On 12/07/2020 Appleton Police Chief Thomas gave a presentation to the Appleton Police Community Advisory Board on Use of Force by the APD. He reviewed the information that is available in the police department’s 2010-2019 Use of Force Analysis. The original document is 180 pages long, so this presentation just hit the main points. The entire document can be found on APD’s website or downloaded here:
Why is Use of Force important?
It is the greatest authority granted to law enforcement officers by the government. It’s literally the ability to take away someone’s freedom or life. They talk about it to Appleton police officers frequently; and the officers understand that because it’s their greatest authority, it’s also their greatest responsibility. If they violate the public trust even once, it could be so damaging to the department that APD might not recover from it.
Appleton has been collecting data on Use of Force incidents for over 20 years. But many other law enforcement agencies have just started discussing best practices for collecting data on Use of Force and reviewing Use of Force incidents. Chief Thomas is proud that APD has been doing those things for over 20 years and he credited former Appleton police chiefs for being way ahead of the curve.
Who determines when and how the police use force?
The Constitution. When a police officer uses force against a person, it is technically a seizure of that person, and that use of force is regulated by the 4th Amendment of the US Constitution. (The 4th Amendment states, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”)
The APD’s Use of Force policy is 18 pages long. It boils down to three bullet points.
- Officers shall use only the amount of force that is objectively reasonable to control a situation, affect a seizure, or control a person. The force decision shall be based on the DAAT (Defense and Arrest Tactics) system.
- Officers shall not continue to use force beyond that which is objectively reasonable to maintain control once the subject has stopped resisting and control of the subject has been established.
- An officer shall not brandish, display, or threaten to use any control devices, impact weapons, kinetic energy impact weapons, canine, or firearm unless he or she can reasonably conclude its use may become justified and anticipated.
As you can see, there is specifically mandatory language in their policy that directs and orders every officer that they “shall” (not “may”) only use the amount of force that is reasonable to control a situation.
You can view the entire 18 page Use of Force policy document is available on the APD website here or you can download it here:
APD officers need to follow DAAT (Defense and Arrest Tactics) guidelines. This is an escalating system of verbalization skills coupled with physical alternatives. They try verbal skills first and then move to physical alternatives if verbal skills don’t work.
The Law Enforcement Standards Board (LESB) is a board with members appointed by the governor. The members include civilians, instructors, lawyers, and law enforcement officers. This Board determines how law enforcement officers are trained and sets statewide standards in a number of areas including but not limited to DAAT, Firearms, and Emergency Vehicle Operations.
Chief Thomas is currently on the LESB’s Curriculum Advisory Board. It’s a subcommittee that reviews the curriculum at the Law Enforcement Academy. One of the things the committee recommended to the board last year were some changes in deescalation procedures–to change some of the verbiage in the manual to focus more on deescalation. Some other changes they’ve done was to recommend changes in the amount of biased-based policing training and crisis intervention training that recruits undergo.
Under LESB guidelines, law enforcement officers are required to undergo a minimum of 24 hours of continuing education training per year with a certain number of those hours being in emergency vehicle operation and firearms. Officers are required to submit evidence of having undergone this training to the Wisconsin Department of Justice in order to maintain their certification.
Chief Thomas mentioned that people have probably heard of cases where officers get fired and just move to another agency. The reporting system in place to keep officers certified also comes into play when officers leave a law enforcement agency. Appleton hasn’t had many officers leave, and those who have left have usually done so due to retirement or have left in good standing to go to a different agency. But if an officer left either because he was terminated or because he was under investigation at the time, or if he resigned in lieu of being terminated, APD would report that to the state and any potential future employer would have access to that information. Chief Thomas touted that as an example of, again, where the state of WI is a little ahead of the curve.
Chief Thomas then reviewed the model police officers follow when trying to resolve a disturbance.Model that they follow when they are trying to resolve a disturbance. There are three things that they look at.
