A recent federal appeals court ruling on a 2015 officer-involved shooting at a downtown strip club could have broad ramifications on the city of Atlanta’s liability in a number of recent use of force cases.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the dismissal of Demetric Favors’ lawsuit against the city in a summary judgment, remanding it back to district court. In their ruling, the appellate judges said the city’s failure to properly train Officer Emmanuel Thompson was a factor in his decision to shoot five times at a moving car. The shots struck Favors, a passenger in the car, in the leg. Thompson has since been fired.
“The City argues that Favors has provided ‘no link’ between the City’s training and his constitutional injury. This record suggests otherwise,” the appeals court decision reads. “For instance, Favors provided evidence that Thompson was not trained in the use of less-than-lethal force in the 22 months leading up to the shooting.”
Attorneys for the city put the blame on Thompson, saying he “made an individual decision to shoot at the moving SUV.”
But the appeals court cited “undisputed evidence” that showed policymakers should be on notice that its officers needed training on the use of deadly force based on the “frequency and predictability of the scenario Thompson faced.”
Favors’ attorneys, Shean Williams and Sam Starks, say the Atlanta Police Department has failed to give its officers proper guidance in dealing with suspects in fleeing vehicles.
“Their policy has been to throw the officer under the bus when one of these incidents happen,” Williams said.
A spokesperson for Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said in a statement, “Public safety is a top priority for this administration. This incident occurred under a previous administration and we will not comment on what they did, or did not, require. However, the Bottoms Administration requires use-of-force and de-escalation training for all officers.”
Since Favors’ shooting, there have been a number of high-profile cases in which unarmed suspects in moving cars were fatally shot by Atlanta police officers.
In 2016, 22-year-old Deravis Caine Rogers was shot in the head by APD officer James Burns as he was driving away from the Monroe Place apartments, where an off-duty officer had reported a suspicious person on foot. Burns flipped on his siren and blue lights, attempting to stop the vehicle, but Rogers continued driving. The former officer, fired days after the incident, jumped out of his cruiser, yelled “stop,” then shot through the passenger-side window, striking Rogers, video of the incident showed.
Rogers was unarmed and posed “no threat to James Burns or anyone else,” said Williams, who represents the dead man’s family. Burns, charged with murder, is awaiting trial in Fulton County.
The debate over when and if officers should shoot at fleeing cars was reignited in 2019, when Atlanta police Officer Oliver Simmonds, a member of Bottoms’ security detail at the time, fatally shot D’Ettrick Griffin after the 18-year-old allegedly stole Simmonds’ unmarked SUV from a downtown gas station. Simmonds fired multiple shots at Griffin, who struck two other vehicles before coming to a stop.
Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis, who inherited the investigation from her predecessor Paul Howard, has yet to decide whether to bring charges against Simmonds.
APD policy prohibits officers from firing their weapons to stop a fleeing vehicle but carves out a broad exception that allows a “reasonable and necessary” use of force. New protocols, instituted last December, allow officers to pursue only suspects who have committed “forcible” felonies, ranging from murder to involuntary manslaughter, and who present an imminent threat of death or serious injury.
A supervisor must approve a chase, and no more than three police cruisers can join in, the policy states.
But many police departments across the nation have put more stringent restrictions in place. In 2016, the San Francisco Police Department banned the practice unless the vehicle occupants pose a threat with some other weapon. Philadelphia restricts its officers from firing into vehicles unless they are being fired upon.
The GBI revised its use-of-force policy a few years ago, strongly discouraging its agents from shooting into moving cars.
“APD officers are saying they’re not being trained on how to deal with this and that’s on the city,” Starks said.
Williams said policymakers continue to duck responsibility when these cases are litigated in a civil court.
“It’s a disservice to taxpayers and to the officers,” he said. “It’s like playing Russian roulette. At some point the city is going to have to pay up and citizens are going to be left holding the bag.
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