Chief: 'The use of force during the course of Ian Van Ornum's arrest was justified'
ToolsRelated ContentBy Denae D'Arcy KVAL News and KVAL.com staffEUGENE, Ore. -- The chief of police believes officers were justified in using a Taser and other techniques to arrest a protester at a May 2008 event in downtown Eugene but said Eugene police officers will now go through more crisis intervention and use of force training. At a press conference Monday, Police Chief Pete Kerns said officers were justified in using force, including two shocks from a Taser, in arresting protester Ian Van Ornum at a pesticide rally. "The use of force during the course of Ian Van Ornum's arrest was justified," Kerns said. Excerpt from press conference: However, he also announced that officers will go through three crisis intervention training sessions a year instead of one. They will also all undergo more training on the use of force. And they will go through extensive constitutional rights training with an attorney. "We have contracted with an attorney to provide more training than you'd normally see in a police department like ours in Lane County in the area of constitutional rights," Kerns said. The announcements came at a press release announcing Kerns' final review of the incident. Kerns said the city's citizen review board was split on the whether the second shock to Van Ornum from the Taser was justified. Three members said yes; one did not have enough information; and two voted the action was not justified. "What I can do is assure those people who disagree with my findings that there was a careful vetting of the facts by community members who are not members of the police department who agree with my decision in this," he said. |
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