Despite Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters saying the officers’ use of force in a viral arrest video was in the sheriff’s office protocol, the family of Le’Keian Woods is standing by their claims that JSO officers’ actions were unnecessarily violent.
Body cam footage Sheriff T.K. Waters released in an effort to combat accusations against JSO shows Woods being detained by multiple officers after he was tased and fell face-first to the ground.
One of the detectives steadily demanded Woods put his hands behind his back. For two minutes and 12 seconds, Woods does not comply with the detective’s commands, so the officer hits him.
According to the arrest report, one detective hit Woods five times in the face and once in the ribs. Another kneed him four times in the ribs and face, the report said.
Retired JSO Director Tom Hackney said it appears to be a valid use of force after seeing the footage.
“From the portion that I watched, it did seem consistent not only with the training from Florida Department of Law Enforcement, with the force deployed there, but also with my decades of experience with the sheriff’s office here in Jacksonville,” Hackney said. “The training is consistent with JSO policy and procedures.”
Hackney said Woods displayed an aggressive resistance because he failed to give his hands when his hands were under his body.
“As an officer, you have to control situations. You just can’t hope for the best when it’s there. There are officers that have lost their lives from similar instances just as this” he said.
Florida statute 776.051 gives officers the ability to hit a person they are trying to take into custody but every circumstance is different.
776.051 Use or threatened use of force in resisting arrest or making an arrest or in the execution of a legal duty; prohibition.
(1) A person is not justified in the use or threatened use of force to resist an arrest by a law enforcement officer, or to resist a law enforcement officer who is engaged in the execution of a legal duty, if the law enforcement officer was acting in good faith and he or she is known, or reasonably appears, to be a law enforcement officer.(2) A law enforcement officer, or any person whom the officer has summoned or directed to assist him or her, is not justified in the use of force if the arrest or execution of a legal duty is unlawful and known by him or her to be unlawful.
A family attorney for Woods argues that Woods’s arrest was unnecessarily violent and unjustified.
“In this situation, you had Le’Keian on the ground in a (inaudible) position who has obviously hit his face on the concrete already tased. There was no threat of deadly force there,” Civil Rights Attorney Harry Daniels said at a news conference Tuesday.
As the administrative review continues, decisions will be made by JSO and civil court on the actions of Woods and the officers involved.
It’s unclear how long the review will last.
Attorneys for the family also said they have sent a letter to the Department of Justice, demanding that the agency investigate the arrest.
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