Franklin City Neighbors

Milwaukee Officer Accused of Excessive Force Caught On Tape

Jul 23, 2002

Tape shows officer attacking man
Prisoner in holding room pushed into wall, wrestled down

By JAMES H. BURNETT III
of the Journal Sentinel staff
Last Updated: July 18, 2002
A Milwaukee police officer came under criticism Wednesday after a videotape showed the officer shoving a man against the wall, grabbing him around the neck and wrestling him onto a table.

Caught on Tape
Photo/CBS-58
Billy Miles is shown in an interview with WDJT-TV CBS-58.


Quotable
I heard that the attorney in the California (police brutality case) was seeking seven figures, so I figure this can be a seven-figure case.
- Robert D'Arruda,
Billy Miles' attorney


Photo/File
Officer Robert Henry is shown on a police surveillance tape grabbing Billy Miles inside a holding/interrogation room at the 5th District Police Station, 2920 N. 4th St.

Photo/File
Officer Rodney Young said Miles was being loud, combative and uncooperative, according to a criminal complaint.


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After the altercation, Officer Robert Henry is seen flexing his right biceps and patting his muscle. Another officer also is seen patting Henry's muscle.

Henry is shown on a police surveillance tape grabbing Billy Miles inside a holding/interrogation room at the 5th District Police Station, 2920 N. 4th St.

The incident occurred March 20 after Miles was arrested in a disorderly conduct case.

Miles, 39, was taken into custody and is seen on the video surveillance tape standing in front of Henry, who is sitting behind a desk.

Henry and another officer, Rodney Young, said Miles was being loud, combative and uncooperative, according to a criminal complaint.

The officers also allege Miles made a fist and feigned throwing a punch, the complaint says.

There is no sound accompanying the video.

Miles is seen talking to Henry and gesturing with his hands, when the officer stands up, walks around the desk and shoves Miles against the wall. After the shove, Miles brings his hands up and is quickly grabbed around the neck, wrestled onto the table and handcuffed with the help of other officers.

Two other officers are also seen securing Miles on the videotape. Miles is handcuffed with his arms behind his back.

After the incident, Miles is said to have spit in Young's face, a criminal complaint says.

Police Chief Arthur Jones, who could not be reached for comment, said in a faxed release Wednesday that he was aware of the incident and the existence of the videotape.

The statement reads in part: "It is the policy of the Milwaukee Police Department to thoroughly investigate any incident of misconduct involving members of the Department. The Internal Affairs Division is currently investigating this matter."

A high ranking source in the Police Department said Jones instituted the practice of videotaping prisoner bookings to protect officers from false accusations and to protect prisoners from abuse.

Tape shows altercation
Robert D'Arruda, Miles' attorney, said he believes his client was roughed up by the officers.

"The tape is clear," D'Arruda said. "(The tape) shows an officer assaulting my client. He put his hands around my client's neck, shoved him against the wall, slams him on the table and then he taunted him."

D'Arruda said nothing his client could have said should've prompted the reaction of the officers.

"No matter what you say, you can't say my client deserved that," he said.

Milwaukee Police Association President Bradley DeBraska said Henry and the other officers did nothing wrong.

DeBraska, who said he's viewed the tape more than once, said Henry's actions were more defensive than anything else.

"If you slow down the tape, what you have is the officer put his hand on the bottom of this guy's jaw to keep his jaw closed," DeBraska said, explaining that Henry did so because he saw that Miles was "welling up spit" and was about to let fly with it.

D'Arruda also criticized the other officers in the room at the time of the incident for their "slow response" in responding to the confrontation.

"It's hard to say what they (the other officers) were thinking, but I would say they had a slow reaction (to pulling the officer off my client)," D'Arruda said.

D'Arruda said he has had the videotape for about two weeks but did not pursue the matter until he could talk it over with Miles.

Miles, who lives at a homeless shelter, agreed Tuesday to pursue legal action against the officers.

"He said he was ready to go forward," D'Arruda said.

Miles could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

D'Arruda said he did not know what would happen in the case when it goes forward but he would be seeking at least $1 million in damages for his client.

"I heard that the attorney in the California (police brutality case) was seeking seven figures, so I figure this can be a seven-figure case," he said.

DeBraska said he objected to talk of seeking "seven figures."

"What you have here is a bloodsucking attorney trying to take this and compare it with the incident in Inglewood, California, to try to get leverage. That's all," DeBraska said.

In the Inglewood case, several white police officers are seen slamming a handcuffed black teenager onto the hood of a car, and at least one officer is seen striking the teen in the face. The incident was caught on tape July 6. Two police officers involved in that arrest were indicted by a grand jury Wednesday on charges related to that case.

DeBraska said it was wrong for D'Arruda to compare this to the Inglewood case.

DeBraska added that over the past couple of months, Officer Young has had to worry "that saliva went right into (his) eye; (he) now has to worry about the infectious diseases this felon may have."

Miles was charged March 22 by the Milwaukee County district attorney's office with one felony count of "assault by prisoner: expel bodily fluids."

If found guilty, Miles, already a convict for misdemeanor sexual assault in 1999, could receive a $10,000 fine, two years' imprisonment or both.

Deputy District Attorney Jon N. Reddin said Wednesday that he obtained a copy of the videotape from the police and has begun a formal review of the incident.

David Doege and Eric LaRose of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.

Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on July 18, 2002.