Derek Chauvin trial expert calls Hammond police use of force among ‘most abusive’ he’s seen
Video shows future police chief beating Black man in custody
27 January 2022
One of the nation’s leading experts in police procedure told the Hammond City Council on Tuesday that video of white police officers subduing a handcuffed Black man inside the department’s booking room is “one of the most abusive uses of force” he has ever investigated. Council members have renewed talk of calling on Hammond’s mayor to fire Police Chief Edwin Bergeron, who was a sergeant at the time and one of the officers in the video. The FBI was reportedly referred the incident that followed the Dec. 6, 2017, arrest of Kentdrick Ratliff for obstructing a sidewalk, but the status ...
Uses of force detailed
Policing expert Seth Stoughton said Hammond police officers employed the following uses of force, listed in chronological order during suspect Kentdrick Ratliff’s booking in December 2017 at the police station:
- Then-Sgt. Edwin Bergeron and Officer Craig Dunn Nine delivered nine closed-fist punches to Ratliff’s face and body while Ratliff was handcuffed lying face-up on top of the desk, leading him to fall through the desk to the ground.
- Dunn kicked Ratliff in the neck.
- Dunn placed Ratliff in a “guillotine” choke hold after one of the handcuffs came off Ratliff’s right wrist. Such a choke hold is considered in policing as an “application of deadly force,” Stoughton said.
- Bergeron struck Ratliff in the torso with a knee while Dunn held Ratliff, deemed reasonable.
- Officer Storm Tabor shocked Ratliff in the back and leg multiple times with a stun gun, deemed reasonable.
- Ratliff was kept in a prone position for a prolonged period of time after being resecured in handcuffs.
- An officer, believed to be Dunn, knelt on Ratliff’s neck while the suspect lay prone and handcuffed.
- Officer Thaddeus Gautier employed a “gooseneck” wristlock, a pain compliance technique, while Ratliff was handcuffed and prone with his arms elevated behind his back.
- Sgt. Thomas Mushinsky kicked Ratliff in either the groin or thigh long after he was secured with handcuffs and under the control of two officers.
- Dunn stomped or kicked Ratliff’s face five times while he was handcuffed.
Derek Chauvin trial expert calls Hammond police use of force among ‘most abusive’ he’s seen - Louisiana Illuminator
A police procedure expert who testified in the trial of Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin says video of Hammond police officers subduing a handcuffed Black man shows “one of the most abusive uses of force” he has ever investigated.
lailluminator.com
