Episode covers excessive force, mental health and resisting arrest and is brought to us, we'll ask them in the description below and give them the credit that they deserve. On june 26, 2020. 73 year old, karen garner, who suffers from dementia and sensory aphasia, which impairs her ability to communicate and understand, attempted to leave a walmart in loveland colorado carrying 13.88 cents of items she had not paid for when she was stopped by store employees. Ms garner attempted to hand over her credit card to pay for the items, but the employees refused to allow her to pay and took the items back.

Ms garner left the store and a walmart employee then called the loveland police department to report the supposed theft officer. Austin hopp responded to the call and tracked down ms garner as she was walking home on the side of the road officer, hop pulled up behind ms garner with his lights on and when she did not stop, he stopped his vehicle and approached her. Oh wait. I don't get it all right, let's stop ma'am! I don't think you want to play it this way.

They didn't let her paint. Why not police stop you want to stop the lights on siren? Stop you just left walmart. Do you need to be arrested right now? No, no! No! Okay! Let's stop! After failing to effectively communicate with ms officer hop grabs her and throws her to the ground in an attempt to restrain her. Ms garner, visibly confused repeatedly tells officer hop that she's going home as the two engage in a brief scuffle.

Eventually, officer hop is able to place ms garner into handcuffs and lead her back to his patrol car. Okay, guys guys, i'm not behind side andy over here, okay, but even i as a socially average understander. She hasn't even said a single word of english. Yet you want to stop the lights on siren.

Stop you just left walmart. Do you need to be arrested right now? No, no, no right what means so so you know that something is going on right and i don't think, there's a threat of of her overpowering him over the that he could probably prod more the dialogue. Okay to just not escalate yet used repeatedly tells officer hop that she's going home as the two engage in a brief, scuffle, eventually officer hop, is able to place ms garner into handcuffs and lead her back to his patrol car right now, you're resisting which is not Going to fly with me and before that you tried to steal from walmart and they caught you and took the stuff back stand up, i'm. Why are you fighting with me? Why are you trying to slip? The cops off exclamation mark double exclamation, mark double explanation.

Stop! I'm going home, no you're, not are you finished? Are you finished? We don't play this game. You understand me and if you try to kick me all this is going to be bad stop shortly after officer, hopp was able to gain control of ms garner officer. Daria jalali arrives on the scene and the two officers once again force ms garner to the ground. Get in the cart and you go do not hook on to him i'll, come on the other side and grab her.

What's that huh who's, my sergeant yeah, okay! Well, first, i can tell you that sergeant metzler he's at the police department. You can go talk to him if you have an issue. Yeah give me your card, so i can put a report. Okay, i see you saying there how you throw that little kid little kid.

Well, i don't know about a little kid. He was just walking and i see you stole from walmart and refused to stop refusing to listen to lawful orders and to fight me. This is what happens when you fight the police. I have to use force to safely, detain her that's what this is.

This isn't just some random act of aggression, officer, jalali, assists officer, hop in restraining ms gardner's feet and placing her in the patrol vehicle, after which a concerned citizen confronts officer hop about trump. Although officer hop informs the citizen that he was within his authority to use force against ms garner, his conduct almost certainly violated department policy, colorado law and the u.s constitution. Section 18-1-707 of the colorado revised statutes currently states that quote peace officers in carrying out their duties shall apply. Non-Violent means, when possible, before resorting to the use of physical force, a peace officer may use physical forces only if non-violent means would be ineffective in affecting an arrest.

However, this language was recently added to the statute by colorado senate bill 20-217 and although the bill was signed on june 19 2020, these provisions did not go into effect until september 1st 2020.. At the time of ms garner's arrest, the statute that was in effect stated that quote, a peace officer is justified in using reasonable and appropriate physical force upon another person when and to the extent that he reasonably believes it necessary to effect an arrest when courts determine Whether an officer's use of force is quote, unquote reasonable under both colorado law and the fourth amendment. They review the totality of the circumstances focusing on three factors identified by the supreme court in the 1989 case of graham vs conor, now, quoting the severity of the crime. At issue whether the suspect poses an immediate threat to the safety of the officers or others, and whether he is actively resisting arrest or attempting to evade arrest by flight.

While it technically could be argued that ms garner was attempting to evade arrest by slowly walking away from officer hop in her confusion, the first two gram factors clearly weigh against the use of force. In this situation, ms garner was accused of the attempted theft of pepsi, a candy bar a t-shirt and some shout wipe refills, which is a petty offense in colorado and as an elderly woman with dementia, who was five feet. Tall weighed approximately 80 pounds and was simply trying to walk home. She clearly posed no threat to anyone's safety.

I don't know if you realize that yeah, but the way that i see her from over there. You know i was like doesn't know, but you see you don't know the whole situation, that's the thing yeah you know but he's like, but knowing the situation do you feel differently now? Oh yeah, but you're not like seeing it from there that that guy just walking yeah i get that i get that so when i went to go, grab her and talk to her. She started running leaving pulling away from me trying to fight me. Well, that's the thing i didn't see it running, you know exactly so before you go to a snap judgment.

