Video shows Del. officer kicking black suspect

Jon Offredo and Cris Barrish | The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption Video shows police officer kicking suspect in head The release of dashboard camera footage showing a white Dover officer kicking a black suspect in the head touched off new demands for law enforcement policy changes, bringing Delaware into a national conversation about police misconduct.

WILMINGTON, Del. — The release of dashboard camera footage showing a white Dover police officer kicking a black suspect in the head touched off demands Thursday for law enforcement policy changes, bringing Delaware into a national conversation about police misconduct.

While this incident occurred before well-publicized incidents in Ferguson, Mo.; New York City; North Charleston, S.C.; and Baltimore, where black suspects were killed by police, the indictment and release of the video here occurred nearly two years later.

"We believe that the video demonstrates the need for large-scale reform of the Dover Police Department, specifically improvements to their use of force and internal affairs practices and supervision of their officers," said Kathleen MacRae, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware.

Civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson said the Dover incident clearly shows mistreatment by law enforcement.

"What is clear is that a man who is down should not be kicked to unconsciousness," said Jackson, who appeared at protests and a funeral in Baltimore and Ferguson. "That is excessive force."

The ACLU is suing the city on behalf of Lateef Dickerson. The 5-minute, 25-second video showing the arrest of Dickerson on Aug. 24, 2013, was not released as part of an ongoing investigation.

A federal judge presiding over the ACLU case ruled the video was no longer considered confidential, allowing the police to make the video public.

The footage is from the dashboard camera of a police car responding to a report of a fight at a Hess Service Station on U.S. 13.

As the police car drives to the scene, a dispatcher is heard saying that one of the men in the fight was wearing a yellow shirt and a hat and had a gun.

About 2 minutes and 20 seconds into the video, the police car comes upon Dickerson, wearing a yellow hat and white shirt. Cpl. Thomas Webster IV appears first from the left, having arrived in another police car, approaching Dickerson with his gun drawn.

The officer driving the car with the dashboard camera then approaches. Responding to the officers' commands, Dickerson begins to lie facedown on the ground. As he does, Webster kicks Dickerson once in the head.

Dickerson's baseball cap flies in the air and his limp body falls onto the asphalt. Dickerson, who was 30 at the time, was left unconscious and taken to the hospital with a broken jaw.

No gun was found at the scene, and assault, theft and resisting arrest charges filed against Dickerson were dropped.

Webster was suspended with pay while the incident was investigated. A grand jury in March 2014 declined to indict Webster, who had been on the force for eight years. The U.S. Attorney's Office also found no civil rights violations.

The grand jury's failure to indict Webster last year disappointed then-Attorney General Beau Biden's office, his spokesman Joe Rogalsky said at the time.

"Clearly, we think there is enough evidence to support an indictment," Rogalsky said then.

Biden did not return calls Thursday.

A second grand jury Monday indicted Webster for second-degree assault. The indictment came after Attorney General Matt Denn, who took office in January, personally reviewed the file and asked for a grand jury review.

"The case was brought to his attention last week," said spokesman Carl Kanefsky. "He reviewed the evidence, and as a result of that review, asked prosecutors to re-present the case to a grand jury."

Denn would not say who brought the case to his attention nor did he elaborate as to what convinced him to send it to the grand jury.

On a Facebook post Thursday morning, Denn told followers that he hasn't posted anything about "some of the more visible cases that have been in the news" because prosecutors have rules about what they can and cannot say about cases before they are tried in court, and those rules have to be followed.

"... There are often facts about investigations that we can't talk about because it would compromise the investigation to have the facts become public too early. It can be frustrating not to be able to share what I know about some of these cases, but it is important that I follow the rules and also important that I make sure that none of these cases are compromised ...," the message read.

Wilmington lawyer Bartholomew Dalton, a former Delaware chief deputy attorney general, said Thursday that he's surprised that the grand jury would have failed to hand up the indictment given the video evidence.

"When you see these things, it's just awfully hard to reach a conclusion other than what you are seeing happened" during the arrest, Dalton said. "You have to wonder what happened the first time they went before the grand jury. I wish I could give you an answer."

Webster attorney James Liguori in a statement said the second grand jury saw the same evidence as the first grand jury. He said what's changed is that Dickerson is suing Webster, the city and the police department in federal court.

