This is about an officer involved shooting in MD on Monday that resulted in the suspect's death and the officer being charged with murder. Reading the articles, the thing that jumped right at me was the suspect was arrested, handcuffed, and buckled up in the cruiser's front seat. Of course, to my non-LE mind, that's just invitation to trouble. Please, educate us non-LE folks.

https://currently.att.yahoo.co...oting-024851180.html

Maryland cop charged with murder in shooting of handcuffed man

CBSNews
CBS News January 28, 2020, 9:04 PM CST


A Maryland police officer was arrested and charged with second-degree murder Tuesday after the fatal shooting of a man who was handcuffed in a police cruiser, according to CBS affiliate WUSA-TV. Corporal Michael Owen Jr. is also being charged with manslaughter and associated weapons charges in the death of William Green.

Chief Hank Stawinski called the announcement "the most difficult moment of my tenure as your Chief of Police," according to WUSA-TV.

Police initially said Monday that they received a 911 call at about 8 p.m. reporting a male driver who had struck multiple cars, WUSA-TV reported. Officers said they located Green and thought he was under the influence after smelling what they believed to be PCP in his car.

Police added that they handcuffed Green and buckled him into the front seat of a police cruiser. Two independent witnesses claimed they heard or saw a fight in the front seat and heard loud bangs, according to police. They added that Owen shot Green multiple times, and that lifesaving measures were attempted before he was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

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https://currently.att.yahoo.co...illed-080802892.html

Murder charge for officer accused of killing handcuffed man

Associated PressJanuary 28, 2020, 2:08 AM CST


TEMPLE HILLS, Md. (AP) — A Maryland police officer who fatally shot a handcuffed man in the front seat of a police cruiser will face a murder charge, the police chief said Tuesday.

Prince George's County Police Chief Hank Stawinski said during a news conference that he asked his special investigations response team to file multiple charges, including a second-degree murder count, against Cpl. Michael Owen, Jr., a 10-year veteran of the force.

Owen was also charged with voluntary and involuntary manslaughter, first-degree assault and use of a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence, according to a news release. He was arrested on Tuesday, department spokeswoman Jennifer Donelan said.

The victim was identified as William Howard Green, 43, of Washington, D.C. Authorities did not reveal Green's race, citing department policy.

Stawinski called the announcement the most difficult of his tenure as police chief.

“I am unable to come to our community this evening and provide you with a reasonable explanation for the events that occurred last night," the chief told reporters. “I concluded that what happened last night is a crime.”

The deadly shooting occurred Monday night inside the cruiser after Prince George's County police officers responded to reports that a driver had struck multiple vehicles near the Temple Hills community, department spokeswoman Christina Cotterman told news outlets during an earlier news conference.

When officers located the driver, they smelled PCP and believed the man was under the influence, Cotterman said.

However, Stawinski later said that PCP did not appear to have been involved. Stawinski also said he could not corroborate a witness' account of a struggle in the cruiser.

The officer got into the driver's seat after the the suspect was taken into custody and placed in the front passenger seat, according to Cotterman, who said that conforms with department policy.

“A short time later, for reasons that are now at the center of the investigation, Green was shot seven times by the officer’s duty weapon,” according to a news release issued Tuesday night.

After the shooting, Owen and another officer removed Green from the cruiser and provided medical aid to Green, who died at a hospital a short time later.

"There are no circumstances under which this outcome is acceptable,” Stawinski said. “You have my assurance that all our methods and practices will be examined as this investigation proceeds.”

The shooting wasn't caught on body-camera video because the officer didn't have one, Cotterman said. Investigators were looking for surveillance cameras in the area that may have recorded the shooting.

Owen had been placed on administrative leave prior to the announcement that charges would be filed against him.

Owen has been involved in at least two other shootings during his time on the force. In 2011, he fatally shot a man who pointed a gun at him after Owen left an event at police headquarters, the department said. Owen was placed on administrative leave after that incident, but there is no indication whether additional action was taken.

In 2009, Owen was off-duty when someone tried to rob him outside his home, The Washington Post reported. Police officials said the would-be robber fired, but Owen was not hit and returned fire. The assailant fled, according to police.

Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy said in a statement Tuesday that her office will conduct a "thorough and independent investigation.”

“We will seek truth, and will vigorously pursue justice in a way that is fair and responsible,” Braveboy said, according to The Washington Post. “Once we have received all information and completed our own investigation and analysis, I assure you that my office will be transparent and accountable to the public about our findings and how we will move forward.”

