Chemical mace should be used only if physical strength and skill are ineffective or impractical.

In instances where physical strength and skill or mace are ineffective or their use might constitute a danger to the officer or a third party, the officer is justified in using the baton or sap to overcome resistance and to end the conflict.

The application of the baton is considered the most drastic form of
nondeadly force. It must be used judiciously and only if lesser methods
have failed or their use would be impractical.34 As a basic rule,
firearms should be utilized only [original emphasis] in self-defense or in
defense of another against death or grievous bodily harm.35

1

Notes

1. National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals, Police (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1973), p. 18.

2. U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Who Is Guarding the Guardians? (October 1981), p. 37.

3. Paul Takagi, "A Garrison State in a 'Democratic Society,'" Crime and Social Justice, (Summer 1974), p. 30, note 1. The issue of police shootings is surveyed in John S. Goldkamp, "Minorities as Victims of Police Shootings: Interpretations of Racial Disproportionatlity and Police Use of Deadly Force," The Justice System Journal, Vol. II, Issue 2 (Winter 1976), pp. 169-83.

4. Model Penal Code, sec. 1307(2)(b)(i)(IV) (Proposed Official Draft, 1962). 5. Neb. Rev. Stat. sec. 28-834, 1972.

6. Omaha World-Herald, Jan. 29, 1974. 7. Omaha World-Herald, June 14, 1974. 8. Omaha World-Herald, June 12, 1974.

9. Omaha World-Herald, June 10, 1974.

10. Landrum v. Moats, No. 77-1656, (8th Cir. May 30, 1978).

11. Landrum v. Moats, No. 75-0-440, (D. Neb. Feb. 8, 1979).

12. Omaha World-Herald, June 1, 1976.

13. Omaha World-Herald, June 8, 1976.

14. Omaha World-Herald, Jan. 25, 1977 and Sept. 24, 1979.

15. Data supplied by Omaha Police Division, on file at CSRO. 16. Omaha World-Herald, Sept. 21, 1979; Sept. 24, 1979.

17. Data provided by the Omaha Police Division, on file at CSRO.

18. Omaha World-Herald, Oct. 18, 1981.

19. Omaha World-Herald, Feb. 24, 1982.

20. Omaha Police Manual, Vol. I, Pers. 2-3, p. 2, March 1981.

21. Omaha Police Manual, Vol. I, Pers. 2-2, p. 2 (Rev.) Sept. 1975.

22. Neb. Rev. Stat. sec. 28-839, 1972.

23. Jack Swanson, interview in Omaha, Dec. 9, 1981. 24. George Ernce, interview in Omaha, Dec. 10, 1981.

25. A.B. Hogan, interview in Omaha, May 27, 1981.

26. Clyde Christian, telephone interview, Nov. 12, 1981.

27. Wilda Stephenson, telephone interview, Nov. 17, 1981. 28. Wayne Tyndall, telephone interview, Nov. 5, 1981.

29. Omaha World-Herald, Aug. 22, 1977; Oct. 26, 1977.

30. Omaha World-Herald, Oct. 23, 1980; Oct. 25, 1980; Oct. 27, 1980.

31. Omaha World-Herald, July 15, 1981.

32. Tappan v. Coufal, No. 81-0-0367 (D. Neb. July 14, 1981).

33. Model Rules for Law Enforcement Officers, A Manual on Police Discretion

(IACP, 1974), pp. 138-39.

34. Ibid., pp. 140-42.

35. Ibid., p. 143.

1

CHAPTER 5

POLICE-COMMUNITY COMMUNICATION

The information collected by the Advisory Committee and others indicates a profound disparity in perception of police activity.

Past Community Attitudes

Minority complaints about police behavior and hostility to the police have a long history. The earliest reports of it in the files of the Omaha Public Library date back to 1965.

In October 1965 Homer C. Floyd, executive director of the city human relations board, reported that "tremendous hostility" against the police was developing among the black residents of northside Omaha.1 A list of

grievances was developed by the Northside Police-Community Relations Council whose members included Ernest Chambers, William Mitchell, Mrs. Robert Gibson, Rev. Wilkinson Harper and George Crenshaw. These focused on lack of police courtesy toward blacks--referring to them as "nigger", "boy", "gal"; arrests without apparent justification; use of force as a result of verbal abuse or to obtain information or to punish a suspected offender; random searches without apparent cause; harassment by the vice squad; harassment and intimidation of children on the streets; placement of radar in places that interfere with private businesses; failure to process complaints; failure to respond to calls for assistance from the black community; and, failure to respond to citizen requests for information about arrests.2 The police division either stated these accusations were not justified or offered a legal explanation for the practice. 3

In July 1966, the views of the black community again became of interest to the media in the aftermath of a weekend of civil unrest. Many concerns were cited as causing the riots. Demands presented to the city by blacks after the riot included "a change in police attitudes."4

In March 1968 black leaders again complained that an officer who fatally shot a black youth inside a looted pawnshop was not suspended during the investigation and that police used their clubs and mace indiscriminantly against black demonstrators at a George Wallace rally.5 Later in that month a black youth was charged with criminal libel when he distributed a handbill accusing two officers of being racists and using excessive force. A report by the city's human relations board, published in June 1968, stated that "it is a simple fact that most Negro citizens do not believe that we have equal law enforcement...."7

Also in 1969 a black organization called "The Matched Sets" conducted an extensive survey of black opinion in which it interviewed 641 black residents of the northside and 51 white residents of the area. The results were reported separately for older people (361 persons) and younger people, under the age of 19 (331 persons). Three-quarters of the younger people thought the police were not courteous. Over 60 percent had heard of incidents of police brutality and more than three-quarters believed the police used excessive and unjustified force. A little less than half thought the 1968 riots were justified. A little more than half did not think police-community relations had improved in the past few years. Over 60 percent of the older people interviewed thought the police were not courteous. Over 80 percent had heard of incidents of police brutality and 60 percent believed the police used excessive and sometimes unjustified force. About 70 percent of those interviewed thought the 1968 riots were justified. About half thought that police-community relations had not improved in the past few years. Police Chief Richard Andersen asserted that out of 140,000 cases involving police contact with citizens in a one year period, only 10 resulted in complaints of police mistreatment.9

Then

In early 1970 two incidents of alleged police abuse were reported to the

city's human relations board.10 In August 1970 the bombing death of a white