COVERING CORRUPTION: MPD'S USE OF FORCE TACTICS

“I’m going to shoot you in the fucking face,” These are the last words Justin Robinson, 26, heard before being shot 10 times by MPD officers. Robinson was asleep in his car in a McDonald's parking lot when officers Brian Gilchrist and Vasco Mateus approached and killed him. Robinson spent his time as an advocate against the same violence and system that ended his life.

The Metropolitan Police Department, commonly called MPD, is D.C.’s primary police department. They have been subjected to scrutiny over their uses of force, failures to report misconduct, and over-policing in Wards 7 and 8, which are home to an overwhelmingly Black population.

Initiatives and Changes Being Made to MPD and Law.

MPD has made many changes over the last four years to improve its department. One of the key initiatives to bring change was the Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Act of 2022. This act was created to increase transparency and accountability in the police department by giving public officials more access to body-cam footage, adding limitations on consent searches, and, most notably, prohibiting the police department from hiring officers with serious misconduct in their background. This last amendment led to the firing of 21 senior members of MPD who have a history of serious misconduct.

This act followed the emergency legislation passed in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Floyd was being detained for allegedly using a counterfeit bill to purchase cigarettes when Officer Chauvin kneeled on Floyd’s neck, killing him. The murder led to the 2020 rebirth of the Black Lives Matter movement.

In the 2020 legislation, MPD had more substantial restrictions on neck restraints, stating that they are “lethal and excessive force.” Following these restrictions, the number of times MPD reportedly used neck restraints decreased from 7 in 2020 to 2 in 2021. The number of neck restraints reported in 2022 and 2023 was 4. The cases of neck restraint use following the legislation resulted in the suspension of officers. MPD officers are rarely terminated from the department.

These cases that did end in termination were due to many different reasons, including photographing a minor’s “private area,” being arrested for domestic violence, sexual assault, false statements, stealing prisoner’s items, sex trafficking, and failing drug tests.

The Secure DC Omnibus Emergency Amendment Act of 2024 was signed into law in March and added many new protections against crime in D.C. This bill reinstated MPD’s ability to declare drug-free zones, established new felonies for unlawful discarding of firearms and ammunition, improved the prosecution of carjackers, and created a new crime for “directing organized retail theft.”

CORE, The Council of Racial Equity, however, believes that this act will not reduce crime but rather lead to mass incarceration and is especially harmful to Black D.C. residents. In a Racial Equity Impact Assessment of the Act, the council highlighted many areas where the act may cause harm rather than help public safety. They state that the felony categories being created will not prevent the crimes from happening but rather will increase the time spent in prison for crimes that primarily affect the Black population due to over-policing and surveillance.

Examples of Use of Force

MPD has a history of rehiring police officers who were fired from the department. Between 2010 and 2020, MPD spent $91 million on settling police misconduct cases, and 8% of those cases involved repeat officers.

Officer Sean Lojacone was recently rehired after a 2017 incident of abuse. This was after MB Cottingham, a Southeast D.C. resident, won a lawsuit against the officer for an invasive anal search. Cottingham verbally protested the search, which allegedly led to him being handcuffed and the action being repeated. The search found nothing, and he was let go with no citations. The month following the search, the body cam footage was deleted, even though it is required in D.C. law to keep body cam footage for five years. The lawsuit resulted in the officer being moved to administrative duty and eventually fired, but he has been rehired. According to the ACLU, at the time of the incident, 20 internal investigations of Officer Lojacone were already taking place.

MPD defines the use of force as "any physical coercion used to affect, influence, or persuade an individual to comply with an order from a member.” Acceptable use of force includes when it is used to affect law enforcement objectives, overcome resistance, prevent physical harm, protect a third-party member, and prevent property damage or loss.

Cases of police misconduct tend to move slowly through the court system as many additional steps must be taken as opposed to a lawsuit against an individual who is not affiliated with a government or other organization.

Grob-Lipkis described how the process can be long, “The first one was when I was in a law school clinic in 2020, the killing of Marqueese Alston, so he was killed in 2018. They released the body cam footage in 2020. I don't think the internal investigation was completed until 2021, and then there was reporting that came out, kind of reviewing MPD’s investigation in 2021. I don't think the civil case has even been concluded… but so depending on, like, what aspects of the legal system it's going through, it can be years.”

Marqeese Alston was 22 when he was fatally shot by an MPD officer. Officers at the scene alleged they were being shot at by Alston when twelve to eighteen shots were fired at Alston. Alston’s mother, Kenithia Alston, found out about the death of her son from the news, as MPD did not notify her until the next day. When the body cam footage was eventually released, it was allegedly edited. Two years after the death of her son, Kenithia Alston filed a 100 million dollar wrongful death lawsuit against the city of D.C. and MPD.

Olivia Grob-Lipkis, a Criminal Legal System Reform Attorney with the Washington Lawyers Committee, believes this footage shows a jumpout, which she defines as the D.C. police’s version of a stop and search, which she says is very common. She said, “A couple officers, anywhere from two to four, will ride around in police cars, sometimes unmarked… and especially in wards seven or eight will just suddenly stop and all jump out at someone, and, either search them or rough them up, or a lot of times, especially if it's an undercover car, and the officers are plain clothes, the person will kind of take off running, obviously, because it looks like a gang of people or jumping out at them. And then the kind of light will be used as justification or continuing to chase them.”

Demographics Affected by MPD Violence

Every year between 2020 and 2023, the majority of the use of force was in MPD precinct 7D, which encompasses Anacostia, Barry Farm, Naylor Gardens, and Washington Highlands. This precinct is mostly in Ward 8, with Naylor Gardens in Ward 7. This does not align with the crime rates, as Wards 5 and 2 had the most crime in 2023. Wards 7 and 8 have the highest Black populations and the highest poverty rates out of all of D.C.

Image of D.C. Wards for Comparison

Source: DC.gov

Grob-Lipkis outlined the first steps to take when attempting to bring a case against an officer for misconduct. She said first to write down quick notes on what you experienced, compile any documentation you may have or can get, whether that be footage or the names and contact information of witnesses, and get the officers' information. Additionally, when you have the information needed, you can file a civilian complaint with the Office of Police Complaints.

“ Agency, date, time, and the address where you are is most important because that is the information you would use to try and request the reports and body cam footage,” said Grob-Lipkis

MPD is attempting to make changes within the department to fix systemic issues with new initiatives, but change will be difficult without reflecting on and taking accountability for misconduct.

MPD declined to comment.