Police in Maine spent almost five months refusing to release body camera footage of at least 10 officers detaining a 16-year-old Black high school student at gunpoint, claiming he “matched the description” of a 19-year-old Black teen wanted on burglary charges.
But the boy’s mother said the two look nothing alike aside from their skin color.
“This absolutely was not justified,” Amber Miller told News Center Maine.
“I’ve now seen a picture of the suspect they were searching for. My son does not look similar to this kid beyond the color of their skin.”
Last week, the South Portland police finally released two body camera videos along with a dash cam video showing the officers detaining the teen as he walked down a residential sidewalk during his school lunch break, which is posted below.
The student whose name has not been publicized and whose face is blurred in the videos was ordered to place his hands up and walk backward towards the cops.
He was then ordered to lie on his stomach in the street and place his hands behind his back to allow police to handcuff him.
“What’d I do?” the teen asks several times while complying with their orders.
“Hold on, we’re going to explain everything,” an officer says before they frisk him.
When it became evident he was not the suspect they were looking for, the officers released him.
Although the detainment lasted about five minutes, the boy’s mother said it left him shaken.
But South Portland Police Chief Daniel Ahern said his officers did nothing wrong, stating the following in a two-page letter to South Portland City Manager Scott Morelli dated May 19, six days after the incident.
Upon review of this incident, including dash mounted camera footage and body worn camera footage, I’m not sure how we could have or would have done anything different given the information we had at the time
In fact I was proud of the way our officers handled the student whom they initially thought was the subject of the warrant.
After carefully reviewing this incident including all relevant materials and interviews with involved officers, I’m confident that no policies were violated and officers acted in accordance with best practices and conducted themselves as professionals.
However, Miller, the boy’s mother, believes it was another racial profiling incident also known as “Walking While Black.”
“All of the officers at the scene were white,” she told WGME-TV.
“I would like to have a better understanding as to what the police department is doing to ensure that there’s no bias in their decision making.”
Watch the video below.
‘Stolen Cologne and Shoes’
The incident took place May 13 about a block away from Deering High School at around 11 a.m. as students were leaving campus during lunch period.
South Portland police joined by officers from the Portland Police Department were planning on serving a warrant at a home near the school to arrest a 19-year-old Black teen named Miles Hibbard who was wanted on burglary charges.
The 16-year-old student was a passenger in a blue car driven by another student when he stepped out the car and began walking on the sidewalk which was when an officer in a patrol car spots him.
The officer orders him to place his hands in the air while the other cops with long guns and bulletproof vests surround him, claiming he matched the description of Hibbard.
When they realized he was not Hibbard, they turned to the boy’s friend driving the car who was parked on the curb, demanding his drivers license, allowing him to leave after determining he was not Hibbard.
Meanwhile, a friend of the 16-year-old boy who was handcuffed watched the situation unroll and called the boy’s father.
“We first found out when one of my son’s friends called my husband while the incident was happening, saying that my son was on the ground in handcuffs with rifles pointed at him,” Miller said in an interview with WMTW-TV.
Chief Ahern defended his officers from the very beginning releasing the following statement the following day.
This was an unfortunate circumstance where two young men, who were enjoying their lunch break from Deering High School, parked their car nearly in front of a house that was to be searched by police.
One of the young men matched the description of the subject who lives in the house and was briefly detained. As a parent myself I completely understand how this incident could be very upsetting for innocent young people caught in the middle of a police action.
I’m grateful to school administrators for providing resources to anyone affected by this incident. I believe our officers acted reasonably and appropriately given the circumstances and information they had at the time.
But Miller insisted her son did not match the description of Hibbard who she says was wanted for stealing cologne and shoes.
“There are some distinct differences between the suspect that they were looking for and my son,” she told WMTW-TV. “I think most obviously the suspect had a sleeve tattoo on his arm which the police were aware of, and my son does not and he was wearing a T-shirt.”
“I think that there was some racial bias that was underlying the decision making by the police.”
Despite the chief’s confidence his officers had done no wrong, he refused to release the body camera footage to local media, claiming it would interfere with “criminal law enforcement proceedings” and a “juvenile intelligence investigation,” according to WGME-TV.
But last week, they released two body camera videos along with a dashcam video, almost five months after the incident.
However, the boy’s mother believes there are more videos that have not been released.
“We have not been provided any footage that shows the interaction in its entirety, nor do these videos show all officers that were present,” she said in a statement to local media.
“The show of force was entirely unnecessary. From what we have seen, the warrant only has a very vague description of the teenager that they were looking for and the items listed to be seized. Those items were stolen cologne and shoes, not weapons or any items related to weapons.”
Hibbard was arrested later that day at his job in the neighboring town of Cape Elizabeth.
“The police failed to do any meaningful due diligence in preparing for this operation and created an incredibly unsafe situation for innocent students. What if there had been a shootout? It’s irresponsible and dangerous.”
Miller, an attorney in Portland, has stated she is considering taking legal action against police.
Great Job Carlos Miller & the Team @ Atlanta Black Star Source link for sharing this story.
