By Andrew Ching,
Assistant City Attorney, City of Tempe
Ed's Note: In October 2003, IPMBA
was contacted by Andrew Ching, Assistant City Attorney for the City of Tempe.
A bicycle officer was involved in a lawsuit stemming from an incident in
which he grabbed the arm of a cycling suspect, resulting in a fall and subsequent
injury. An expert witness for the plaintiff claimed that the IPMBA curriculum
explicitly taught officers to not engage in physical contact with other cyclists.
He claimed to have found this information on the IPMBA website. Mr. Ching
contacted IPMBA, spoke with former president T.J. Richardson, and purchased
the Complete Guide to Police Cycling. T.J. also spoke with the expert witness
for the defendant. The details have been provided by Mr. Ching, who has
graciously agreed to conduct a workshop on legal issues during the 15th Annual
IPMBA Conference, April 21-23, 2005, in Scottsdale, Arizona.
On June 30, 2001, at approximately 9:57 p.m., Tempe police bicycle officer
Sean Still, along with other bike officers, responded to an indecent exposure
call at the intersection of 5th Street and Mill Avenue in Tempe, Arizona.
Officer Still was wearing a Tempe Police Bike Officer uniform and hat, and
was riding a bicycle that was marked with Tempe Police insignia. Mill Avenue
was busy on this particular night, with heavy foot and vehicular traffic.
Children were in the area. Mill Avenue was brightly illuminated. As Officer
Still rode his police bike southbound on Mill Avenue, he witnessed three
male persons (hereinafter "suspects"), all nude, racing their bicycles north
on Mill Avenue approaching Fifth Street. The suspects' genitals were fully
exposed to the public. Officer Still yelled at the suspects to stop. As they
approached Officer Still and his partner, each of the suspects headed off
into different directions. One of the suspects, Plaintiff John Long, tried
to swerve past Officer Still. Officer Still managed to grab Plaintiff's right
arm as Plaintiff rode past him. However, Officer Still lost his grip on
Plaintiff's right arm, and Plaintiff lost control of his bicycle and fell
to the ground, where he sustained a serious knee injury. Officer Still then
placed handcuffs on Plaintiff, who was not cooperating. The commotion caused
traffic to grind to a halt. A large crowd gathered around Officer Still and
Plaintiff, who were both in the middle of Mill Avenue near Fifth Street.
While being treated at the scene by the Tempe Fire Department, Plaintiff
admitted to consuming three to four beers. Plaintiff was subsequently transported
to Tempe St. Luke's Hospital, where he was issued a citation for disorderly
conduct, indecent exposure, and delay and obstruct.
Plaintiff argued that Officer Still used excessive force to stop and arrest
him, and through the testimony of his expert witness Mr. Ken Barnes stated
that Officer Still had other options, such as letting Plaintiff ride by and
establish a perimeter, pursue him on bicycle, or dismount his bicycle and
either attempt to block him with his bicycle or to grab the back of Plaintiff's
bicycle and hold on until he stopped. The expert witness for Tempe and Officer
Still, Commander Richard Groeneveld of the Phoenix Police Department, testified
that Officer Still's use of force was reasonable under the circumstances.
During closing arguments, Plaintiffs argued that Plaintiff had incurred over
$124,000 in medical expenses, including a full knee replacement, and that
he would need 2-3 more total knee replacements in his lifetime. They asked
for a total award of between $750,000 and $1.5 million for medical expenses
and pain and suffering, to be reduced only slightly, if at all, by the
comparative fault of the Plaintiff. Officer Still and Tempe argued that Plaintiff
was wholly at fault, especially due to his consumption of alcohol, his decision
to race his friends in a crowded downtown area while naked, and his decision
to evade Officer Still. The jury deliberated for a little over an hour, and
returned a full verdict in favor of Still and Tempe.
Thank you to IPMBA for your assistance during this trial, especially your
publication The Complete Guide to Police Cycling, which was an invaluable
resource throughout.
Andrew Ching, City of Tempe, can be reached at
andrew_ching@tempe.gov.
© 2004 IPMBA. This article first appeared in the Summer 2004 issue
of IPMBA News. |
