CMPD's Foster Defends Officers

While the public condemns 18-year-old Tanisha Williams, who for all practical purposes is already dead, CMPD Major Vicki Foster is telling reporters that what happened to Williams is acceptable.

“It certainly appears that those officers didn’t violate policy,” said Maj. Vicki Foster.

Foster added that police don’t immediately intervene simply because someone is banging their head. She said that could escalate a situation to a point where an officer has to use additional force.

“It’s not an automatic thing that we do,” Foster said. “If we open the door for everyone that bangs their head, we’re going to fight every single time.”

But the department’s directives manual, says otherwise. In 500-008 the directives require:

“Visual observation of prisoners must be maintained by the transporting officers at all times, except during certain medical examinations that require privacy. Under no circumstance will a prisoner in custody be left unattended in a transport vehicle or other.”

But CMPD directives don't stop there, under 500-003 Management of Subjects In Extreme Distress the directives require that officers summon EMS, and do everything in their power to protect a subject.

Excited Delirium: is defined as a condition in which the heart races wildly, often because of drug use or mental illness, and finally gives out causing death.

1. Excited delirium is the result of a serious and potentially life threatening medical condition. The person can appear normal until they are questioned, challenged or confronted. Further confrontation, threats and use of force will almost certainly result in further aggression and even violence. Attempting to restrain and control these individuals can be difficult because they frequently possess unusual strength, pain insensitivity and instinctive resistance to any use of force.

Once it is determined that a subject may be at-risk, the incident shall be managed as a medical emergency, in addition to whatever law enforcement response may be required under the circumstances, including the use of reasonable force.

Given the hysterics and extreme violent reaction to being arrested for such a minor offense CMPD officers should have recognized that they had a potential life threatening situation on their hands.

Cedar Posts spoke with two veteran CMPD Officers who both agree that the officers on the scene clearly failed to follow the directives.

Cedar's Take: So why does Foster continue to spin the event and claim CMPD Officers reacted appropriately?

The only explanation is that Foster is delusional, and truly believes what she is saying despite the over whelming evidence. A symptom of the Rodney Monroe regime that operates with a policy of deny, distort, diminish and disavow while controlling the states largest police force.