Expert: Officer was justified in pinning down Floyd
MINNEAPOLIS – Former Officer Derek Chauvin was justified in pinning George Floyd to the ground because of his frantic resistance, a use-of-force expert testified for the defense Tuesday, contradicting a parade of authorities from inside and outside the Minneapolis Police Department.
Taking the stand at Chauvin’s murder trial, Barry Brodd, a former Santa Rosa, California, police officer, said officers don’t have to wait for something bad to happen; they need only to have a reasonable fear that there’s a threat and then adjust their actions accordingly.
“It’s easy to sit and judge ... an officer’s conduct. It’s more of a challenge to, again, put yourself in the officer’s shoes to try to make an evaluation through what they’re feeling, what they’re sensing, the fear they have, and then make a determination,” Brodd said.
He also said he didn’t believe Chauvin and the other officers used deadly force when they pinned Floyd on his stomach, with his hands cuffed behind his back and Chauvin’s knee on his neck or neck area for what prosecutors say was 91⁄2 minutes.
Brodd likened it to a situation in which officers used a Taser on someone fighting with officers, and the suspect fell, hit his head and died: “That isn’t an incident of deadly force. That’s an incident of an accidental death.”
Several top Minneapolis police officials, including the police chief, testified that Chauvin used excessive force and violated his training. And medical experts called by prosecutors have testified that Floyd died from a lack of oxygen because of the way he was restrained.
But Brodd said: “I felt that Officer Chauvin’s interactions with Mr. Floyd were following his training, following current practices in policing and were objectively reasonable.”
Brodd also testified that the bystanders yelling at the officers to get off Floyd complicated the situation for Chauvin and the others.
“The crowds started to grow in size, start to become more vocal. So now offi
mistakenly grab the wrong one.”
Cheatham said the firearm is on the dominant hip for officer protection because it is easier to grab.
The Tasers used by Columbus police, the X26P model, are primarily yellow in color, while the standard duty weapon issued to police officers is all black in its coloring. Both weapons are holstered on an officer’s duty belt.
But Cheatham, in his separate interview with The Dispatch, disagreed with Delbert’s contention that the Taser and the service weapon aren’t that different. Cheatham said the Taser weighs less than a service weapon and has a different feel to the touch than the firearm does.
Officers, both in the academy and working within the division, go through regular training and practice on transitioning between firearms and Tasers. Cheatham said officers are also trained that, as much as practical, an officer should repeatedly yell “Taser” before deploying the device
Deputies with the Franklin County Sheriff ’s Office have the same practices when it comes to the two weapons, said spokeswoman Maureen Kocot.
All certified deputies receive annual training with Tasers, she said, which includes being placed in scenarios in which they must decide whether to use their Taser or gun and how to transition from one to the other. bbruner@dispatch.com @bethany_bruner jfutty@dispatch.com @johnfutty