No indictment for RUPD after investigation

By Anita Alem     3/18/14 4:56pm

After a formal investigation, a Grand Jury has decided not to indict two Rice University Police Department officers on allegations of misconduct regarding a bike theft incident in August 2013, according to RUPD Chief Johnny Whitehead

After a formal investigation, a Grand Jury has decided not to indict two Rice University Police Department officers on allegations of misconduct regarding a bike theft incident in August 2013, according to RUPD Chief Johnny Whitehead. Dashcam video surveillance from the incident shows two RUPD officers using batons on the suspect, Ivan Joe Waller, as two others attempt to handcuff the man’s arms while he resisted arrest. RUPD released the video evidence with the Grand Jury’s decision on March 12.

Waller later pleaded guilty to bike theft and was sentenced to 15 days in jail. Whitehead said Waller did not file any complaints regarding RUPD’s use of force.

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“We did a thorough and professional internal review of the incident,” Whitehead said. “We came to the conclusion that there was not excessive force or violation of the law, and the Grand Jury came to the same conclusion.” 

According to Whitehead, RUPD deployed a “bait bike” system in August 2012, in which GPS-equipped bikes are placed in bike racks and other areas. If the bike is stolen, RUPD can track its position to find the suspect.

On the night of Aug. 10, at approximately 11 p.m., RUPD officers pursued a stolen bait bike and stopped Waller at the corner of Holcombe and Montclair.

“Usually, the physical presence and the uniform [of an officer] is enough to get [suspects] to comply,” Whitehead said. “The officer gives the suspect orders [to] get off the bike and get on the ground. He doesn’t comply, so the first two officers on the scene then go hands-on. They physically pull him to the ground, and they try to handcuff him. So they get him to the ground, they manage to get handcuffs on his left wrist, but he won’t give up the right arm. He has it pinned under his body, he’s moving around his body to avoid being handcuffed, tensing and tightening his muscles.”

Whitehead said officers were unaware of any reasons for his resistance or his past criminal records during the arrest. Waller is described in the Harris County report as having a medium build.

“We didn’t know if he was armed, if he was on drugs, we didn’t know what we were dealing with,” Whitehead said. “But until the suspect is secure, it’s a dangerous situation for the officers and the public. They were all around him on their knees. [The suspect] could free his arm if he [wanted] to.”

Waller can be heard yelling “I haven’t done nothing” and “I want to know what’s going on,” as the officers tell the man to “stop resisting” and “give his arm.”

According to Whitehead, after verbal commands were unsuccessful, the officers began to try pressure point techniques to apply enough pain to get compliance from Waller and access his right arm. One officer presses his baton into Waller’s shoulder several times, a move that Whitehead said was done improperly. 

“He should have been using his fist [to press the shoulder], with the baton in his [fist] as leverage,” Whitehead said. “I know what he was trying to do, but he wasn’t doing it properly, and it didn’t work, and it didn’t seem to faze the suspect.”

At over four minutes into the incident, two officers began hitting the man with their batons, which were the only non-lethal weapons available to officers at that time.

“Even when done properly, it doesn’t look good when using batons on someone,” Whitehead said. “[The officers] tried all these other things and then they tried with the batons. They’re hitting in the back of the legs, the back, the buttocks, so they’re striking meaty parts of the body. There are no headshots; there are no blows to bones or anything like that. And even then, he continues to resist.”

The video surveillance shows two officers hitting his legs and back and the other two officers looking on from a few feet away. As Waller’s arm is not exposed, the officers continue to hit him, as one stops and attempts to grasp his arm. After 33 strikes, Waller then sits up, places his arms over his head, and then resists the officers’ attempts to restrain his arms behind his back.

“They grab both arms and tried to put them behind his back and they just couldn’t get them together,” Whitehead said.

Video surveillance goes on to show Waller, once more on the ground, with officers hitting him with a baton 13 times. 

According to Whitehead, an officer was finally able to pull out a second pair of handcuffs and place them on Waller’s right wrist; the two pairs of handcuffs were then joined together to secure Waller. Video surveillance shows Waller telling the jailer at Harris County Jail that he is fine and nothing is wrong with him. Waller was hit a total of 46 times over the course of the incident.

“Immediately after he is secure, all force stops,” Whitehead said. “There were no injuries to the suspect. My officers were professional; there was no name-calling, profanity towards the suspect, no kicking or stomping or anything like that. I had a very diverse group of officers on the scene: a white female, a black male, a Hispanic male and an Asian officer.”

Whitehead said every officer receives a standardized training that is set by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. However, officers can be in the field years after their training and they may not properly apply the skills they learned.  Whitehead identified the need for additional training of some of the officers, and RUPD now has three certified defense tactic instructors instead of one.

“From now on, we’ll be doing more regular defense tactics trainings in terms of how to handle combative suspects,” Whitehead said. “We also have since deployed pepper spray; [Officers] have been taught how to use it and when it’s appropriate to use.”

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