Jury Sides with Olympia Police in 2014 Excessive Force Case

According to the Olympian, October 25, 2018, a jury in Tacoma this week ruled in favor of Olympia police in a civil case alleging police used excessive force during a 2014 incident.

In May 2014, Tyrone Johnson of Spanaway was working late at CenturyLink on Martin Way East when police came in with guns drawn and put him in handcuffs, according to his claim. The claim accuses six Olympia Police Department employees of misconduct: Officers Ryan Donald, George Clark, Jonathan Hazen, Eric Henrichsen and Randy Wilson, and Sgt. Matthew Renschler. Donald is already under investigation in the shooting of Bryson Chaplin and Andre Thompson during a May 21 altercation. The two men were suspected of shoplifting from the west Olympia Safeway.

A police spokesman at the time said officers believed burglars were inside the building. But an attorney for Johnson, who is African-American, argued their actions were racially motivated and traumatic for Johnson.

“Here is an African-American man who had every right to be there,” Grant said. “He was dressed in his uniform and driving a company car, and he was still subjected to this. If my client had acted differently, he may not be alive.”

Johnson sued Olympia police and the city for $1 million, arguing the detention violated his civil rights. The case went to trial in federal court in Tacoma this month.

In its verdict Tuesday, the jury found that the officers’ actions did not constitute excessive force.
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The jury no doubt made the correct decision in this case, but we are left with the question of why this ended up in a suit against the department and the city in the first place. Was Mr. Johnson hoping for a large payday from the city? Maybe, or maybe he really did feel that the conduct of the police officers was excessive.

It can be difficult for a person who has done nothing wrong to understand why the police are pointing guns at him. Why he is being placed in handcuffs, and why after the police determined that Mr. Johnson had done nothing wrong did they treat it like it was no big deal.

The Olympia police officers in this case did nothing wrong, and the jury's decision confirms that. But, after being held at gunpoint by several police officers, it may have been difficult for Mr. Johnson, and others like him, to understand why the police did what they did.

In any case where there is a use of force by police (i.e. display of a firearm) against a person who has done nothing wrong, a follow-up call from the Chief (or other senior department official) to answer questions about the officer's actions and why they were necessary might just same a lot of time in the court room. (And maybe there was such a call, the article doesn't say. But, if you are a police officer, does your department have a policy on following up on use of force with the person against whom the force was directed?)

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