Deborah Jeon, legal director for the the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland, said in a statement that there is no reason for an officer to shoot a handcuffed suspect multiple times inside a patrol car. Jeon called it “completely unacceptable” that Prince George's County's police department doesn't equip all its officers with body cameras.

“These deaths are completely preventable,” Jeon said. “Police characterize them as unavoidable, but they are not. And body camera footage will show that.”

Colorado State Patrol puts arrestees in the front seat. I don't recall seeing any of their cruisers with cages.
Once in a while I've seen them come in with a guy cuffed in the front, but with the cuff chain under a leg.

It was more common back before rear seat cages were nearly ubiquitous. Nowadays, if you don't have a cage and need to transport someone, you typically just call for a car with a cage. But I understand that may not be an option in some departments.

So a few departments across the country still do that, usually because they don't have access to cages. (Which in this day and age is puzzling.)

Most (nearly all) do not do it. I have not, and almost certainly would not, if I had any other option. But then I've never lacked a cage when I needed it.

Depends on several factors. When we were using Mustangs and Camaros back in the day it was common practice. When transporting a prisoner with no cage it can give you better control over the prisoner. With some agencies it is policy. But always handcuff behind the back unless there is a medical reason not to.

It's a terrible practice with nearly no redeeming qualities. Around here, the only agency that still does is mired in tradition and unhampered by progress.

Reminds me of a funny/scary (hilariously frightening?) older dash cam video I saw about 15 years back. Not quite the same, because the guy wasn't arrested yet, though.

Officer pulls guy over. Wants to run him. Asks him to exit his car, come back to his cruiser, and have a seat in the front passenger seat. (Another outdated tactic.) Officer sits in driver's seat. Radios dispatch. Chats with guy while waiting for return. Dispatch comes back with an outstanding murder warrant. Officer calmly acknowledges the radio traffic and requests another unit, sighs, then steps out of the car and starts giving very LOUD verbal commands.

You can practically hear the officer's butthole slam shut when that murder warrant comes back over the radio on this guy that he had just been sitting and chatting shoulder-to-shoulder with (uncuffed) in the front seat of his cruiser.

I'll see if I can dig that video up. But it's pre-YouTube, so it may not be available online.

When you have no cage, the front seat is the prefered method of transport. Texas DPS used to do it quite commonly as almost none of their crown vics had cages. Game Wardens here still do.

I have done it a few times when transporting an arrestee it a vehicle with no cage when another unit with a cage was not available to assist in transport.

On patrol, have done it with sedans that didn't have cages. Didn't much care for it.

As an investigator-- none of our cars have cages-- the usual is "prisoner in second row, passenger side." If it's a sedan, second agent goes next to him/her. If it's one of our larger vehicles, agent goes in third row (we can "stow" or remove the driver-side second row seat to give more mobility to the second agent.)

If no cage in vehicle, BY CALEA approved and sanctioned policy we have to put them in the front passenger seat.

NCHP still does not put cages in their cars and transports this way. I can't for the life of me figure out why they refuse to put cages in the cars and it irks me to no end.

Pretty much what Dennis said. If you’re transporting in a vehicle without a cage, and you are by yourself then they go up front. If the vehicle doesn’t have a cage but you have another LEO to ride with you then you generally put them in the back seat with the other LEO, preferably opposite the back seat officer’s gun side. If a car with a cage is available or can get there in a reasonable amount of time then that is the preferred method.

As a fed none of our vehicles have cages. My Tahoe doesn’t even have a back seat as it’s filled with equipment I need for my special duties. Usually we transport as Dennis said, with 2 agents - one driving and one in back with the defendant. However, we also work with a lot of state and local agencies that do have marked cars with cages. If one of those cars is available we will usually ask for them to transport, at least to a station for processing, and I’ve never had anyone say no.

What is the cost of a cage for a police car?? As a kid I remember ALL the cabs in Chicago had a cage or barrier in back of the front seat with the meter in the middle.

This happened in PG County, MD which is a crap hole for the most part. With that said it's good size county outside of DC. I can not imagine there not been a car with a cage to transport.

I'm also surprised the office didn't have a body camera. Almost every cop I see around this area has a body camera. Although that's more Montgomery and Howard county and less PG.

For my entire career, we had no cages and they rode up front with us. Cages cost money, back in 2005 ish my dept floated the idea and they were $1500 each and were specific to the crown Victoria, this included the plastic rear seat. The bean counters won and we continued placing suspects in the front right seat. Last I saw, a cage was around $800 w/o the special seat.

