SBI investigating excessive force allegations against NC police officer
The State Bureau of Investigation is investigating whether a Warrenton police officer repeatedly used excessive force, including using his Taser on people who weren’t resisting arrest, according to court documents.
Warren County District Attorney Mike Waters confirmed Monday there is an ongoing criminal investigation into Warrenton police Sgt. Mark Oakley, but said he couldn’t comment on the case.
Waters spoke after the town of Warrenton agreed earlier Monday to preserve videos and other evidence in the investigation into allegations of Oakley’s improper use of force.
Town attorney Mitchell Styers told The News & Observer in an email that the town is cooperating with the investigation but officials can’t provide additional comment. Oakley has been placed on administrative leave pending the resolution, Styers wrote.
The News & Observer left voice messages and sent emails to Warrenton Mayor Walter Gardner and Police Chief Goble Lane on Monday afternoon.
The investigation into Oakley started after Waters asked the SBI in early January to look into complaints of Oakley’s improper use of force, court documents state. Waters is district attorney for Warren and four other counties. Warrenton is about 60 miles northeast of Raleigh, close to the North Carolina-Virginia border.
SBI Special Agent C.R. Cloutier obtained three videos and collected statements that supported allegations that Oakley used his Taser improperly, Cloutier states in an affidavit.
The investigation indicated that Oakley used his Taser “before utilizing de-escalation tactics” and didn’t appear to be in “immediate danger or physical harm,” according to court documents.
The evidence also showed that he used his Taser on individuals who were not actively resisting arrest, Cloutier’s statement said.
The documents do not state when the incidents involving Oakley may have occurred or the circumstances surrounding his use of a Taser.
On Feb. 12, Waters filed a motion asking a Warren County judge to order the town of Warrenton, its police department and others to preserve and submit reports, files, audio and video recordings and other items related to Oakley’s work as an officer over the past two years.
The judge immediately issued a temporary order for the evidence to be preserved and set a hearing on a longer-term solution for Monday morning.
Use of Taser
A 2016 U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling limited the use of Tasers to when officers are in “immediate danger,” according to a memorandum sent by the North Carolina Justice Academy, which FOX 8 News published. The academy provides training and other support for North Carolina police officers.
“Effective immediately, TASER use as a pain compliance tool against a resisting subject is prohibited by the Fourth Amendment unless the police can articulate ‘immediate danger’ to the officer apart from the fact of resistance alone.” the memo stated.
Hendersonville Police Chief Blair Myhand, who is also the immediate past president of the North Carolina Association of Chiefs of Police, said that before 2016 there wasn’t a lot of legal guidance around the use of tasers.
But now guidance says that the person has to be actively resisting law enforcement, Myhand said.
Virginia Bridges covers criminal justice in the Triangle and across North Carolina for The News & Observer. Her work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The N&O maintains full editorial control of its journalism.