- Approach Considerations
- Intervention Options
- Follow-Through Considerations
Approach considerations involve things such as
a. Decision making – justification and desirability
b. Tactical Deployment – Control of Distance, Relation Position, Team Tactics
c. Tactical Evaluation – Threat Assessment
Essentially they have to assess can they legally be there and is it desirable to be there? If they can be there legally, is it the right time for them to be there and do they have the resources to handle the situation safely? Is it in the community’s interests for the police to be at a specific incident, or should they simply disengage?
Intervention options include the Use of Force
Follow-through considerations include things such as
a. Stabilize those arrested
b. Monitor/Debrief – Calm everyone down/provide medical aid/reassure the individual/rebuilt individual’s self-esteem
c. Search, Escort, Transport, Turnover/Release, Document
Once the police use force or take someone into custody, their responsibilities don’t end. They have to stabilize the individual, calm them down, and provide medical aid if needed. Per Chief Thomas, that was the model back in the 1990s and that is what the model is now.
Chief Thomas then reviewed the intervention options available to police officers.
1. Presence – presenting a visible display of authority
2. Dialogue – Verbal persuasion using PCS to obtain voluntary compliance
99.99% of all APD contacts are resolved with the first two steps. Simply by being visible and using professional communication skills and de-escalation techniques, police are almost always able to obtain voluntary compliance. Presence and dialogue handle everything from a traffic stop to a barking dog to a weapons complaint. Police will listen, mediate, and try to negotiate a resolution.
If those two options don’t work then they move to physical alternatives.
3. Control Alternatives – to overcome passive resistance, active resistance or their threats
4. Protective Alternatives – To overcome continues resistance, assaultive behavior, or their threats
5. Deadly Force – To stop the threat of death or great bodily harm
They go from a control alternative of maybe just grabbing someone’s arm and escorting them out of a bar all the way up to deadly force.
Chief Thomas stressed that de-escalation is always the first step. They have been training de-escalation in WI for decades. Recruits at the Law Enforcement Academy receive training in professional communication skills, mediation techniques, crisis intervention, cultural competency, and bias and bias by proxy. APD also includes these concepts in their yearly training. De-escalation is part of every piece of APD’s Use of Force training. APD’s philosophy is that de-escalation is not just a tool or a technique; it needs to be an overarching philosophy for the agency as a whole.
Disengagement is a technique and it is used in law-enforcement. That is to just leave a situation. Chief Thomas mentioned that there were many times when he worked in a small sheriff’s department where there were only a couple officers on the road for the entire county, and sometimes, if a situation didn’t require an officer to act, disengaging was the safest option both for the both officer and the people involved.
However, if de-escalation doesn’t work, and disengagement isn’t an option, officers move to control or protective alternatives. There are 9 types of force that require a separate APD Use of Force (UOF) report.
- Passive Countermeasures (bringing a person to the ground)
- Electronic Control Device (TASER)
- OC Spray (Pepper Spray)
- Active Countermeasures (Focused Strikes)
- Incapacitating Technique (brachial stun)
- Impact Weapon (baton)
- Kinetic Energy Impact Weapon (Bean Bag)
- Canine Bite
- Firearms/Deadly Force
Chief Thomas reviewed how APD records and reports Use of Force incidents. What APD does is unusual, but he thought it was going to become more common. Any time an Appleton police officer utilizes any of the 9 above listed types of force the following things will happen:
- A supervisor responds to the scene
They don’t follow up and review the report later. They are required to respond to the scene, assess the scene, and talk to the officers involved.
- The supervisor then completes a separate report and forwards the information to the DAAT Coordinator, Unified Tactics Coordinator, Patrol Captains, and the Assistant Chief for review
- Audio and video evidence is compared to the written documentation to verify accuracy and appropriateness
- If an officer is involved in 5 incidents in a year, it is flagged and every incident is reviewed again to look for patterns or training issues.
Their thought is that there may be a single Use of Force incident where the officer’s action was justified, but taken across multiple incidents over the entire year perhaps there is something that the officer is doing that is causing situations to result in Use of Force becoming necessary. They want to investigate to see if there are ways to retrain them so that they won’t need to use force as often. Is there something they are doing that can be corrected?
However, per Chief Thomas, typically officers have not been found to be doing anything wrong. Usually the officers with 5 or more Use of Force incidents within a year are the ones assigned to the high schools and are interacting with emotionally disturbed children. It’s usually the same set of students that they have to deal with repeatedly, and the school staff calls because a student is out of control, breaking things, and attacking people.
- Once completed, the written analysis is presented to the Assistant Chief and published on the APD website.
They strive to be transparent, and their reports include the data and also the lessons they have learned.
- Each use of force analysis is then archived by the DAAT Coordinator for future training curriculum
Over the last 10 years, the Appleton Police Department has had 494,888 calls for service. 577 of those calls required the use of force to accomplish an arrest or control a subject. 494,311 (99.9% of total) calls were resolved without using force.
Not all contacts are recorded and most calls involved multiple people so the actual number of citizen contacts is in the millions, and the actual percent of contacts resolved without using force is over 99.9%
They’ve made 46,000 arrests in the last 10 years. Even when they do make an arrest, 98.8% of the time they accomplish it with communication and without resorting to physical force.
Those 577 service calls resulted in force being used against 598 citizens.
- 58% (347 individuals) were Appleton residents.
- 32% (191 individuals) were not Appleton Residents
- 10% (60 individuals) gave their address as Homeless.
- 30.1% (180 individuals) were under the influence of alcohol or drugs
- 8.2% (49 individuals) were arrested in relation to a domestic abuse incident
Chief Thomas then reviewed the types of force used over the last 10 years from most common to least common
- 74.4% (439 individuals) were decentralized (taken to the ground) by officers
This was by far their most common Use of Force.
The philosophy is that it’s harder to control someone when they’re standing, and that, in turn, will be more likely to result in someone getting injured. If an officer can get a person down on the ground they’re less likely to have to use other types of use of force. That’s why decentralization is their most common use of force.
Some of the guidelines that they have when the academy trains decentralization are (a) control their descent and (b) protect their head.
- 20.9% (125 individuals) were shot with a taser
Per Chief Thomas, a taser is a less lethal use of force, but it is not 100% successful. In APD’s usage it is successful 65.3% of the time. So, a majority of the time it’s successful, but it doesn’t always work–especially in Wisconsin’s cold weather when people are wearing thick jackets and pants that interfere with a taser’s deployment.
Chief Thomas stated that he had been shot with a taser multiple times in addition to being sprayed with pepper spray and gas. He said a taser deployment is 5 seconds during which it disrupts your body and you lock up. He said it feels like a mosquito bite, and after the 5 seconds is over you don’t feel anything. They look horrific but are not actually that painful.
- 14% (84 individuals) were struck by an officer’s hand or fist.
Per Chief Thomas, hand strikes are used by officers to either protect themselves or others from active resistance or being assaulted.
- 8.5% (51 individuals) were struck by an officer’s knee.
This generally occurs when a person has been decentralized and the officer is trying to get them into handcuffs. It’s similar to a hand strike.
- 6.4% (38 individuals) were placed against an object, such as a wall or squad car, to gain control of them for handcuffing.
This is a type of decentralization except it’s against a wall or bending a person over the hood or trunk of a vehicle to try to control them/hold them down while getting them into handcuffs.
- 1% (6 individuals) had deadly force utilized against them in the last 10 years.
There was a weapon involved in each of these incidents. 5 of them involved a firearm; one of those 5 firearms turned out to be a facsimile. 1 incident involved a sword.
- 3 involved white men
- 2 involved Black men
- 1 involved a hispanic man.
Chief Thomas didn’t give many details, but it’s not too hard to do an internet search for these incidents.
The sword incident involved a hispanic male. [In 2010 Armando Arponte ran at two APD officers while wielding 2 swords.]
There was a handgun incident with a white male. [In 2012 police responded to a report of illegal fireworks. When they arrived on the scene, Keith Gabriel greeted them with a gun.]
