A Boise Police officer who Tased a handcuffed man and threatened his genitals with further electric shock, is back on the beat after an unspecified disciplinary action sometime in May.
Boise Police Chief Mike Masterson, told BW this week that the officer's actions were "conduct unbecoming of an officer."
"It is one of the most serious charges that an officer can face," Masterson said. "It is an offense that is very likely to lead to termination."
But the officer was not charged with any crimes nor terminated in this case and is back on the street, Masterson said.
A few days after his arrest on charges that police refuse to release, citing a pending court case, the victim of the Tasing e-mailed Boise Community Ombudsman Pierce Murphy. He recounted the disturbing use of the Taser. Murphy met with the man 10 days later and within 24 hours had notified Masterson and the City Attorney's Office that he would be investigating the incident.
"I thought there was an indication of potential criminal activity, so that's when I notified the police department," Murphy said.
His notice initiated an internal investigation, assigned to the Idaho State Police. The State Police referred their investigation to the Ada County Prosecutor's Office, which declined to charge the officer.
On Wednesday, Murphy released his 51-page report, which describes in detail the Feb. 14 incident and its aftermath.
"At the time that he was Tased on the buttocks, the Complainant was handcuffed and lying face-down on the floor. Officer #1 was holding the Complainant's head and upper torso down with a knee across his shoulders. Officer #4 was positioned near the Complainant's waist preparing to search the Complainant, and Officer #3 was situated near the Complainant's legs and feet ... Based on what he observed, Officer #2 saw no need to assist Officer #1, Officer #3, and Officer #4 in controlling the Complainant. According to Officer #1, the Complainant "mellowed out" after being handcuffed," Murphy writes.
The report does not reveal the names of the complainant or of the police officers. Murphy said this is to ensure the public that if people come to his office with a complaint they will not be subject to public disclosure.
According to Mayor Dave Bieter, to whom Murphy reports, the process worked in this case.
"This incident came to light as the direct result of a citizen's complaint to the City. The outcome demonstrates that the system works and that we have appropriate safeguards in place to assure accountability from those sworn to uphold the law and protect the people," Bieter said in a written statement to BW.
But the complainant retained an attorney in April who disagrees that the officer has been held accountable.
Eagle Attorney Ron Coulter, who as a Deputy Attorney General assigned to the Department of Law Enforcement (the former Idaho State Police), trained officers in use of force, is preparing a suit against the Boise police.
"I don't think he should be back on the street, but then I'm not the chief of police," Coulter said. "When you do things like he did I'm not sure that person's even fit to wear a uniform."
Coulter would not divulge his client's name, nor the officers' names, but said Wednesday that a suit would be filed within four days.
The incident began on Feb. 14 as two Boise police officers were called out to a possible altercation between a man—the complainant—who was just out of jail, and a woman with whom he was acquainted. A 3-year-old boy was also present.
When they arrived at the home, the man refused to open the door and it took officers more than 80 seconds to barge in, according to the Ombudsman's report.
As they attempted to open the door more officers arrived, including Officer #3, who would eventually use the Taser.
Three officers rushed in and within nine seconds, had the man facedown on the floor and had deployed the Taser against the small of his back. Only after the first Tase did they order his hands behind his back, according to the report.
While Murphy does not exonerate Officer #3's use of the Taser in this first case, he does not find that it was excessive either.
"Here, too, I find myself unable to find that the preponderance weighs against the reasonableness of this use of the Taser. It is possible that Officer #3 honestly believed that the Complainant was resisting the officers' efforts to control him. Officer #3 was forced to make decisions about his use of force in a situation that was tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving."
Masterson defends this first tase as reasonable, saying it was a tense, potentially violent situation and officers believed the safety of a woman and chile were involved.
But the second deployment of the Taser, after the suspect was handcuffed and begging for room to breathe, is more problematic, Murphy found.
"The use of the Taser on the buttocks is not, in and of itself, a violation of policy. Depending on the totality of the circumstances, a Taser may be used on the buttocks. The issue here is whether Officer #3's second use of the Taser on the Complainant in these circumstances was reasonable and necessary," the report states.
"Based on the preponderance of evidence, Officer #3's second use of the Taser on the Complainant while he was handcuffed was neither reasonable nor necessary," Murphy concludes.
While the Ombudsman demonstrates that policies were broken based on a "preponderance of evidence," the prosecutor must show that laws were broken "beyond a reasonable doubt," which is a different legal standard, Murphy said.
Bieter accepted the findings and also the actions of Masterson in his comments.
"I consider the officer's conduct to be completely unacceptable. The officer's actions were clearly unwarranted and without a doubt violated the standards of his professional training," he said. "Immediately upon making that determination, Chief Masterson acted to ensure that the officer and his supervisor receive[d] disciplinary action; under state law, such personnel actions are confidential."
The discipline was issued prior to Murphy's report and the Ombudsman has no power to enforce further discipline, though Murphy did make a confidential personnel recommendation to Masterson when he filed his report.
Another officer, Officer #3's supervisor was also disciplined in May for failing to file a use of force report and for erasing a taped interview with the complainant on the night of the incident. Murphy also found that the Boise police did not identify themselves as officers of the law prior to entering the house.
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once agian.... a law enforcment official, is not held to the same standards, as the rest of us and that is... after all what they are, a side from some education ,the acadamy and a small amount of phycological testing , they do have mood swings, they do wake up with their toast burnt, they are human beings .... but they sould be put through more situational trianing, to find out ,how one would react when pushed beyond limits , knowing that we need more police officers, it would behove us to ,also get a better quality of officer...... i'd bet my next paycheck, this control freak of a policeman was either picked on in school, or was the class bully that no one confronted.........
