In last week’s City Council meeting, held Tuesday the 20th due to Presidents Day, there was a surprising debate which pitted newly elected councilman Tony Axtell against the rest of the council, the Mayor, the City Administrator, the City Attorney, and the Chief of Police.
When a Mayoral Proclamation “regarding a policy on the prohibition of the use of excessive force” came up for a vote, along with an equal opportunity policy statement, instead of a quick rubber stamping by the council, it turned into a very surprising discussion.
“I’m not happy with the excessive force one,” Axtell interjected when called upon to vote.
“Oh, yeah,” asked a surprised Mayor Boyd.
“No,” replied Axtell firmly, “I don’t think we should be telling our officers when to use excessive force. They gotta make that split decision in a heartbeat. A peaceful demonstration can turn ugly, we all know that.”
There was a brief stunned silence in the room, before Councilman Vandewater sought to clarify the issue. “Again, what was your concern on this, Tony? Which part of that,” asked Vandewater, a little incredulously.
“Telling the officers they can’t use excessive force,” Axtell replied.
“On this sheet here,” Vandewater asked, referencing the proposed and straight-forward proclamation barring the use of excessive force, as if perhaps he was missing something.
“That’s when there’s a protest, correct,” Mayor Boyd asked, also seeming a bit incredulous.
“Yes, a protest, a peaceful protest,” Axtell replied. Then, doubling down and leaving no doubt as to his specific objections, Axtell then read from the proclamation text, “excessive force against any individuals engaged in nonviolent civil rights demonstrations. In addition, City of Eagle Grove agrees to enforce any applicable state or local laws against physically barring entrances or exits from a facility or location that is the subject of a non-violent protest.”
After close to ten seconds of stunned silence in the room, Police Chief Ray Beltran spoke up, saying he thought the policy called for in the proclamation was reasonable. “Depending how the situation turns into, it switches over to where we can do what we need to do,” Beltran explained.
“Well, it’s just that I don’t want to say that you guys can’t,” Axtell replied. “We all know how fast peaceful demonstrations turn nowadays.”
“I think the determination of excessive force is determined by the force necessary for the situation that arises,” Said City Administrator Bryce Davis, “So, if they are peaceful, we can’t pepper spray them. If they’re throwing rocks, we can take them down.” Davis then pointed out that what the law requires is that police don’t “overdo it” when it comes to force. “Obviously, if it’s nonviolent, we can’t throw smoke grenades into it. If it is violent, that’s a different conversation.”
“‘Excessive force’ is a legal issue that any law enforcement department has to deal with. So every officer who encounters the public. Depending on how the encounter goes, cities get sued for excessive force. It’s always a risk,” said City Attorney Brett Legvold, “So, the policy in and of itself is simply stating what the law is. So the policy is not telling our officers that they have to do anything different from what Ray is already training them on. They can’t use excessive force. It’s always based on the situation. So, in my opinion this doesn’t restrict Ray from training his department any different from what he already does. Would you agree with that?”
“Yup,” Beltran replied.
“I don’t really see the issue, I mean, it’s totally talking about non-violent demonstrations. If something gets out of hand that’s a whole different thing, it’s not nonviolent anymore,” Vandewater said.
“I realize that,” Axtell conceded.
“Plus, our officers all have body cams,” Vandewater added, “you know how it is on the news. Videos show up and there’s liabilities and they have to protect, and they’re trained for that, and I don’t really see a problem with that.”
Mayor Boyd then called for a vote again, and a mollified Axtell voted with the majority to unanimously pass the proclamation.
