I can tell you, some cops have the mental capacity of a pea. On the flip side, I've seen a deputy pick up on a "drunk driver crash" as a diabetic emergency as we were getting on scene and instead of beating the guy and pepper spraying him (their dept didn't have tasers back then), he knew "something was off" as he put it and he figured it out.

Kudos to him and many other officers who take the extra second to put the pieces together.

In this situation, you have action and no thought.

Oh yeah... IBTL, lol

You are completely correct.

 

[BloodEclipse]

Oh memories of Taser discussions....

https://www.indianagunowners.com/forums/politics_laws_and_2nd_amendment/10999-cops_taser_man_in_hospital.html

https://www.indianagunowners.com/forums/politics_laws_and_2nd_amendment/32806-indiana_lawsuit_stimulates_debate_on_taser_training.html

Carry on!

 

[SMiller]

There needs to be a counter that counts every time the taser's trigger is pressed with lots of paperwork to follow, that right there would end all. There are some great cops out there and there are ones that will tase someone 20 times for no reason...

 

[Scutter01]

Removed several off-topic posts from this thread. Please feel free to discuss THIS PARTICULAR OFFICER'S CONDUCT but please refrain from using the broad brush. We all know that most cops are undeserving of that response. Infractions and bans will be handed out if you cannot control yourselves.

 

[public servant]

There needs to be a counter that counts every time the taser's trigger is pressed...

There is. It's a program on the Taser X-26 that allows to be seen when and exactly how many times the unit is "fired".

 

[Denny347]

There is. It's a program on the Taser X-26 that allows to be seen when and exactly how many times the unit is "fired".

Yes, and when they download mine it is always sooo boring. Like 100 1 second bursts just to make sure it works when I suit up for the day.

 

[public servant]

OK...bad joke someone won't see the humor in...

But yeah...mine has a lot of test bursts on it as well. I have used it a few times and have been justified each time I have. Lots of extra paperwork when I do. It's designed for a purpose...and it fits that purpose well.

 

[XDs4me]

While there may be alot of good cops out there, having been affiliated with a large LEO agency back east I find the cops in NW Indiana to over zealous and over step the boundaries. I have found no professional courtesy from some officers and over kill locally. I have witnessed 5 squads on a simple traffic stop locally. I know that they were simple stops as I can monitor the radio traffic.