The facsimile firearm incident involved a white male who survived. [In 2014 Adam Jacob shoplifted a Slim Jim beef stick from a gas station in order to lure police to him at which point he pulled an Airsoft gun on them.]
There was a handgun incident with a Black male where the individual that was killed was an innocent bystander. [That was the 2017 shooting at Jack’s Apple Pub. The criminal was Henry Nellum and the bystander who was killed was Jimmie Sanders.]
There was a shotgun incident with a white male. [In 2018, police were called to a home due to a disturbance involving a weapon. They ended up shooting the homeowner–a shotgun wielding David J. Robinson.]
Finally, the shooting incident at Valley Transit involved a Black man. [Ruben Houston shot a firefighter, a police officer, and a female civilian at the Appleton transit center. The police officer and female bystander survived but the firefighter, Mitch Lungaard died.]
Chief Thomas mentioned that the next several statistics surprise people, particularly other law enforcement officers and chiefs, because APD is pretty unique in these areas. You don’t see numbers this low at a lot of other agencies, and that is because of the training that APD does.
- 0.2% (1 individual) bit by a canine.
1 individual in 10 years was bit by a K9. Per Chief Thomas, APD dogs don’t generally bite. They indicate on an individual and they track, but they don’t bite. The person that was bitten was suspected to be armed and was hiding in an attic, so they put the dog up in the attic, he bit the individual, and they both fell through the floor. Both the suspect and the dog ended up getting injured. [According to news reports, the suspect’s injuries were minor.]
- 0 individuals hit with a defused strike.
Chief Thomas has never been trained in this technique during his 35 years in WI. It still is in the DAAT manual, but he doesn’t know many agencies that train in it. It’s basically securing the side of an individual’s neck and then striking them very hard on the other side of the neck, shutting off the blood supply to their brain very quickly so that they pass out. He’s never seen it used. He’s never heard of it being used. He doesn’t know why it’s still in the manual. They’ve never done it in Appleton. [Sidenote: Captain Kirk did it all the time, and it makes me laugh picturing Appleton police officers using it. ]
- 0 individuals struck with a baton by officers
Chief Thomas stated that this one is shocking to people, because it’s not what you see on the news. APD officers have not used a baton on anyone in 10 years. They are all required to carry one in case they need it, but they don’t use them.
- 0 individuals sprayed with pepper spray or gas by officers
Chief Thomas said that you hear an outcry about the pepper spraying and gassing of people at protests and you see videos of those incidents. But, the APD has not used OC spray in the city of Appleton in the last 10 years.
Chief Thomas then reviewed the races of the individuals involved in a Use of Force incident
- 66.9% (400) – White
- 21.6% (129) – Black
- 6.4% 938) – Hispanic
- 2.8% (17) – Asian
- 2% (12) – Native Americans
- 0.3% (2) – Other
He stated that this slide is a really important part of the discussion. When he looked at those numbers he had 2 questions.
1. Was APD using force excessively or more frequently against Black individuals vs. white?
- 400 incidents involved white people.
- 129 involved Blacks.
He stated that when one looks at the frequency of Use of Force, it should properly be compared against the demographics of people that are arrested–not against the total population of the city because the police don’t arrest by population. 50% of Appleton’s population is female but 50% of the people arrested are not female.
If one looks at the rate at which APD uses force against African American citizens it is directly proportional to the rate at which they arrest African Americans. Over the last 10 years, 21.6% of Use of Force incidents have been against African Americans, which lines up with the arrest rate of African Americans over the last 10 years which has been between 18% and 22%. [Unfortunately, he did not include a slide illustrating this information.]
Chief Thomas stated that police officers use force most frequently against people that are being arrested for misdemeanors and felonies–rarely against people that are just issued citations because those people know they’re not going to jail. When they start arresting people for aggravated assault, serious felonies, and violent crimes the chances increase that they will resist at a higher level than other people.
2. Is the type of force APD uses similar for whites and people of color?
Deescalation is the lowest level of force that they use, and they use it more frequently on African Americans than on whites.
