CED Use After a Foot Chase
At 10:42 p.m. on a Friday, Sergeant Ruiz responds to an officer-needs-assistance call behind a convenience store at 63rd and Cottage Grove. Officer A tells him a 16-year-old fled after being seen near a broken window, ignored commands, and reached toward his waistband; A deployed a conducted electrical weapon. The teen is on the ground, crying, with abrasions to his cheek and a probe still in his jacket. Officer B says she did not see the teen reach for his waistband and that A's body-worn camera was activated only after the struggle. A crowd of about 30 people is recording and shouting. The store owner says nothing was taken. A's CED cartridge and wires are in the street. The teen's mother has arrived and demands to see him. The watch commander is 12 minutes away. The time is 10:47 p.m.
1. What should Sergeant Ruiz do in the first 30 minutes, and in what order? Identify the medical, scene, evidence, notification, and personnel actions.
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Priority order is life safety, scene control, evidence preservation, then notifications.
- Medical first. Ruiz should have EMS evaluate the teen before moving him, leave the probe in place for medical removal unless EMS directs otherwise, monitor breathing and position, and document the teen's statements about pain. The mother may accompany once the scene is safe, but she should not handle evidence or coach the teen.
- Separate and stabilize. Separate A and B before they compare accounts; tell them not to discuss the incident. Request two additional units for crowd control and traffic. Keep the crowd back but do not order lawful recording stopped.
- Preserve evidence. Photograph the teen, the street, and the storefront; collect the CED cartridge, wires, and probe; download A's and B's body-worn camera footage before end of tour; canvass the store and nearby cameras; identify at least three independent witnesses.
- Notify. Notify the watch commander and make the required use-of-force and COPA notifications. Late BWC activation is a separate policy issue and must be documented, not folded into the force review.
- Report. Ruiz should not approve a use-of-force report until all accounts, video, and medical records are available. The report should record the conflicting accounts rather than resolve them by seniority.
Reasoning: each step protects a different risk: death or injury, contaminated statements, lost video, and a defective review.
2. How should Ruiz evaluate whether Officer A's CED use was within policy, and what facts must be documented? Address the conflicting accounts and the late camera activation.
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Ruiz should apply the totality-of-the-circumstances standard, not a checklist. The key questions are: what crime was suspected; whether the teen posed an immediate threat; whether he was actively resisting or fleeing; and whether A's account is specific and consistent with the physical evidence.
A suspected burglary of a store is a property crime, not automatically a violent felony. Flight can support a stop, but flight alone does not automatically justify a CED. The claimed waistband reach matters only if A can articulate what he saw, when he saw it, the distance, and why it suggested a weapon. B's contrary account and the late BWC activation do not prove the force was unlawful, but they undercut A's credibility and must be documented. Ruiz should also ask whether A gave warnings, whether other officers could have assisted, and whether the teen was still fleeing when the CED was deployed.
The report should separate findings: (a) legal basis for the stop and arrest; (b) force justification under Graham; (c) BWC compliance; (d) medical care. Ruiz should not simply choose between A and B. He should preserve both statements, any video, the CED download, and witness accounts, then forward the complete package. If the evidence cannot resolve the conflict, the investigation should say so rather than manufacture a conclusion.
3. The watch commander arrives and says, 'Minor injury, no complaint, just counsel him and keep it in-house.' How should Ruiz respond?
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Ruiz should decline the instruction and say so clearly but professionally. A minor injury and the absence of a complaint do not remove the duty to report force, preserve evidence, and notify the chain of command and COPA. The watch commander's instruction should be documented in an email or memo to the next higher command, not ignored.
Ruiz should not threaten the watch commander, but he should explain the exposure: an unreported CED deployment and a late BWC activation can become a credibility problem for the department and for the officers. He should complete the required reports, ensure the teen receives medical care, and let the investigation determine whether the force was justified. If the watch commander orders him not to report, Ruiz should follow lawful reporting obligations and escalate. Counseling A about BWC activation is appropriate, but counseling is not a substitute for the force review.
Reasoning: supervisory discretion is about how to investigate, not whether to investigate. A supervisor who treats a reportable force incident as a coaching moment creates a cover-up risk and undermines the officers who did comply.