"The coincidence of presenting this ancient matter to a new grand jury, while settlement negotiations between the parties have begun, is awful suspect as to the motives behind this indictment," he said.

Liguori has previously said Dickerson wasn't armed but that Webster had to use force to arrest him.

Dover Fraternal Order of Police President David Gist also is critical of Denn.

"The decision by the Delaware Attorney General's Office to take the case before a second grand jury over a year after the initial grand jury presentment, without new evidence is puzzling; however we will allow the justice system to work appropriately," he said in a statement.

Gist, however, said that while the union supports Webster, his actions were outside department policy.

"The Dover Police Department took appropriate administrative action upon completion of its investigation," he said.

RELEASE OF VIDEO IN DISPUTE

NAACP Central Delaware Branch President La Mar Gunn said Thursday he was opposed to the release of the video.

"I told them that it didn't make sense," Gunn said. "(It) made much more sense to sit down at the table with all parties and do what is best."

His group held a news conference earlier this week decrying the use of force and calling for unity. Gunn said the debate over the video's release turned into "who wanted to control" the narrative.

"I don't agree with that," Gunn said.

The release comes after recent high-profile videos of police in North Charleston and Baltimore raised questions about use of force.

Dover Mayor Robin Christiansen on Thursday said the city still has full faith and trust in the police department. He said the decision to release the video was one based on transparency once the U.S. District Court judge ruled.

"As mayor of the city of Dover, we all have to remember that every public employee has the responsibility to protect our community, to serve our constituents with trust and fidelity," he said.

Christiansen said Webster's actions do not reflect the attitude of city officials and police personnel.

"We must all work together to keep Dover the place we love to call home," he said.

Dover Police Lt. Jason Pires said they notified merchants and schools about the video's release. He said there were no threats of violence or unrest at the time.

"It's obviously a concern with the lawlessness that we've seen across the country," he said.

He said that the department did their due diligence in investigating the matter and said they couldn't discuss any of the internal affairs matters, as it is protected under the Policemen's Bill of Rights.

"We did what we were supposed to do," Pires said.

Pires added that the police department has a great relationship with the Dover community.

"I think this is an isolated incident," he said.

Gov. Jack Markell, who is in Switzerland for the 45th St. Gallen Symposium, said he saw the video Thursday evening and found it to be "disturbing."

"Now is the time for patience as the justice system considers all of the facts and circumstances in Cpl. Webster's case. Police agencies and the communities they serve must trust one another," said Markell. "Situations like this can erode that trust, and we need to be committed every day to a dialogue of respect and understanding for the rights of citizens and the challenging jobs we ask our police to do every day."

The Rev. Donald Morton, of the Delaware civil rights group Complexities of Color, said he watched the video with tears in his eyes. He said it confirms a troubling climate regarding race relations.

"I think what is good about this moment is that the use of electronics are giving confirmation to what black young men have been saying has been happening for decades," he said, adding later, "This is what they say has been happening to them. We no longer have to take their word. We see it."

A LENGTHY CRIMINAL RECORD

Court records show Dickerson has a long criminal record, with convictions since 2002 for reckless endangering, drug possession with intent to deliver, driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, resisting arrest, ignoring a police officer's signal, driving under the influence of alcohol and driving with a suspended license.

The ACLU is seeking damages and changes in practices used by police. MacRae previously said there have been allegations of both excessive force and racial profiling by Dover law enforcement.

The Dover Police Department has 94 sworn officers. Seventy-eight are white, 12 are black, three are Hispanic and one is Asian. The city population of 37,366 in the most recent census says 48.3% are white, 42.2% are black and 6.6% are Hispanic.

The city last year denied requests The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal filed under the Freedom of Information Act to provide citizen complaint reports about police treatment. The city also denied records and recordings related to the Dickerson case.

Christiansen on Wednesday said he was worried about Webster getting due process. The ACLU, which also had a copy of the video, also denied a request to provide the arrest video.

MacRae met with city officials Wednesday and said Thursday that she didn't know the video was being released.

"I really don't want to discuss that because I think it distracts from the real issue," she said.

Police spokesman Cpl. Mark Hoffman said Thursday night that the decision to release the video was done out of a realization that it would become public at some point, whether it was Thursday, next week or next month.

"So it was a matter of it's going to get shown eventually, let's be transparent and put it out," he said.

Contributing: Jessica Reyes, Matthew Albright and Jennifer Rini, The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal.