KALAMAZOO, MI — A use of force arrest by two Kalamazoo Public Safety officers that occurred Sept. 19, 2018 in Bronson Park is raising questions throughout the community as Facebook video of the incident has begun to circulate recently.
The video depicts a black man being arrested by two Kalamazoo Public Safety officers.
One of the officers can be seen in the video pushing down on the man’s head and neck area with his knee as the man being arrested lays on the pavement.
This video may contain images considered graphic by some.
Kalamazoo Public Safety Chief Karianne Thomas said in a statement released Friday, June 19 that the department was first made aware of the citizen-shot video last week.
She said a mandatory review of the incident was conducted in 2018 and it was determined at the time that the use of force during the incident was in compliance with department policy.
The man arrested, Thomas said, was in violation of crossing a visible police line and then providing officers with multiple false names. The park, she said, was closed at the time of the incident.
“We recognize that our community is using video and other tools to hold Public Safety accountable to the people we serve,” the statement reads in part. “The incident in this video did take place in Kalamazoo and we acknowledge and accept responsibility for it. We understand the urgent need for equity in law enforcement. We know that this is what our community demands of us, and what we must demand of ourselves.
“The video of this incident is not easy to watch and elicits many emotions. We apologize for any trauma this may cause those who view it.”
In offering context to the arrest, Thomas said officers informed the man he had violated the police zone and asked for his identification in order to cite him for the violation.
The chief states the man attempted to walk away from the officers multiple times while he was being investigated and provided two different false names. She said he was told he was not free to leave and that he would be detained in handcuffs if he continued to attempt to do so.
When one of the officers attempted to handcuff him, she said, the man resisted at which point he was taken down to the ground so officers could get handcuffs on him. As both officers were attempting to handcuff the man, Thomas said the man “continued to resist by lifting his head and contorting his body to stand up.”
“The officer placed his shin on the man’s head in order to control his movement and to complete the handcuffing,” she said. “The force used was not on the neck and did not restrict the airway, which would have been prohibited per policy.”
Thomas said after the man was handcuffed, stood up and walked to the police cruiser, he complained of injuries.
“Although the officers did not see any visible injuries, they called a supervisor to the cruiser to review,” she said. “The supervisor responded and asked the man if he had injuries.”
Thomas claims the man refused to answer the supervisor.
Once the man was taken to the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Department, which is the site of the jail, the man was photographed to document that there were no visible injuries, she said.
Thomas said body cameras were worn by both officers during the incident, but per policy in 2018 the footage was only kept for 63 days post-adjudication and is no longer available.
In mid-2019 the policy was changed to keep video recordings for four years, if involved in a use of force report, Thomas said.
Upon review of the video, MLive made a request to the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety to release the names of the two officers involved in the incident, as well as the name of the man arrested.
The city of Kalamazoo responded Sunday, stating a Freedom of Information Act request would need to be filed for that information to be released. MLive has since filed a FOIA requesting that information be released.
Also on MLive:
Citizens question police tactics in Kalamazoo during 6-hour city meeting
City of Kalamazoo takes action on police issues for accountability, citizen input
Arrest of protester ‘ignited’ unrest Monday night in Kalamazoo, some say
Outside investigator will review police use of tear gas on Kalamazoo protesters
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