- 74% of the time – White
- 75.2% of the time – Black
Are the more violent interventions such as punches, kicks, and hand strikes used more frequently against Blacks than whites?
Hand Strikes
- 15% of the time – White
- 13.1% of the time – Black
Elbow strikes
- 2.5% of the time – White
- 1.6% of the time – Blacks
Knee Strikes
- 8.5% of the time – White
- 7% of the time – Black
The only significant difference in looking at Use of Force and race that they could identify is residency.
- 60% of the white people that APD uses force against are Appleton residents.
- 49% of the Black people that APD uses force against are Appleton residents.
A majority of African American’s involved in Use of Force incidents are not Appleton residents.
Chief Thomas thought that a lot of the numbers reviewed in the presentation could be explained by the fact that Appleton’s Downtown district had dramatically higher Use of Force incidents than the city’s other two districts.
The city of Appleton is broken down into 3 districts. The Northern District is north of the downtown area. The Downtown district is the area from Wisconsin Avenue to College Avenue–the entertainment district with a lot of bars. The Southern District is everything south of the river.
Districts generally have about the same number of calls, but use of force in the Downtown District is dramatically higher. That correlates with the number of liquor establishments on College Avenue and also explains why over 30% of Use of Force arrests involve people who are under the influence. It may also explain why the majority of African Americans that APD uses force against are not Appleton residents. Downtown Appleton gets a tremendous influx of people from as far away as Green Bay and Milwaukee because it’s a fun place to be and there’s a lot to do. Along with that comes more activity, more disagreements, and more arrests, especially around bar close.
The Appleton Police Department has used body cameras for 14 years. In some respects it still amazes Chief Thomas that some departments don’t have them, although he understands why. They are extremely expensive–especially for larger agencies.
APD has been able to record the overwhelming majority of their Use of Force incidents since 2010. In 2015 they upgraded their body camera program to include all officers–their school resource officers, some of their investigators, and their supervisors. In the last 5 years 92% of their Use of Force incidents have been recorded on bodycam. In 2019 it was up to 94%. They’re getting close to having 100% recorded.
It doesn’t capture everything, but it’s definitely a lot better than not having body camera video. Last year they purchased new technology that has some auto activation features that allows them to turn on automatically when an officer pulls their firearm or taser or if there’s a loud gunshot. That way the officer doesn’t have to think about turning it on in those situations.
Per Chief Thomas, that is the area where they’ve missed recording in the past–when there’s a sudden assault and the officer doesn’t have time to turn on the body camera. He hopes the autoactivation will capture those situations in the future.
Chief Thomas finished the presentation with a summary slide that contained the following points:
- When force was used, 82.6% of the time the individual is not injured.
- When force is used, the lowest level of force possible is by far the most common type of force used, decentralization.
- In this 10 year period we did NOT use a Baton, OC Spray, or a Brachial Stun, and have had one canine bite (2014)
- Since 2014, only two UOF citizen complains from over 25,000 arrests, both on video and Not-Sustained
- In the last 5 1/2 years, three deadly force incidents, all initiated by a subject with a gun, either threatening or shooting at a citizen or an officer.
- Since 2015, an average of 92% of all Uses of Force were recorded (2010-2014 the average was 85%)
- 46,000 arrests – 98.8% of the time we accomplished the arrest without having to use physical force, they are talked into custody.
- 99.99 plus % of all police contacts with citizens are resolved by presence and dialog and no use of force
- We stay committed to doing better, we believe the data and facts disprove any allegations that policing use of force is excessive in Appleton, and we know the other agencies in our area train the same way and have the same approach to using force.
- We will do our part, and we ask our community to continue to work with us, to combat all violence including the growing community violence we have seen too frequently in Northeast Wisconsin recently.
He reminded the Community Advisory Board members that the full 160 page report on Appleton Police Use of Force over the last 10 years is available on the APD website.
You can view the entire 12/07/2020 APD Community Advisory Board meeting here.
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