# Jacob Dunkley Mecham

Jacob Dunkley Mecham (born 1991, in Utah) also known as Jake Mecham is a former American law enforcement officer with the Honolulu Police Department and Utah State Trooper.
On August 22, 2020, just 3 months after the murder of George Floyd, Mecham was accused of running up to an African-American man who was sitting down compliantly handcuffed and kneeing him as he sat on the sidewalk and then throwing him on the ground hitting his head and assaulting the African-American with his knee while pulling the handcuffs away from the man's body as his knee pinned the detainee down to the ground. The African-American male, who later was identified as an innocent passerby, suffered concussions and injuries to his shoulders, back and wrists. Mecham did not activate his body-worn-camera and later left the scene. A couple years later, Mr. Mecham resigned from the Honolulu Police Department and transferred to the Utah State Troopers Department.

## 2020 Excessive Force Allegation
### Incident

On August 22, 2020, the victim, who was African-American, was walking along Kalaimoku Street in Waikiki, Oah'u, Hawai'i and happened to walk past 2 African-American males in a Black Mercedes-Benz whom he didn't know. As the victim walked past the Benz with the two other African-American males in it, Honolulu Police Officer Jason Janghoon Cho decided to conduct a random license plate check and discovered that the vehicle had been reported stolen. According to the State and Federal Lawsuits, the officers assumed the victim helped steal the vehicle, even though he never went in the vehicle, due to the fact that all men were African-American. The responding officers ordered all men to the ground and conducted pat-downs and searches on the men. There were apparently no weapons found and all men were handcuffed. The victim told the responding officers the handcuffs were too tight and hurting his hands, the officers refused to loosen them. The victim asked why he was being detained since he didn't know the other two individuals and according to the lawsuit many different reasons were given by the officers including his physical proximity to the vehicle as he walked on the street, his likeness to the description of the suspects being "Black/African-American," he was possibly seen in the vehicle and "we are conducting an investigation". The victim was handcuffed and sat on the sidewalk as the responding officers conducted their investigation. Then Officer Jacob Dunkley Mecham, who was not called to the scene, decided to respond and drove his police vehicle to Kalaimoku Street. He arrived, exited his vehicle and told the other officers to move out of his way and without cause Officer Mecham drove his knee into the handcuffed male's back and threw him to the ground hitting the man's head on the ground. The victim became unconscious and woke up to Mecham yelling and cursing (swearing) at him, the victim told Officer Mecham he was in pain and asked him to stop. Mecham continued kneeing the handcuffed man while pulling the man's handcuffs away from the man's body causing his shoulders to dislocate. When Mecham was finished, he pulled the man up by his handcuffs causing further damage to his shoulders. Mecham, who did not activate his Body-Worn-Camera, quickly left the scene. The victim was later identified as an innocent passerby and was released on the scene. The responding officers did not identify the officer who assaulted him and encouraged the victim to just "go home." The victim requested an Ambulance who inspected him and photographed bruises on the man's back but refused to take him to the Emergency Room even though he asked to go. According to the lawsuit, the EMT respondents told the victim, "the police have a hard job to do" and "there is nothing an ER doctor can do for you."

### Investigation

The victim asked to speak to a Sergeant who attempted to investigate which officer assaulted the man but later the sergeant said, "The officers are refusing to speak to me."
This kicked off an Honolulu Police Commission investigation to investigate police misconduct and particularly excessive force. At the conclusion of the Honolulu Police Commission Investigation which included interviews with the victims, witnesses and nearly all police officers on scene, the Police Commission concluded Officer Jacob Dunkley Mecham had lied and indeed used excessive force against the victim. In his interviews, Officer Mecham said at no point did he throw the victim on the ground, however, video footage and body-worn-camera from another officer's camera depicted the contrary. Later, Honolulu Police Professional Standards Office (Internal Affairs) conducted their own criminal investigation into Officer Mecham and concluded Officer Mecham lied and did in fact use Excessive Force. The Honolulu Police Department recommended that Officer Jacob Mecham be charged for the various crimes against the victim. The victim filed a lawsuit in State court which later was moved to Federal court at the request of the City and County of Honolulu. Officer Mecham later resigned and transferred to the Utah State Troopers working for Utah Highway Patrol.

## Career change and personal life

Later he left the Utah State Trooper High Patrol and began working for Managed Wealth Financial as a specialist and Life Insurance Agent. Jacob Mecham is married to Kelsi Ocon Mecham (from Utah).

## Federal Lawsuit

The now Federal Lawsuit is still pending with a trial date of May 2025 according to PACER.