The NC SHP doesn’t use cages and I was trained by a trooper about front seat safety. He also told me to place my stream light flashlight along my right thigh, in case the prisoner got froggy. ( this was in the basic school in 1999)

I’ve had suspects slip their handcuffs to the front while I was securing a vehicle or getting evidence. It’s never good. 99% of the time they act right. But when they don’t, you have to regain advantage over them and then they usually get leg shackles and a waist chain.

I bought my own waist chain and shackles because it was easier sometimes to start out from the get-go to place them in waist chain and shackles. If a suspect had run or fought with me, they got the whole enchilada, otherwise it was handcuffed behind themselves and belted in.

Also I switched from handcuffs with a small chain in the middle to hinged cuffs to prevent the suspect being able to escape or slip cuffs to the front. Because it happens, happened to me several times. When properly handcuffed (palms outward and keyholes facing upward)with hinged cuffs it’s very very difficult to slip handcuffs to the front.

quote:

Originally posted by comet24:
I'm also surprised the office didn't have a body camera.

Many (I believe a large majority) of departments do not have body cameras. It's not just a matter of a department scraping together enough money to buy a few cameras and stick them on some officers.

It's a major expense, not only for the equipment itself, but also the lengthy/indefinite maintenance and storage of video records, extra staff for the reviewing/sorting/distribution of videos, extra FOIs to deal with, etc.

Plus there are policies to write, case law to review, privacy concerns to consider, etc. And the technology is still so relatively new that there's a lot of grey area that hasn't been settled in court yet.

I think there most likely will come a time in the future when body cameras will be near-universal. But there's still a long way to go as far as figuring it all out and getting a solid, concrete case law foundation.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
Also I switched from handcuffs with a small chain in the middle to hinged cuffs to prevent the suspect being able to escape or slip cuffs to the front. Because it happens, happened to me several times. When properly handcuffed (palms outward and keyholes facing upward)with hinged cuffs it’s very very difficult to slip handcuffs to the front.

Same here. And if they're not huge/broad, and you're extra concerned about them slipping the cuffs to the front (or they've already done so), you can stack their hands with hinged cuffs.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by comet24:
I'm also surprised the office didn't have a body camera.

Many (I believe a large majority) of departments do not have body cameras. It's not just a matter of a department scraping together enough money to buy a few cameras and stick them on some officers.

It's a major expense, not only for the equipment itself, but also the lengthy/indefinite maintenance and storage of video records, extra staff for the reviewing/sorting/distribution of videos, extra FOIs to deal with, etc.

Plus there are policies to write, case law to review, privacy concerns to consider, etc. And the technology is still so relatively new that there's a lot of grey area that hasn't been settled in court yet.

I think there most likely will come a time in the future when body cameras will be near-universal. But there's still a long way to go as far as figuring it all out and getting a solid, concrete case law foundation.

All of this. I'm over the Records Division and the redactions for Open Records Requests are a huge problem. Our 2nd IT guy is now almost fully devoted to doing redactions on body cam videos.

In my early days, we had no cages. So most transports were two man, with the second officer in the back with the prisoner.
Later, we got cages and went to single officer transport. I used to pull the seat cushion out after every transport to ensure there were no souvenirs left behind. We then went to full cages with plastic seats and better restraint systems.

And in this day and age, front seat transport is nothing but stupidity. If your agency cant afford a properly equipped patrol vehicle, then stop prisoner transports.

Nope. Not here. If you don't have a cage (investigator car or unmarked) you sit that guy on the curb and stand with him until a car with a cage gits there. 12 degrees and driving rain? You sit that guy on the curb and stand with him until the cruiser gets there. If you even THINK PCP might be involved, be extra careful how you handle that prisoner. They can behave extremely irrationally. They can be extremely difficult to control physically. They also present a medical risk and need to be closely monitored.

It is important to note that deadly force is not justified if the officer creates the situation that requires the use of deadly force. This primarily applies to situations like officers stepping in front of moving vehicles to try to stop them, but an argument (and in my personal opinion a strong argument) could be made that putting a subject you believe to be under the influence of a substance known to often lead to violent behavior in the front seat of a patrol car within reach of an armed officer (whose weapon is most likely on his right hip and directly accessible to the prisoner) creates a situation that could result in a fight over that weapon. If I were an attorney looking for a payday, I'd argue that any policy that allows this would be negligent.

But I'm not an attorney, nor am I speaking for any agency I might be associated with. My personal opinion is there is no way I'd put a prisoner up front with me.

We do, cause we dont have many cars with cages.

I am hesitant to go into too much detail about transport policy on a public page though.