Wilmington Mayor And Chief Address April 4 Videotaped Arrest

From the City of Wilmington:

June 10, 2020

Intent is to clarify public perceptions about the incident

Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki and Police Chief Robert J. Tracy today addressed the videotaped arrest of a suspect by a police officer in early April of this year.

“In this highly charged atmosphere in which we are moving swiftly to review policing policies and adopt racial justice reforms, I understand the perception of what occurred is troubling because it appears the officer’s knee is close to the suspect’s neck,” said Mayor Purzycki. “I can only offer my assurances as Mayor that, based on Chief Tracy’s account of this incident, this matter was fully investigated and there were no violations of police procedures."

The Mayor and Police Chief today presented the facts regarding the April 4 arrest and a subsequent mandatory police investigation indicating that the officer applied an approved and safe technique to arrest the suspect. The officer’s knee was originally placed on the suspect’s back and moved to the shoulder blade area. In fact, the suspect in the April 4 arrest stated for the police report and subsequent investigation that the officer’s knee was on his back. Wilmington police officers are not permitted to take any action that interferes with a person’s ability to breathe.

To further the public’s understanding of the April 4 arrest, the Mayor and Chief Tracy presented a chronological summary of the incident:

• A police officer was dispatched on April 4 to the Southbridge neighborhood after the WPD received a call for service from a resident regarding a fight underway involving a large group of juveniles.
• The officer arrived and dispersed the juveniles, but the suspect returned to the intersection.
• The officer knew the suspect from prior investigations and was aware the suspect did not live in the area, so he told him again to leave the area.
• The suspect refused and continued to walk toward the officer.
• The officer extended his arm to stop the suspect from approaching, at which time the suspect struck the officer’s arm (as confirmed by the suspect) and assumed a fighting stance.
• At this point, the officer acted to take the suspect into custody by placing the suspect on the ground as the suspect continued to resist arrest.
• The officer used the approved and safe technique of placing his knee on the suspect’s back and shoulder blade area in order to place the resisting suspect in handcuffs.
• During this time, a second suspect struck the police officer who was holding down the first suspect (as confirmed by the second suspect) to prevent the officer from taking the first suspect into custody. A second officer subdued the person who struck the arresting officer.
• The original suspect was then placed in a police vehicle and taken to police headquarters for processing.

The Mayor and Chief again stressed that this incident was investigated by the WPD. The WPD did not receive a citizen complaint about this matter, but EVERY use of force by a police officer is automatically reviewed by the officer’s supervisor and members of the command staff in conjunction with the WPD’ s Office of Professional Standards.

This press release was produced by the City of Wilmington. The views expressed here are the author’s own.