The City of Erie has released their findings from the investigation of two police officers’ use of force during an arrest caught on video, finding that the use of force was within department policy but other violations were found.
Mayor Daria Devlin was joined by Erie Chief of Police Rick Lorah and Deputy Chief Chris Janus, who released their findings during a press conference Monday on the June 28 arrest of Keven Sparks, showing the dash cam of both cruisers and the body cam of one officer.
According to the officials, body cam footage was missing from one of the officers in the arrest because it was placed in “sleep mode” during the encounter, which is a violation of department policy.
Video of the arrest circulated online showing Sparks colliding with a police cruiser while riding a bike, along with officers striking him and deploying a Taser.
In their review, officials concluded that the officer driving the cruiser did not intentionally hit him with it, showing dash cam footage of Sparks not looking where he was going on the bike until it was too late and that the officer was stopping the cruiser when the collision happened.
As for when Sparks was being taken into custody, officials said he was actively resisting as officers tried to place him in handcuffs, resulting in the two officers striking him three times each and the Taser that was deployed being ineffective, falling within the department’s use of force policy.
WATCH LIVE: City of Erie holds press conference on Keven Sparks investigation
The officer whose body cam was not on during the incident, resulting in their immediate demotion and the department changing its policy to disable sleep mode on body cameras and require officers to keep them operational during their shifts.
Mayor Devlin called the decision to display the body and dash camera footage, as well as explain their findings in real time, a step towards transparency to earn the public’s trust.
“Transparency means showing our work,” she said. “Our responsibility is to explain what evidence was reviewed, what standards were applied, what concerns were substantiated, what concerns were not, and what actions resulted. Our job is not to demand trust because we held a press conference. Our job is to continue earning it through what we do next.”
In addition to the results of the investigation, the city said they’ll continue to try improving police and community relations by finalizing a community guide that explains the police department’s use of force policy in plain language, along with making info on police training and policy review more accessible.
We’ll have more tonight on Jet Action News at 5 pm.
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