With an audio recording of the level of terroristic threats Officer number 3 was making to the suspect (if this were a female, the charge would be rape or sexual assault!), how on Earth could any prosecutor come to the conclusion that no crime was committed? Sounds more like a line of defense being drawn for the inevitable and, in this case, highly justified, brutality case more than justice. Shame is all I can say. Shame. The wrongful use of this taser technology is getting out of hand. Prepare to pay a large bill for your willingness to allow officers to break the law and your unwillingness to enforce it. Hopefully the voters will clean this house.
It seems the City, BPD, and the County have forgotten about the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution. It reads:
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
In Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972), Justice Brennan wrote, "There are, then, four principles by which we may determine whether a particular punishment is 'cruel and unusual'."
The "essential predicate" is "that a punishment must not by its severity be degrading to human dignity," especially torture.
"A severe punishment that is obviously inflicted in wholly arbitrary fashion."
"A severe punishment that is clearly and totally rejected throughout society."
"A severe punishment that is patently unnecessary."
Hmm, now how do we as human beings deny that what was done to the suspect was not cruel and unusual punishment? How do we as citizens of the United States of America not standup for the precepts of our Constitution? This officer violated the Constitutional rights of the suspect using his governmental powers, yet he does not face criminal prosecution? I never thought that Boise would come to this. It is a sad day indeed.
Hmmmmm is it time Boise City or Ada County installed a public commission, of several citizens, too over see the actions of law enforcement with the authority enact punishment for those who violate their authority and their superiors who allow it ???
I believe we are basically a society of law abiding citizens with a few who believe they are above the law who should be punished. Law enforcement officers are challenged every day in their duties and should be highly trained in control but it seems too be lacking. I myself dont go out in Boise at night too enjoy myself for fear of meeting up with the man with the gun and taser he might have had a bad day or burnt toast for breakfast.
There have been, in my view, several times in the past when the officer used lethal force, killing the suspect, when other means of control could have been used. The ombudsman seems to overlook the other approaches to control a suspect. Is he nothing more than a tool for too satisfy and sooth public opinion.
Think about it folks you might be the next one stopped.
Wayne
The overuse of force is endemic to many boise police, I won't be calling them stupid like Obama
still when 3-4 officers need excessive force to subdue a reasonably compliant suspect they must lack proper training or disregard that training once on the job.
it honestly seems that the boise police are some of the worst in the country, they think that they are above the law somehow, and it almost seems that they are because no one but this one guy has the balls to do anything about the bullshit they pull on a regular basis. I've heard countless stories of them confiscating weed and taking it home with them, unnecessarily beating and arresting people, and I've personally seen them many times turn on their sirens for about 5 seconds to get through a light on a busy day. somethings gotta be done about these power hungry pigs.
Wow, his supervisor erased a taped interview? That is not a little offense. Why can't we find out what disciplinary action was taken? If a supervisor covered up a negative event while working for me, I'd either fire them or demote them. People who are covering things up and are in a supervisory position have made a major violation of trust.
A police officer is in a position of public trust so when they themselves can no longer be trusted with the public trust, termination should be highly considered.
I feel the same way about politicians. They are not mere citizens, but hold positions of public trust & should be held to higher standards.
Light treatment of people in positions of public trust who have violated that trust has significantly deteriorated the public's confidence in their respective offices.
The man was sodomized by the policeman who inserted the taser in his anus.
I seem to be at a lost. I pay my taxes, I obey the laws, and I served my country and continue to support my military just like every good American should. If any other citizen were to have committed this act, they would have been arrested, booked into jail, a review completed by the Prosecutors Office, charges filed or dropped, a court proceeding resulting in either an innocent finding or a guilty verdict, followed by exoneration or incarceration? In the military world, this crime is called, "Torture," just ask the military personnel that were dishonorably discharged and or prosecuted for the cruel and inhumane punishment supposively administered to the Iraq terrorists detained at Gitmo. In the civilian world, lets try, "Kidnap, Aggravated Assault, Aggravated Battery under Color of Authority", all leading to a violation of civil rights. It seems that the Boise Police and the prosecutors office have forgotten, "Rodney King!" Maybe the city should have former LAPD Sgt. Stacy Koon brought in for a seminar, as we the citizens pay dearly for the police mistakes? The police need to remember why they became to police, "To protect and Serve!" If nothing is done to bring this incident to justice, we will continue to live in Boise with two sets of rules, "Those that Citizens have to follow, and then those that Police do not have to follow!" I am trying to keep an open mind, but its difficult when I read the police report and listen to the recording. The incredible segment of this incident is that the officers are still on the streets, "Protecting us from whom, the criminals or the Police?" Kudos to Mr. Murphy and his Ombudsman Office. Shame on you City Council Members, Prosecutors office and the Boise Police Administration.
The application of electricty to the genitals clearly constitutes torture, yet no state or federal law defines torture in any specific manner. Thus, every police department in every part of the United States has permitted and even instructed officers to use stun guns and Tasers on the genitals as standard procedure. This in and of itself absolutely must be dealt with and outlawed nationwide. The man was unarmed. There is no excuse for even the threat of sexual torture. The fact that the officer was not punished for this specific threat simply reiterates that what he threatened to do is not against department policy. The only thing he got into trouble for was using the Taser unnecessarily. That is just wrong. When is sexual torture going to be outlawed in this country? This is no joke, but it is treated as if it were.
[ Eli's Hammer ] I wonder if a 'citizen' had done the same...after they got done doing their time and all...wouldn't they be placed on a Sex offender List? Idaho has that I think.
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