New DC police ‘use-of-force’ report says ‘weaknesses’ in department have ‘gotten worse’

DC auditor’s report on use of force cases

A new D.C. police use-of-force report indicates that previous assessments may have been flawed, and weaknesses identified even in that report have become exacerbated in the years since.

WASHINGTON (FOX 5 DC) - A new D.C. Auditor report reviewing four deadly use-of-force investigations from 2018 to 2019 outline serious issues in the handling of the investigations, indicating previous findings may have been flawed.

The report was released on Tuesday, reviewing Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) internal investigations into the deaths of: Jeffrey Price, Jr., D’Quan Young, Marqueese Alston and Eric Carter.

Price, 22, died in 2018 after the illegal dirt bike was riding, collided with a D.C. police vehicle near Division Ave. NE and Fitch PL NE.

Jay Brown, Price’s uncle, believes the D.C. Auditor report released on Tuesday supports his family’s claim that the officer involved in his nephew’s death, identified as Officer Michael Pearson, used his police vehicle to intentionally block Price.

After the report’s release, Brown told FOX 5,"This investigation, it proves that they tried to attempt to cover the death, the murder, the homicide of my nephew, when [Officer] Michael Pearson blew through this stop sign right here and entered this intersection right here and block my nephew off while other officers were in pursuit of my nephew."

"It was not a justified pursuit," added Brown, "It was not an authorized pursuit and MPD went and jumped through hoops to cover it up by not properly investigating it."

The report notes how the officer-involved "rolled into the intersection without completely stopping at the stop sign located at the intersection of Fitch and Division" in Northeast D.C. The authors of the report said they found "significant shortcomings" in Price’s investigation. Not adequately questioning the officers involved or exploring the "blocking" allegation, were noted in the report, along with confusion on D.C.’s police pursuit policy.

"It’s the oversight of the basics: 301.03 says that police officers must stop at the stop sign. Even if you’re in hot pursuit, they still have to stop at the stop sign," said the Price family attorney, David Shurtz, who added, "…why not focus on what went wrong? There’s nothing wrong with the regulation that says you’ve got to stop at the stop sign. [Officer Pearson] didn’t stop at the stop sign so he didn’t value the life he was putting at risk."

The family has already filed a wrongful death suit. Brown told FOX 5 while this report may focus on policy, Brown is focused on having his nephew’s case re-opened.

The D.C. Auditor noted that in the 2016 report, compiled by The Bromwich Group, it indicated that D.C. police policies continued to "be consistent with best practices in police" – but it also found "deficiencies in use-of-force investigations" – and found those deficiencies had grown significantly worse over the past 5-6 years.

D.C. Auditor Kathleen Patterson told FOX 5 part of the reason has to do with a Force Investigation Team being disbanded under former D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier.

"The initial issues of criminal charges, that’s a determination made by the U.S. Attorney’s office, based on use of force at the moment when a bullet was filed. We don’t dispute that determination by the U.S. Attorney’s office but virtually everything else about the investigations is problematic: interviews aren’t long enough, investigation’s not comprehensive. Investigator are not trained," said Patterson, who called this report an opportunity for MPD to do a "much better job" investigating and training members on deadly force incidents so there are fewer incidents taking place in the future.

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"The whole point of investigating use of force is accountability. And it’s accountability for the officers involved looking backward but it’s also accountability looking forward and there were lots of opportunities for additional training," Patterson added.

The D.C. Police Union Chair called the report, a "political swipe" at their members. Gregg Pemberton wrote in part of a statement:

Mr. Bromwich seems to be engaging in an effort to discredit the decisions of the officers by hypercritically challenging minor aspects of the respective investigations. This speculative report with its overly broad observations that can only come with hindsight, is just another political swipe at the professional and responsible job our members engage in every day.

In addition to the deficiencies noted, the report also suggests that the department appears to have been resistant or "unconcerned with remedying them."The report’s recommendations include:

- Comprehensive investigation and analysis of use of force incidents including actions by all officers leading up to the use of force and any and all opportunities for de-escalation

- Enhanced training for investigators who handle serious use of force cases

- Requiring the Use of Force Review Board (UFRB) to provide specific recommendations on training, policy and best practices

Catherine Young, D’Quan Young’s mother, told FOX 5 this report was the first time she was ever shown details and able to read officer interviews in the case of her son’s death. Investigators say Young died in 2018 after exchanging gunfire with an off-duty police officer. The D.C. auditor report mentioned the following in Young’s case:

"But there is no evidence that Officer Wilson tried at any point to de-escalate his encounter with Mr. Young. Our review of the evidence showed that Officer Wilson failed to take advantage of numerous opportunities to do so, beginning with the initial verbal exchange and extending through to his following Mr. Young up on the sidewalk after their faceoff in the street. Officer Wilson did not identify himself as a police officer. He did not call for backup. He did not call 911."

Megan Lipsky, a student attorney with the Georgetown Law Center’s Civil Rights Clinic, representing Marqueese Alston’s family, told FOX 5 DC, "If anything, this report raises even more questions than it answers. MPD still has not released its internal investigation, the names of all the officers involved, the full autopsy report, the full body-warn camera footage … we’re still waiting on all of those necessary materials to shed light on what happened …"

In 2018, investigators said Marqueese Alston, being chased by officers, exchanged fire with police and died from his wounds. The D.C. auditor report questions the pursuit policy here and also adds, "In addition, we saw no evidence that any officer actually checked Mr. Alston’s vital signs or otherwise attempted to render first aid, as required by MPD policy."

"The audit lists some recommendations of its own, but in our opinion, those recommendations are woefully inadequate. And they don’t address the fact that officers routinely target young, Black residents in the District," Lipsky added.

FOX 5 requested an interview with MPD Acting Chief Robert Contee, who has a confirmation hearing scheduled for later this week.

We received this statement:

"Our interactions with the community must be rooted in legitimacy and equality, which is why it is critically important that there is a thorough review of all aspects of the Metropolitan Police Department. While I am pleased that the Office of the District of Columbia Auditor’s report confirmed that the uses of force in the cases reviewed were justified, we recognize that the loss of any life is tragic, and as a Department, we must ensure that we are doing everything in our power to prevent those situations from occurring. MPD remains committed to ensuring our use of force policies and practices serve as a model for the nation as we continue to increase transparency and broaden the depth of our investigations. A number of the recommendations are current practices at MPD and many are currently aligned with my vision for the agency. Accordingly, MPD agrees with the recommendations and has already begun working on implementation. – Robert J. Contee III, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department"

D.C. Councilmember Charles Allen told FOX 5 he plans to ask Contee about this report during Thursday’s confirmation hearing.

"Those who were killed, their grieving families, the public, and our officers are owed model reviews, including a full investigation of each incident and public transparency of those conclusions," Allen wrote.

To read the complete report, click here.