Traffic Stop Becomes Another LAPD Lightning Rod

Aug. 30, 2012
Los Angeles officers took a woman to the ground twice during a stop making it at least the third complaint about officers' use of physical force to draw wide media attention in two weeks.

Aug. 30--Most days around lunchtime, a handful of older guys who own classic cars gather at the Del Taco on Foothill Boulevard to hang out.

Ray Branch, who has a 1950 Oldsmobile, is one of the regulars. One day last week, he was sitting by the window when he saw a car turn into the Tujunga restaurant's lot, followed by a Los Angeles Police Department cruiser with its emergency lights on.

Two officers got out and walked up to the car, where a woman sitting in the driver's seat argued with them. Then the woman got out.

"I told the guys inside that she probably shouldn't be arguing with them, because it usually doesn't end up too good," Branch recalled Wednesday.

It didn't.

Officers took the woman, 34-year-old Michelle Jordan, to the ground twice the morning of Aug. 21, including once after she was handcuffed, a video of the incident shows. They arrested her on a charge of "resisting, delaying or obstructing" an officer, a misdemeanor that carries a year in jail, and she spent six hours in custody.

If she'd stayed in her car, she likely would have faced nothing but a ticket for talking on a handheld cellphone.

It was at least the third complaint about LAPD officers' use of physical force to draw wide media attention in the past two weeks, joining an Aug. 18 encounter with a skateboarder in Venice and one in May with a bank executive in Highland Park that led to a $50 million complaint against the city being filed this

month.

The controversy surrounding the incidents is frustrating for some officers, who believe the public doesn't understand the risks of police work and that people -- and the media -- jump to conclusions before all the facts are in. Even a video, which might appear incontrovertible, can tell just part of the story, police union officials said.

The video of Jordan's encounter with police, for example, has no sound and leaves unclear what orders police gave Jordan or what she said.

Internal Affairs investigators are still looking into the case, and the two officers involved have been taken off the street. One is a 22-year veteran, and the other is a probationary officer with 10 months on the force. Branch, who has been interviewed by an LAPD supervisor about what he saw, said the older officer took Jordan to the ground the second time, when she was handcuffed.

"My initial review of the officers' statements and the recorded video cause me to have serious concerns about this use of force," LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said in a prepared statement. "We will investigate this thoroughly and hold our officers accountable for their actions." -- Read "LAPD Chief Charlie Beck demotes Foothill commanding officer over use-of-force concerns"

KNBC (Channel 4), which obtained a surveillance video taken from the Del Taco, first reported on the incident. In the station's report, Jordan's lawyer, Sy Nazif, acknowledged she "made some unwise moves" but said that didn't excuse the officers' conduct.

Jordan and her lawyer couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday by the Daily News. Police wouldn't say much about the case beyond a statement released Tuesday night.

But Lt. Cory Palka, the adjutant to the department's San Fernando Valley commander, said traffic stops are among the most dangerous encounters officers have because of "the unknown factor."

Police don't know whether a car has guns, drugs or wanted

suspects inside. Deputy Chief Jorge Villegas, the Valley commander, said officers have been attacked after traffic stops.

That's why what might seem innocuous to a motorist -- getting out of a car to talk to an officer, or walking back toward a car without being asked to -- is a potential threat to an officer.

Branch said he walked outside when the confrontation started, but could not hear most of what Jordan and the officers said. He heard Jordan scream, "Let me go!" and curse the officers the first time she was taken to the ground.

Branch said the first use of force and handcuffing looked reasonable to him given how Jordan was acting. But about the second takedown, he said, "I was a little bit amazed that they did that."

Palka said "99.9 percent" of people police pull over are cooperative, including hundreds of people who likely got traffic tickets the same day as Jordan. But officers must deal with the uncooperative, too, and are taught "patience and understanding," he said.

"We use force as a last resort," Palka added.

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Copyright 2012 - Daily News, Los Angeles

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