Columbia Police Officer Association holds use-of-force presentation
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Columbia Police Officer Association held a presentation Thursday night called "Brutality or Reasonable? Evaluating Use of Force."
The event started 6 p.m. at the Courtyard by Marriott. Attendance was limited to those who have RSVP'd.
The event covered multiple topics including realities of life, police training, legal standards, agency force policy and the human factor.
The meeting ran for more than two hours and multiple videos showing demonstrations of use of "force" were shown, including a controversial video that has lead to two officers resigning from the force. Community members and local activists were in attendance at the meeting.
A video was recorded by a resident showing officers attempting to detain a man who was on the ground. One police officer could be seen eventually striking the man in the face five times. The video quickly circulated online.
During the meeting Don Weaver, an attorney for the two offices, said he felt as though one of the biggest controversies surrounding the video is that Martin questions why he was detained.
"I can tell you that the officers probably didn't even hear that," Weaver said."Two, even if they had, it doesn't matter what they're saying. If I tell you to put your hands behind your back, and you don't, you could be telling me anything at all. It's not going to change our response in that incident."
The officers were put on leave following the incident. However, on Monday, it was announced that the officers in the video, Keenen Shouse and Gardner Pottorff are resigning.
Anthony Willroth, of Hold Como Accountable, said he thought the meeting was insightful, but it still wasn't happy with them.
"I wanted to look more at how we can move forward and things, to make sure that you know everybody's happy," Willroth said. "Today, it seemed a lot more about justifying the officer's actions."
CPD was investigating the incident through their internal affairs, however, it was announced on Tuesday that the investigation is ending. The Boone County Sheriff's Office Criminal investigation into the two officers is ongoing.
