There was also testimony by other police officers regarding the appropriate force used under these circumstances. Sergeant Jeff Mordahl of the Elk River Police Department testified that other than directing a suspect by walking him out, there is no reason to have physical contact with a compliant handcuffed suspect. Donald Davis, a former police officer and current deputy commissioner for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, testified that it is excessive force for an officer to put his hands around the neck of a compliant, handcuffed suspect who is being held by another officer. In addition, both Corporal Hurd, who was present, and Sergeant Thomas Tyler of the Elk River Police Department, who conducted the internal investigation, believed that Officer Rollins conduct constituted excessive force. All force beyond what is reasonably required to successfully effect legitimate self-defense or any other lawful purpose.
Excessive force is always unnecessary force.
Whether Officer Rollins grabbed the juvenile's neck or jaw, the agency's decision that Officer Rollins did not use excessive force was unsupported by the substantial evidence of the record. Furthermore, the agency's decision was arbitrary and capricious. The handcuffed and compliant juvenile was under the control of Corporal Hurd. There is no evidence that the juvenile posed a flight risk or a threat of physical harm. To the contrary, Officer Rollins used physical force to extract information from the juvenile in violation of the juvenile's Fourteenth Amendment rights.