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NAACP wants cops in Taser incident pulled from street


NAACP wants cops in Taser incident pulled from street
NAACP wants cops in Taser incident pulled from street

NAACP wants cops in Taser incident pulled from street

Rob Earnshaw rob.earnshaw@nwi.com, (219) 933-3241

NAACP State President Barbara Bolling-Williams speaks to reporters at a press conference Friday at the Hammond Police Department. Bolling-Williams wants officers involved in a video-taped traffic stop to be taken off the streets.
8 hours ago • Rob Earnshaw rob.earnshaw@nwi.com, (219) 933-3241
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HAMMOND | The state president of the NAACP wants the two Hammond police officers involved in a September incident pulled from street duty.

Hammond police officers Patrick Vicari and Charles Turner were named in a federal lawsuit filed in U.S. District court Monday, alleging they used excessive force when they broke a car window during a traffic stop for a seat belt violation Sept. 24 at Cline Avenue and 169th Street.

The city of Hammond was also named in the suit.

"They definitely ought to be confined to desk duty and not interact with the public until there has been a full investigation," Barbara Bolling-Williams said during a news conference Friday morning in front of the Hammond Police Department.

She called the traffic stop a "systemic continuing evidence of a problem in a police department."

NAACP representatives met Oct. 1 with Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. and Police Chief John Doughty to express concerns about what they consider aggressive force police use in arresting Hammond residents -- including arrests for minor incidents they said they police seem to have escalated.

A video of the Sept. 24 incident, which has gone viral on social media, shows a police officer smashing the passenger's-side window of a car, Tasering the passenger, Jamal Jones, and pulling him from the vehicle. Driver Lisa Mahone’s 14-year-old son, who was seated in the backseat with his 7-year-old sister, recorded video of the incident, according to the lawsuit.

The Rev. Homer Cobb, president of the Hammond branch of the NAACP, said the meeting with Hammond officials seemed "productive and encouraging" but he demands police receive proper training "so the city won't become the next Ferguson, Missouri."

Cobb said there was a recent Hammond incident in which a 17-year-old female honor student was thrown to the ground with an officer's knee in her chest because she was jaywalking.

Hammond Police said the juvenile resisted the citation for jaywalking and tried to flee. Police said she also punched the officer in the face. She was charged with battery on a police officer and resisting law enforcement.

Cobb said they aren't asking for residents in Hammond to behave in a destructive manner but to record and report officers' behavior legally to help deter bad behavior.

Cobb said if the "bad behavior" of police continues the NAACP and the community will march, protest, make demands including resignations if the acts continue.

"If need be, the NAACP will ask the Justice Department to intervene," he said.

The Rev. Orvill Sanders, president of the Minister Alliance of Hammond, said they are requesting an independent investigation of the incident he called "appalling and despicable."

Hammond City Councilman Anthony Higgs spoke at the news conference and said racism is a problem in Hammond.

"Let's not kid ourselves," he said. "It needs to be handled and dealt with in a professional manner."

When asked if Hammond will become the next Ferguson, Bolling-Williams said "we pray that it's not."

"We trust that it won't be," she said.

On Thursday, LaPorte County officials issued an arrest warrant for Jones stemming from when he failed to appear in court for a 2007 court hearing.

Officials issued an arrest warrant for Jamal Jones after officials realized a 2007 arrest warrant had an incorrect date of birth.

Jones was charged Dec. 2, 2007, in LaPorte County with dealing marijuana, a Class A misdemeanor, driving while suspended and speeding, according to court records.

Mahone previously served 16 months in prison after Indiana State Police found nearly a half-kilo of cocaine in her vehicle during a 2011 traffic stop.