Jackson Free Press

Last week, the Jackson City Council voted to pay a $34,487 settlement in a suit against a Jackson police officer accused of handcuffing a man before banging and grinding his head against a concrete carport.

Chad Calcote says he got three broken teeth from the 1997 experience and sued the city and Sgt. Slade Moore, who had responded to a domestic dispute at Calcote's parents' home. Moore has denied inflicting the injuries on Calcote.

Deputy City Attorney Pieter Teeuwissen used the Oct. 10 council vote to announce that the city is considering cutting down legal support for officers in some civil rights cases.

"When officers drive in a reckless manner and have an accident, I am the first person to tell you, as a plaintiff's lawyer, that the city ought to be liable," Teeuwissen said.

"If an officer does something clearly outside the course of the general orders in which the officer commits a criminal act—i.e. an assault on someone—the law says that we are not liable for those actions. We're just going to follow the law that's actually on the books," Teeuwissen told the JFP.

Teeuwissen added that the city has made no decision on the matter, which is under discussion.

State law says the city is liable if an officer takes certain action in reckless disregard to someone else's rights while remaining within the course and scope of his or her employment. The second part of that law, which Teeuwissen says no one discusses, is the reason why the city is not liable in some civil suits.

Teeuwissen told The Clarion-Ledger last week that "the city has automatically defended civil suits brought against officers and pays their judgments," in reference to past administration practices.

Former City Attorney Terry Wallace disputed that assertion, offering one example of a police officer who wasn't defended.

"That's just not true," said Wallace, referring to the court case of Ray v. Walker and the City of Jackson, in which former officer Myrtis Walker was arrested for extortion in 2002.

"In that case we decided not to represent Myrtis Walker. (Former Mayor and now city counsel) Dale Danks represented that case, and Teeuwissen was Danks' partner at the time doing depositions. Teeuwissen knew full well that we did not represent Walker."

Genny Seeley, president of the Association of South Jackson Neighborhoods and vice president of the board of the Jackson Association of Neighborhoods, said she was not sure how officers would respond to discussions of pulling support in some civil rights abuse cases. She said it was important to strike a balance in city legal support for officers.

"Police officers need to be working within the boundaries of what's appropriate behavior of officers, but they also need to know that they'll have our support as long as they stay within those boundaries," Seeley said.

"The problem is sometimes the officers have to get rough because the person gets rough. I've been on ride-alongs with the Citizens Police Academy, and domestic disputes can be very dangerous. People act crazy when it comes to family disputes, so officers often have good reason to fear for their lives."

Precinct 4 COPS Moderator Bob Oertel said he agreed with Teeuwissen.

"I agree that you need to go through each case and understand before deciding to represent it. If the officer was acting outside the scope of his duties and he's going to be found in a criminal court, then that's going to be used against (the city) in civil court, and they're going to be found to be liable. I think this is a question of proper corporate interest. That's not just in Jackson. That's all over the place," Oertel said, adding that the statement should not be used as "a blanket statement saying the city is not going to defend it's officers."

Rich Robertson, public relations officer for the International Union of Police Officers, shared some misgivings in that he feared the city's statement could be interpreted as general condemnation.

"A police officer has to go out on his shift any given time of the day or night and make some very hard judgment calls. Those judgment calls are frequently second guessed by civilian policy makers, by the media and the general citizenry, none of whom have the training or the general knowledge to make the decision themselves. Therefore, an officer really does require a structured, due process system whereby they can be fairly investigated, fairly judged, rather than just a blanket condemnation," Robertson said.

Robertson pointed out that the common priority of city attorneys does not often involve representing members of the police department.

"Our experience around the country is that the city attorney's primary job is to defend the city, not necessarily the officer," Roberts said. "That's why we have unions."

Previous Comments

ID

64760

Comment

This whole issue seems very calculated to me on the part of the current administration. As a taxpayer, I would hope that support for police officers involved in civil rights cases (or any cases for that matter) would be provided after an internal investigation determined no criminal intent, for lack of better words. We are, after all, living in America where one is presumed innocent until proven guilty. What pisses me off about all of this is Melton and his staff's incessant need to blame the last administration for every hiccup they don't have the ability to deal with. The campaign is over Mr. Mayor and it's time to lead! His criticism of the past administration is really just indicative of your his for revenge, and is viewed by this one Jacksonian as sophomoric.

Author

thabian

Date

2005-10-24T10:31:02-06:00