A one-month suspension is being served by Fort Wayne Police Officer James Arnold, accused of using excessive force, and the case might result in a change in the way the department handles such cases:
Chief Rusty York says video from a squad car camera captured Arnold punching and delivering elbow strikes to the man, fracturing his jaw.
The man had to be hospitalized.
Defensive tactics experts on the department reviewed the video, according to York, and determined excessive force was used.
Based on this matter, Chief York wants a rule revision governing officers’ actions on the force.
" If we feel that excessive force is used, and there's serious bodily injury, that means we could come to the Board of Safety...(and pursue) what we call a Class B violation, which means that's a determinant suspension, which could mean anything up to termination," said Chief York.
Indeed, if the rule change was already in place, it’s conceivable that officer Arnold could have been fired.
The threat of termination is an important tool for the Board of Safety to have as a deterrent. Obviously the video cameras aren't doing the job, and I wonder why that is. There's one in just about every police car now, and the cops know everything they do will be taped. Do they just forget they're there after a while?
But then I also wonder why terrorists keep using all those digital ways of talking to each other since it's been worldwide news that the NSA is monitoring everything. Maybe they're just doing that to keep us distracted while they send the real messages by carrier pigeon.
