An arrest made by the Green Bay Police Department at the Bay Beach Amusement Park June 12, which has garnered scrutiny on social media, is under review per the department’s use of force policy, Police Chief Chris Davis said.
Bystanders captured the arrest on video, which was later posted to social media and received backlash from the community. Davis discussed the incident, which some community members described as excessive force, at a June 17 community conversations event.
Any time an officer uses force, Davis said, multiple people in the department review it. The Bay Beach arrest is still in the process of being reviewed, he said. Davis said he watched the body camera footage from one of the arresting officers, which he said shows more than the bystander videos.
Several community members who attended the event asked about police officer’s initial point of contact with the man who was later arrested. Damien Doran of Green Bay asked if the man had a chance to tell his side of the story. Community members also questioned the need for three police officers to arrest one man, the use of a taser and officers punching the man.
What happened, according to police?
According to Davis, police were called to Bay Beach June 12 by the amusement park’s management. Park management told police that the man who was later arrested said something “sexually inappropriate” to a young female staff member, which would be a violation of the park’s rules.
The parks department asked for the man to be trespassed from the park, meaning if he returned to the park he could be charged with trespassing. When officers first approached the man, asking for identifying information, he was “not what I would consider cooperative, really at all from the beginning of this interaction, verbally, nothing physical,” Davis said.
The man tried to leave, at which point officers told him he was being detained and not free to leave. However, after more conversation that was “not going very well,” Davis said, the man tried to leave again and officers let him because “the idea is to get him to leave the park.”
Officers walked alongside the man on the way out of the park, but say the man told officers he was “going to go back and confront the park employee and see what she said that he said.” It was at this point, Davis said, that officers had probable cause to arrest the man for a low-level offense like disorderly conduct, which he has since been charged with.
The man physically resisted arrest. Davis explained the state’s training standards for police regarding conflict resolution focus on de-escalation, which is why the officers were letting the man walk away. If verbal de-escalation tactics don’t work, there are physical alternatives officers are trained to use, Davis said, including getting the person on the ground — which Davis said “reduces the risk of injury” for both the officers and the person being arrested — and “focused strikes,” or punches.
These tactics, as well as the use of a taser on the man, were seen in social media videos of the arrest.
Davis did not want to get in front of the review process by stating whether or not the use of these tactics were within policy, but said officers will be held accountable if excessive force was used.
Vivian Barrett is the public safety reporter for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. You can reach her at vmbarrett@greenbay.gannett.com or (920) 431-8314. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at @vivianbarrett_.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay police chief responds to community concern over Bay Beach Amusement Park arrest
Reporting by Vivian Barrett, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Green Bay Press-Gazette
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
