There is another controversial case involving the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) that has enticed the media and incited the usual anti-police activists. This incident occurred over a year ago, but since it happened under the former Sheriff’s regime – the involved deputies are being sacrificed as political pawns to appease Dishonest Critics.
Stop, Contact, Charges
Deputies made contact with the driver and found that he did not have a valid driver’s license and also that he appeared to be intoxicated.
The deputies also noticed that there were three women passengers who were each holding an infant in their arms in the vehicle. The babies were not in carseats.
The deputies had a lawful objective to arrest the driver for DUI and arrest the mothers for child endangerment (a felony).
Two of the mothers held onto their babies and refused to let go. These “mother of the year” candidates literally used their children as human shields in an effort to avoid being arrested (#classy).
The Use of Force
One deputy stated, “I don’t want to have to snatch her and have my partners grab your arms. That’s the last thing I want to do. But we’re going to take the baby one way or another and I don’t want to be rude about it.” This child abuse suspect did allow deputies to take the baby and no force was utilized.
However, the second uncooperative child abuse suspect refused to cooperate and stated, “Y’all are not taking my baby. You’re going to have to shoot me dead to take my baby from my arms. I’m not about to let you take my baby.”
Deputies eventually made the decision to grab the baby from the suspect. The suspect held tighter to the baby and did not cooperate. With the intent of ending the situation quickly a male deputy punched the woman in the face in an effort to distract her from holding the baby. The woman let go of the baby and the deputies successfully placed her under arrest.
“Completely unacceptable” Politics
Overall I prefer the Sheriff-model to the Police Chief-model for law enforcement leadership. However, since Sheriff’s are elected politicians – the risk that they are more concerned about re-election than admirably leading the law enforcement agency is always a possibility.
This incident occurred under the previous administration that was led by former Sheriff Alex Villanueva. The current Sheriff (Robert Luna) has released the body camera footage, issued a statement calling the use of force “completely unacceptable”, removed the involve deputy from duty, and has urged the District Attorney to charge the deputy.
In contrast, the case that occurred a few weeks ago involving LASD deputies at a WinCo grocery store (where a deputy utilized a “take down” and pepper sprayed an elderly black woman) was arguably a less reasonable use of force. In a statement on that case Sheriff Luna encouraged the public to exercise patience and hold judgement until the investigation is completed. (Read our article on this case)
I am not criticizing the Sheriff’s statement on the WinCo case. It was an appropriate, reasonable, and measured public statement. I am criticizing that similar sentiments were not extended to the deputies on this case.
Analysis
Now, I admittedly am not crazy about the idea of punching a woman who is holding a baby. However, sometimes police officers find themselves in volatile situations where no optimal use of force option exists and the best outcome involves ending the situation immediately.
The woman was under arrest for felony child abuse. Despite being under arrest deputies negotiated and utilized de-escalation methods for over eight minutes. The woman refused to comply and yelled that the deputies would have to “shoot” her. Now, the deputies were trying to control a situation where an unstable and suicidal woman was holding a baby and refusing to let go.
It is also important to evaluate the other potential use of other force options. Since, the woman was holding a baby the deployment of a Taser or pepper spray would not be appropriate. An empty hand “takedown”, arm bar, or leg sweep would also not be safe for the baby.
Therefore, a punch to the face – in an effort to distract the woman – while other deputies simultaneously held onto the baby was the chosen force option.
Though it was not pretty to watch – the punch to the face did achieve the lawful objective: the woman let go of the baby, the baby was uninjured, and the woman was arrested.
Perhaps there was another way to safely resolve this situation – but, without a suggestion for what the deputy should have done – criticism of the force option chosen during a stressful and dynamic moment rings hollow.
Force used by police officers is always ugly. Fortunately, the law does not require that the application of force be pretty – just that it be “objectively reasonable”. And in this instance – it was.
Final Thoughts
The deputies should be hailed as heroes for ensuring the safety of these children.
The fact that any involved deputy could be terminated or prosecuted is the exact reason that no reasonable, ethical, or hard-working individual would choose to join this law enforcement agency. Residents of LA County – you get what you vote for.
This article originally appeared at The Police Law Newsletter.
