(WWJ) The American Civil Liberties Union is asking the U.S. Justice Department to investigate the Taylor Police Department over what attorneys say is a pattern of violent misconduct.
The complaint, filed Thursday with the Civil Rights Division, outlines 20 incidents involving officers.
An attorney for the ACLU says brutality and excessive force have been embedded in the Taylor Police Department's culture, and too many of the officers have behaved as if they are an occupying army in a war zone.
In one of the cases, caught on video in 2019, a Black man pulled over for driving without a license plate was tased three times, punched and taken to the ground by officers. His girlfriend and 3-year-old daughter were in the car at the time.
In a 2016 incident, a Taylor officer shattered a Black man's driver’s side car window and wrestled him from his car after he refused to hand over his ID and demanded an explanation for why he was stopped. The ACLU said a back-up officer then held the man in a chokehold until he claims he blacked out. That incident was also captured on video.
The complaint filed includes more detailed examples with links to videos. READ THE COMPLAINT.
The ACLU's request for DOJ intervention highlights the following as reasons for concern. (Not: All of the following is alleged by the ACLU).
1. Twenty instances of alleged and documented acts of unconstitutional, extreme violence committed by Taylor police officers are referenced in this memorandum, prompting concerns about whether the use of excessive force is ingrained in the police department’s institutional culture.
2. It appears that officers have repeatedly administered summary excessive, physical punishment for committing an offense that some observers refer to as “contempt of cop.” This refers to those occasions when an individual balks at compliance with a police order, or complies, but not quickly enough to satisfy an officer’s arbitrary and usually unreasonable expectations.
3. Officers appear to use physical force in ways that are widely acknowledged to be unacceptably dangerous or that are outside of governing laws and policies. Such methods include, among others, use of tasers to force compliance, and in at least one case, a chokehold.
4. The tone and substance of officers’ interactions with the public appear in some cases to be influenced if not determined by an individual’s racial identity.
5. Officers who engage in patent misconduct are sometimes shielded from civil liability by prosecutors’ practice of effectively blackmailing victims of excessive force into signing agreements that waive rights to pursue civil litigation against the city or the officer. These agreements are presented to excessive force victims in quid pro quo exchange for dismissal of any criminal charges that grew out of encounters with police officers.
6. The Taylor Police Department leadership has been unwilling or unable to contain the misconduct of its officers. Although the Department claims to have provided the officers with training, there is evidence that there is ignorance (willful or circumstantial) about the nature and gravity of the officers’ misconduct, and any training provided appears to have been ineffective.
The population of Taylor is 78% white and 16% Black, with balance including very small populations of other racial and ethnic groups.
Following a news conference announcing the complaint on Thursday, the City of Troy released the following statement: "The City has been made aware of the complaint filed by the ACLU and will cooperate as requested by the Department of Justice as we always do. The City takes all matters of public concern seriously, especially any alleged improper police conduct."