Police say mea culpa
BY PETER A. SUTTERS JR. INDEPENDENT WRITER
D eputy Police Chief Charles Gibson said at a press conference last week that none of the 16 officers who responded to a "cryptic" radio message summoning backup to Broad Street in August 2007 "had a clue" as to what type of incident they would encounter. That lack of communication led to excessive use of force by police on a group of black youths and caused injuries to two of the seven boys involved in the incident.

"They didn't know why they were going to Broad Street; they knew they heard 'Broad Street Now'," said Gibson describing the incident "No one had a clue as to why they are going there."

The incident took place in August of 2007, when a white summer special officer and a group of seven black youths were involved in an altercation that led the Nantucket Police Department to conduct an internal investigation resulting in a 300-page report released last week and a formal apology from Chief William Pittman to the families involved.

"I with to extend a sincere apology on behalf of the Nantucket Police Department to those individuals impacted by the manner in which the department personnel responded to a problem on Broad Street," Pittman said, reading from a prepared statement to the families who had attended the press conference at the police station.

The incident began when summer special officer Taylor Noll asked a group of seven youths to move to the other side of Broad Street, know as The Strip, because they were blocking foot traffic with their bicycles. The group of boys felt they were being treated differently from the tourist community and later said the officer had used racial slurs. One of the members of the group, Nicholas Phillips, became agitated and began to yell at the officer. Phillips' friends then attempted to pull him away and officer Noll radioed in for backup, but all that was heard by officers at the station was "Broad Street Now."

The youths fled the scene on their bikes and officers responding to the area pursued the youths not fully understanding the situation.

Pittman called what followed an "organizational breakdown."

"It just turned out wrong," said Pittman. "It was an overall systemic failure."

Sixteen officers responded to the scene and one of the youths involved was tackled to the ground using an "arm bar takedown" which resulted in his suffering a slightly separated shoulder.

During the press conference, Pittman said everything the officers did in apprehending the youths was done by the book and was not wrong, yet the entire incident should not have happened and the incident that sparked the reaction, did not warrant the use of such force.

"The actions were lawful, but were they appropriate? That's the question," said Pittman. "I think our conclusion was fairly precise, it was that the individuals were arrested lawfully. The question is, 'Was the level of force that was used to take them down, was it justified? Was it appropriate for the circumstances?' Without a doubt, we came to the conclusion, it was absolutely not."

Pittman discussed the recommendations made in the report, which include diversity training and training how the police are perceived by "various demographic groups," training for summer special officers on situational scenarios and methods to "de-escalate volatile encounters, training for summer specials on radio procedures during "high stress events," training for "enhanced defensive tactics," training for desk officers working in the dispatch center on how to manage police resources, training for collection of witness statements and the necessity of always having an officer-in-charge on duty.

The recommendations stem from specific incidents which occurred during the altercation.

For instance, had the desk officer who was working the dispatch radioed Noll asking for more information concerning the incident, it would have been apparent the overwhelming number of officers who responded, would not have been necessary, Pittman said.

Also, had Noll been more specific in his radio transmission as to what had happened and who was involved, police could simply have gone to the homes of the boys involved rather than chasing them through downtown, the report concluded.

Some of the recommendations, specifically the training of the summer specials in diversity training, may not be implemented until next spring because of a nationwide shortage of qualified instructors, Pittman said. Other recommendations, such as having an officer-in-charge at all times has been implemented in the form of temporary promotions of officers to the rank of sergeant.

One departmental change not included in the list of recommendations is better internal communication between the patrol officers and higherranking officers, including Pittman.

Pittman said he did not know about the incident until parents of some of the youths involved had called the station to complain. Pittman said that shortly after the incident took place, as many as 15 witnesses came to the station to give statements on behalf of the youths and the police, but that the officer working the front desk was more concerned about "convincing people everything was OK." than taking names and phone numbers so they could be interviewed at a later date.

Pittman did not feel the officers involved in the incident were trying to cover-up any wrongdoing, but rather were just negligent in their duties of writing down all the information.

In addition to taking the names and phone numbers from witnesses, Pittman said the officers did not properly fill out reports on the incident. He said the way officers are trained by the state at the police academy is to write reports that will lead to convictions when used in courts, not to reflect everything that actually happened during the incident.

Pittman said some of the names of the youths involved in the incident, who were apprehended but not charged with anything, were not even included in the report. When the parents of those boys called to complain, about what they felt was the use of excessive force, Pittman had no record of their even being involved.

"The men and women of the Nantucket Police Department are deeply committed to doing the best possible job every day with the resources that they are provided," Pittman said, reading from the apology letter. "At times the task is almost overwhelming. We will however continue to provide professional law enforcement services. We have not and will not base our responses to civil or criminal problems in the community on personal biases or prejudices. The men and women of this department are strongly committed to the principle of treating everyone equally in the application of

the law." I