You got ta, get all the facts, but right here she wasn't running. I get that. I see it walking right there you pull over. I got ta deal with this.

You hang tight. Okay, get your feet in the car. Okay! Let me see your feet. Credit card, we'll get it.

Oh, my god, okay huh karen! I got your credit card. Okay, it'll! Go with you! What's your date of birth! Karen! I have it, you will have it with you. I will not lose it. I promise.

What's your date of birth, karen, what's your date of birth, what's your date of birth, okay, the officers attempt to ascertain ms garner's identity by asking her when she was born, but she refuses to engage with the officers throughout the interaction. It does not appear that any of the officers, the loveland police department policy, on interaction with persons yeah dude - did it really should have known since the first five seconds of the interaction the person couldn't was mumbling and wouldn't sing. A single word man suspected of suffering from mental illness states that quote department members are not expected to act as mental health, clinicians make diagnoses or provide medical or psychiatric advice, but they should be aware of commonly encountered behaviors associated with mental disorders. The policy identifies dementia as one of the mental disorders that police officers often encounter lists disorientation regression, memory, loss and disordered thinking and speech is typical symptoms.

That officers should be aware of, and explains that now, quoting when encountering a person exhibiting signs or symptoms. That may indicate the person is suffering from a mental illness enforcement personnel should attempt to establish a sincere relationship with the individual, while maintaining the safety and security of all persons involved throughout the encounter. According to the policy, officers should also also say that that is hard. It's not it's not it's not being being aware, isn't very difficult.

Okay, because, as i was a i was an instructor at a summer camp or some like that. Well, i wasn't hired because i i in the interview, but i had training right and then to give you a treat on how how to uh to distinguish kids that have like. Oh you guys, man model, calm, behavior and non-threatening body. Language use simple, commands, announce actions before initiating them.

Ask direct and simple questions that permit a very brief response. Permit adequate response time when asking questions, utilize, active listening techniques and expect possible, delayed responses due to confusion and fear. It is evident from the body camera footage that officer hop either failed to notice the clear signs of mental impairment in ms garner's, behavior or intentionally violated this policy in his interactions with her negative all right. So in the training they give you training about um understanding when a kid has a certain mental illness or whatever or when they're different right and being different has a bunch of categories, and so some of them were like being at in french.

It's called t e d, or something like that. I know what that is. I forgot what it is, but it's whenever they're like different and they react differently to being touched or being you know like uh like uh, you know or or whatnot right whatever. What is that called right? So it's not really hard to tell or or to keep an eye for somebody being different or whatnot.

I got nothing else. It's just from a credit card. She has copy she's, probably like four ten five foot, maybe like a hundred pounds. How'd, you said you're trying to get your quicker.

Oh, you were good. I had her handled if it was a big dude have been different, but she was like 20 pounds. Well at least resisting right. Now.

Is that a 200 right now? Okay, all right, hey! Let's get her down the station okay, we don't need to wait for capella uh. No, we can see what i mean. We know we know she. What's it say she stole some stuff and they caught her before she left and got it back and she ran out.

I don't want to be rude. I don't want to be rude again. It's the question. Chad.

Is there not higher quotas when it comes down to the physical form of a certain office or whatever guys? I just feel like i yeah super super. She could probably knock me the out with a backhand okay, but but it's what man about the second base, dude so sergeant, philip metzler, tells officer hop that ms garner is going to be charged with resisting arrest and obstructing a peace officer, regardless of whether the walmart Employees decide to prosecute her for attempting to shoplift. Although laws vary, i just mean if you're gon na rent their criminal, okay and i guess, like a 250 pounds, six foot four monster dude and there's like a four foot: three, like a hundred nine pound like gnome, chasing like uh dude, it's it's, the uh in Colorado individuals can still be found guilty of resisting arrest when they are not convicted of the charge. They were being arrested for section 18-8-103 of the colorado, revised statutes, which defines the offense of resisting arrest states.

That quote, it is no defense to a prosecution. Under this section that the peace officer was attempting to make an arrest, which in fact was unlawful, if he was acting under color of his official authority and in attempting to make the arrest, he was not resorting to unreasonable or excessive force, giving rise to the right Of self-defense, however, if charges were pursued against ms garner, she would have a strong argument that she was acting in self-defense as a court would likely conclude that officer hopp was using unreasonable and excessive force. Additionally, ms garner's mental condition could serve as another defense if charges were filed against her since to obtain convictions for both resisting arrest and obstructing a peace officer which is codified in section 18-8-104 of the colorado revised statutes, the government would be required to prove that she Acted quote-unquote knowingly, which section 18-1-501 defines as being aware of the nature of one's conduct under section 18-1-803 of the colorado, revised statutes evidence of a quote-unquote impaired mental condition, which section 16-8-102 defines, as quote a condition of mind caused by mental disease or defect that prevents The person from forming the culpable mental state, that is an essential element of any crime charged, can be offered as a defense to show that a criminal defendant was incapable of acting knowingly given officer hop's use of excessive force. Ms garner's right to self-defense and her impaired mental condition, it is highly unlikely that she would be convicted of resisting or obstructing, and this is likely why the charges against her were quickly dropped.

