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"But there seems to be little reason to grab a man in a wheelchair, slam him to the ground, have him bleed from the head, refuse to help him... and then potentially have a completely legal leg to stand on in criminally charging him for assault. The US Attorney has dropped the charges, likely because of the video. But had the bystander not been recording, Mr. Harris might still be facing charges of "assaulting" the very police officers that did this to him."

1) The legal leg for placing an APO charge on him (that I would've charged him with) would be for him actively resisting being placed under arrest. The video shows the Officer taking out his handcuffs and Mr. Harris beginning to tense and bring his arms in. That's enough for an APO charge.

2) The frequency of which the USAO's office papers APO charges is rare. The only time I've seen APO charges papered is when there's a knock-down, drag out fight or when a weapon is involved.

3) I can only speak for MPD procedure, but generally officers are trained in CPR and that's it. We're not EMTs and aren't generally trained to render first aid. If we tried and something went wrong, we'd be on the hook legally for not knowing what we're doing. We're also not paid to potentially contract blood-borne illnesses. If the ambulance is called, that meets the standard for rendering aid.

"Why does this matter? If someone is convicted of misdemeanor APO, a future employer might look at their record and think they're quite a violent person if they assaulted a police officer. But they might have just panicked and resisted, without even touching or hitting an officer."

D.C. is not like other jurisdictions where APO is charged; it is rarely papered, much less prosecuted. There's a slim to no risk for the scenario of someone panicking and resisting and getting charged APO.

"#1 is obvious. If you do that you can be charged with the felony Assaulting a Police Officer (APO)."

Won't happen. A punch is a misdemeanor all day unless it produces unconsciousness. The same standards for assault, aggravated assault, etc. that apply to civilians in D.C. code also apply to us.

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I think David is making a mountain out of a mole hill by making it seem police in D.C. charge APO on everyone who resists. We don't (at least MPD doesn't). If I charged APO on everyone who resisted arrest, about 40% of my arrests would have the charge tacked on.

The question everyone should really be asking/debating is whether or not the force used meets the objective reasonableness test in Graham v. Conner, not "OMG EVERYTHING I MIGHT DO WITH A COP WILL GET ME AN IMAGINARY APO CHARGE IN DC".

by Officer Cicero on May 26, 2011 11:42 am • link • report