GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — The Green Bay Police Department has released the body camera footage of an arrest that took place on May 9 to address a community concern regarding the use of force during an arrest.
According to police, a patrol officer witnessed a suspect with warrants out of Dane County in a vehicle at an apartment complex in the 2000 block of Deckner Avenue at 9:30 p.m.
The suspect, Edward Curtis, 24, was being sought for allegedly fleeing a traffic stop in Appleton and was suspected of possessing a stolen handgun.
Officials state while attempting to take Curtis into custody following an exit from a vehicle with a toddler, Curtis made multiple attempts to flee, break away, and kick at officers who were placing him into handcuffs.
Officers utilized a restraint, following Green Bay Police Department Policy 302 - Handcuffing and Restraints, as verbal attempts to calm Curtis did not work.
Paramedics were on scene as a precaution. Curtis was transported to a hospital for a medical evaluation and received medical clearance before being booked into Brown County Jail.
Following the arrest, Green Bay Police reported they received a public cell phone video that had raised concern in the community about the use of force during the arrest.
The Green Bay Police Department released body camera footage of the arrest, which shows officers tightening straps to a device called 'the wrap'.
"From the perspective of the person with the cellphone camera filming this, it looks like maybe the officer is seen striking the person who's on the ground in handcuffs, but when we look at the body camera footage, what he’s actually doing is tightening the straps on the leg restraint," said Davis at a press conference.
One of the videos that was posted online has a caption that reads "14 cops for 1 man is crazy." Davis says having multiple officers assist with an arrest is another strategy the department uses.
"It generally dissuades people, we have found, from resisting arrest when there’s more than one officer there," Davis said.
Full video of both the public video and the body camera video can be viewed on the department's YouTube Channel. The video comes with a disclaimer as it contains explicit language, viewer discretion is advised.
Green Bay Police Chief Chris Davis also gave the following statement regarding the incident.
Any time our officers use force, we conduct a thorough review to ensure our policies were followed. While the review of this incident is in progress, everything I have seen up to this point shows that the officers involved were confronted with a very dangerous situation involving an armed individual who resisted a lawful arrest. Officers are expected to attempt to de-escalate the situation and encourage voluntary compliance with lawful actions; in this case these efforts included trying to reason with Mr. Curtis, using multiple officers to try to deter further resistance, and applying restraints to prevent him from kicking them. It’s important for the community to ask questions and share their concerns about how we in the police service do our work. Sometimes this helps us identify misconduct and hold our employees accountable. In this case, however, what looked from a distance like an officer striking a person in custody was actually the officer properly applying a restraint. I hope this provides clarity to our community, and I appreciate this being brought to our attention.
The Brown County District Attorney's Office charged Curtis on Wednesday, May 10 with Receiving Stolen Firearm, Carrying a Concealed Weapon, Obstructing an Officer, Resisting an Officer, Disorderly Conduct, Possession of THC, and two counts of Bail Jumping.
An investigation into the incident is ongoing, additional information has not been released.
Anyone with information related to this case is encouraged to call Green Bay Police at (920) 448-3200 and reference case #23-224480. Those wishing to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at (920) 432-STOP (7867). You may also submit a tip online at www.432stop.com [432stop.com], or utilize the "P3 Tips" app for crime tips.