Hey you got the door open. This is annoying. This guy's screaming is like fake, like cozy vibes, you're gon na run. Oh good thing, we got the hotpoint.

The positive vibes only does pay for it, but you didn't, after the officers brought ms garner handcuffed to a bench and left there for several hours without medical care. As a result of officer hopp's use of force, ms garner suffered a fractured and dislocated shoulder a bloody nose scrapes to her face and contusions to her knees. She was also diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder following the incident and continues to suffer debilitating physical pain in her shoulder arm and wrist. While ms garner was restrained at the police station security footage showed officers, hop and jalali reviewing the body camera footage with community service officer.

Tyler blackett high fiving bragging and celebrating the injury to ms garner's arm in his narrative report on the use of force officer, hopp wrote that quote upon contact the suspect attempted to flee the scene and was placed onto the ground to safely detain her. The suspects fought against officers continuously and several controlling holds had to be used. The suspect, sustained minor lacerations to her wrists from the handcuffs and a small laceration to her chin. Despite the fact that this account was clearly contradicted by the body, camera footage and ms garner's actual physical condition, multiple higher level options, you know screwed about this guys.

It is, i feel, like people in rp write longer incident reports about stuff than real life cops. Actual physical condition, multiple higher level officers, including sergeant metzler, approved the use of force, as quote necessary, reasonable and within policy. In fact, no action was taken against any of the officers involved until ms garner filed a federal lawsuit against the city of loveland officers, hop and jalali and sergeant metzler on april 4., the whole squad, ms garner's attorney, sarah shilka publicly released the body camera footage and In response to national outrage over the incident officer, hopp was placed on administrative leave and officer. Jalali and sergeant metzler were reassigned to administrative duties pending an internal investigation.

All three officers, as well as officer blackit, later resigned and the city retained law enforcement, consulting firm hillard heinz to conduct an independent investigation of the arrest and the department's policies, practices and procedures. On may 19, 2021. The colorado, 8th judicial district, critical incident response team concluded an investigation into the incident and criminal charges were filed against former officers, hop and jalali. Mr hop pled not guilty to all three charges and is scheduled for a jury trial in april 2022..

As of the date of this episode, ms jalali has yet to enter a plea on the charges against her and they remain pending. However, loveland city leaders agreed to pay ms garner a three million dollar settlement on september 9th. Overall, the former loveland officers get an f for escalating a minor violation into an unnecessary and violent arrest, failing to consider ms garner's mental condition before using force and for displaying an unprofessional attitude and what could certainly be considered sociopathic tendencies. At the very least, the conduct of mr hop and miss jalali was nothing short of inhumane from the very beginning of this interaction and their corruption continues also not asking more questions about about the nature of the interaction even after after you said it.

Oh, she was 20 pounds and then she's not they're, not even producing asking questions like oh and how did she resist she's spending 20 pounds? What what can she possibly done? Did she knock you out? Not only did the officer celebrate injuring a mentally unstable senior citizen, but they also made several attempts to alter or delete the body. Cam footage lackluster covered the, but they also made several attempts to alter or delete the body. Cam footage lackluster covered the details of the officer's actions following this encounter and i highly recommend checking out his video to get a fuller picture of the lengths these officers went to in an effort to cover their tracks. I will leave a link to his coverage in the description below the behavior of these individuals extends far beyond the context of a policy.

They need to set an example of this. I think this is something that i always felt that you need to be an example set right, like that's a body cam, it's always like. Oh it's, it's missing. It's deleted, whatever whoever gets caught with doing this should get like a a a crazy charge.

Somebody knows to not judge you ever. I think it's stupid. I believe that mr hops, just as much those of an evil and dispassionate person, as they were, an act of officer misconduct. This is yet another officer who deserves a grade lower than an f, and this interaction highlights the importance of taking legal action following an act of misconduct.

If ms garner hadn't filed her lawsuit, then this encounter likely would have never been known to the public and officer. Hopp would still be a member of the loveland police department. As for ms garner, it would not be appropriate to assign a grade to an individual who was not in full control of their mental faculties at the time of the interaction, if nothing else, this encounter is a prime example of the current relationship between american policing and Individuals suffering from mental health conditions and is a testament to the complications that often arise when poorly trained officers attempt to handle these cases. Ms garner was not only a victim of police misconduct.

She was also the victim of a corrupt human being and a society's refusal to act upon the shortcomings of policing and mental health care. I commend ms garner for having the courage to follow up this interaction with the proper legal action, and i sincerely hope that this encounter inspires other departments to take pre-emptive measures to ensure that their officers know how to properly handle mental health calls. Let us know if there's an interaction, also lingering pain and dog is is just trash. Yeah i get it.

She gets three mil, but it's still annoying, though i mean my money doesn't really fix that if she can't really fix it, that's just kind of trashy. You can't really put a dollar a value on that hmm tonight.