Smithfield Police Officer Justified In Use Of Force During Arrest, District Attorney Says

District Attorney recommends Smithfield PD pursue enhanced use-of-force training; prohibit officers from working without a properly functioning dash camera

SMITHFIELD – The Johnston County District Attorney’s Office announced Friday afternoon a Smithfield police officer was justified in the use of force during the arrest of a suspect.

On October 18 at 1:55am, Smithfield Police Officer C. Capshaw was operating a marked patrol vehicle equipped with a dashboard camera. The dashboard camera’s video was functioning properly, but the audio portion was not working, according to the District Attorney’s report.

Officer Capshaw observed a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed and stopped the vehicle. The driver of the vehicle was identified as Terrence Ellis. Smithfield Officer B. Bass also arrived on the scene to assist.

When COficer apshaw approached the vehicle, Ellis began cursing and asking why he was stopped. Capshaw immediately observed a strong odor of marijuana. Ellis admitted that he smoked marijuana, and Capshaw found digital scales inside the vehicle consistent with drug paraphernalia. Capshaw also determined that Ellis had a revoked license. Ellis indicated that he was on his way back to work at Amazon.

Despite the Driving While License Revoked Impaired Revocation being an arrestable offense, Capshaw issued a citation to Ellis for Driving While License Revoked, Expired Registration, and Unsafe Tires. Capshaw issued a warning for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and explained to Ellis that he could not drive anymore due to his license being revoked. Ellis advised he would call someone to pick him up from that location.

Approximately four minutes after that traffic stop concluded, Officer Bass observed Ellis drive past him while he was stationary on West Market Street. Bass activated his blue lights and siren and attempted to stop Ellis.

Ellis refused to stop and continued driving west on Market Street. Ellis then turned into the entrance of Amazon as Officer Bass still followed behind with lights and siren activated.

Officer Capshaw arrived on the scene and followed directly behind Ellis as the primary law enforcement vehicle. Ellis still refused to stop, drove past all the parking spots, and proceeded to the front of the Amazon building. Ellis stopped his vehicle at the main entrance of the Amazon building, stepped outside his vehicle, and began cursing and angrily questioning why the officers had stopped him again. At this point, Ellis had driven approximately one mile while refusing to stop for blue lights and siren.

According to the District Attorney’s report, Officer Capshaw approached and requested that Ellis place his hands on the car. Ellis resisted the arrest by pulling his arm away during Capshaw’s attempt to placed the suspect in handcuffs.

Ellis grabbed Officer Capshaw’s exterior vest and began pushing and pulling. Officer Bass came over to assist Capshaw; however, Ellis was able to overpower both officers.

This action hindered Officer Capshaw’s ability to disengage the confrontation, utilize any control or takedown maneuvers, or employ any intermediate weapons, the report stated.

During the encounter, Terrence Ellis struck Officer Capshaw a total of five times with a closed fist in the head and face area. Ellis refused to comply with all instructions and commands from the officers and physically resisted the arrest for over two minutes.

The officers responded to these violent and assaultive actions by using force which was reasonable and necessary to establish control to effect the arrest. Once Ellis ceased his resistant behavior, the officers did not use any further force, the report stated.

In a press release, District Attorney Susan Doyle said that after consulting with an expert in law enforcement use of force tactics who reviewed the videos in detail, it is clear that Officer Capshaw complied with the use of force response tactics taught in North Carolina’s Basic Law Enforcement Training as well as in Smithfield Police Department’s Use of Force Policies.

In response to Terrence Ellis’s resistant and violent actions, Officer Capshaw employed the use of closed fist strikes a total of six times. These strikes were utilized as a distractionary technique to attempt to free the officer from Ellis’s grasp and to obtain physical control during the struggle. These strikes are standard law enforcement procedure and are taught in the Basic Law Enforcement Training curriculum during Subject Control and Arrest Techniques, the report stated.

Closed fist strikes to the head/face area are trained as non-deadly control tactics and are not considered a higher level of force than any other “personal weapons” strike. “Personal weapons” strikes are stunning/distraction techniques applied with bodily force such as closed fist strikes, open hand strikes, and strikes with other parts of the body such as the forearm, elbow, knee, shin, feet, or head. The intention of the strike is not to cause great bodily harm but to disrupt an individual’s motor actions by changing the thought process. These distractionary strikes create a window of opportunity to allow an officer to establish control of an assaultive individual as was evident in this incident. Without the ability to use these techniques, the officer may have to use higher levels of force to gain compliance. It is also not required or expected for an officer to wait to be physically assaulted before using striking techniques.

The use of physical force in the application of an arrest, at times violent in nature, will never have a favorable appearance. We all want to visualize our officers as those who peacefully serve and protect our community; however, we must remember that it is also their duty and responsibility to meet force with force should ever the need arise. “It is his duty when assaulted to stand his ground, carry through on the performance of his duties, and meet force with force so long as he acts in good faith and uses no more force than reasonably appears to him to be necessary to effectuate the due performance of his official duties and save himself from death or great bodily harm.” Morrison v. Martin, 755 F. Supp. 683, 692 (E.D.N.C. 1990), State v. Ellis. 241 N.C. 702, 705, 86 S.E.2d 272 (1955). The standard of review is based upon “objective reasonableness”. In Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386 (1989), the United States Supreme Court stated, “The ‘reasonableness’ of a particular use of force must be judged from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, and its calculus must embody an allowance for the fact that police officers are often forced to make split-second decisions about the amount of force necessary in a particular situation.”

“After reviewing Smithfield Police Department dash camera videos, several videos from bystanders posted to social media, all videos obtained from Amazon parking lot cameras, statements from officers, and consulting with a subject matter expert in law enforcement use of force tactics, I conclude that the officer’s use of force was reasonable and necessary to effect the arrest and therefore, Capshaw was legally justified in his use of force. Although I find the use of force to be reasonable and necessary, there are additional use of force methodologies and arrest tactics beyond that of the basic training level. I would strongly urge Smithfield Police Department to pursue enhanced training to equip officers with additional options in future incidents. Additionally, I would recommend that Smithfield Police Department prohibit officers from working a shift without a properly functioning dash camera with audio and video recording capabilities,” District Attorney Doyle stated in the release.