Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.Video images of a forceful police takedown prompted Omaha Police Chief Alex Hayes and his command staff this spring to launch an inquiry, still ongoing, into the officers' conduct.
"I started an internal investigation because there was something on that tape that disturbed me," Hayes told The World-Herald on Friday. "And it disturbed the command staff because they notified me immediately."
Concern about the department's perceived use of excessive force during the altercation struck a nerve in parts of the Omaha community. The controversial surveillance camera footage prompted outraged community leaders to call for the revival of Omaha's dormant public safety auditor position.
"Without that we have no hand, no eyes, no ears inside the Police Department to make sure they're doing the right thing," said Mark Welsch, head of the city's chapter of Nebraskans for Peace.
Yet several City Council members said sufficient police oversight exists. Hayes said the department keeps public concerns in mind in its decision process.
"We'll continue to assess based on what we're hearing from the community," he said. "We always take that into consideration when we're making policies and decisions."
As of Friday, none of the officers involved with the incident had been suspended or placed on leave.
Video first aired on public access TV earlier this week and obtained by The World-Herald shows police forcefully taking 35-year-old Robert A. Wagner into custody outside Creighton University Medical Center shortly after his cousin had been shot and killed on May 29.
At one point in the approximately five-minute clip, a female officer kicks Wagner repeatedly while several officers pin him on the ground. Police also use a Taser to subdue Wagner.
Authorities said Wagner was asked to leave the hospital because he was being disorderly and using profanity. Officers reported Wagner refused to leave so they attempted to arrest him. As an officer tried to grab his arm to place him in handcuffs, Wagner reportedly punched the officer in the head.
Wagner declined to comment Friday. He has been charged with assaulting an officer for allegedly pushing one officer and punching another.
Former State Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, in a letter to the local U.S. Attorney's Office, called for a federal investigation.
The video, he wrote, "depicts violence as shockingly savage and brutal as any vicious gang assault."
City Councilman Ben Gray, who was inside the hospital when the parking lot altercation occurred, said the public needed to wait for the conclusion of the police internal investigation before determining how the incident should impact public policy.
"The woman that did the kicking, that was unnecessary. That was excessive force, in my opinion," Gray said.
"But we don't jump the gun. I think we need to give this chief — who has demonstrated over and over again that he's willing to discipline officers that get out of line — we ought to give him the benefit of the doubt and let him finish his investigations," Gray said.
Council President Thomas Mulligan described calls to revive the auditor position "a knee-jerk reaction to an episodic event."
"It's not like we're having a rash of instances here where people don't think government is responding accordingly," he said Friday.
Said Councilman Garry Gernandt, a former police officer: "Let the system work first before you start tearing it apart and squawking that it needs oversight."
The city's public safety auditor position was created in 2000, when the City Council approved the post to serve as a watchdog over the conduct of Omaha police officers and firefighters.
Controversy erupted in 2006 when then-Mayor Mike Fahey fired Auditor Tristan Bonn, saying she was insubordinate in releasing a report on police traffic stops without his approval.
Attempts to revamp and revive the job failed, so the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on behalf of a citizens group concerned about alleged police misconduct. In 2009 the Nebraska Supreme Court upheld a Douglas County judge's ruling that the citizens group lacked the legal authority to force the City Council to fill the position.
An effort by Mayor Jim Suttle to reinstate the position in his 2009 budget failed amid widespread concern about the city's troubled financial situation.
Now, video of Wagner's arrest has renewed calls for an auditor.
The state chapter of the ACLU condemned what it saw on the security camera footage.
"While we may not know the whole story, the images raise serious concern about police policies or lack thereof and the police's ability to treat people fairly," the organization said in a statement. "The incident shown in this video rocks the trust of the community and erodes the exact confidence the community must provide in order for the police to work effectively."
Hayes agreed that events such as the hospital altercation damage part of the public's confidence in the department, but said it was inevitable that a segment of society will never trust an area's police force. Police officers are also bound to make errors, he said.
"At any given time they're going to make mistakes or do things that are wrong or incorrect, either malicious or not," Hayes said. "The important thing to note is this administration takes care of its problems, not only in a reactive mode but a proactive mode. We're constantly looking at ourselves and constantly looking at ways to improve."
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