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The city of Syracuse has agreed to pay $500,000 to settle a claim of excessive use of force by the Syracuse Police Department.

Tony Jennings, a resident of Syracuse, filed a lawsuit in January 2017 alleging excessive use of force and racial profiling by three SPD officers during a January 2016 arrest. The city’s Citizens Review Board ruled that the officers racially profiled, used excessive force and conducted an illegal search, syracuse.com reported. The CRB also found that an officer filed a false report.

The two officers, Jeremy Decker and Darrin Ettinger, were part of SPD’s Crime Reduction Team at the time of the arrest. The CRT, which was disbanded in 2019 due to staffing shortages, was a group of SPD officers tasked with “proactively” patrolling high-crime areas in Syracuse to prevent crime and gun violence.

A third officer, Robert Ocker, was also named in the original lawsuit, but charges against him, the city and SPD were dropped. The racial profiling charges were also dropped, syracuse.com reported.

The Syracuse City Common Council approved the settlement in June, according to syracuse.com. The city agreed to the payment in August.

Jennings was arrested and charged with two counts of possession of a controlled substance and resisting arrest. Joseph Moran, president of the Syracuse Police Benevolent Association, said in a statement to syracuse.com that the officers’ use of force in the situation was appropriate and not excessive.

“The officers did not violate any law, policy or procedure, and they put forth their best efforts to keep the public safe from a violent and dangerous individual,” Moran said in the statement.

According to filing documents from the original lawsuit, Jennings was sitting in a car with a friend in the 100 block of Radisson Court in Pioneer Homes when the encounter occurred. Decker and Ettinger, who were patrolling the area at the time, claimed to see Jennings and his friend making “furtive movements” in the car and approached, the lawsuit stated.

Officers claimed the pair made the movements after they shined a light on them, but Jennings said officers never shined a light, syracuse.com reported. The officers observed a black scale with white powder residue on the dashboard of the car, according to the lawsuit. They then handcuffed his companion and asked Jennings to exit the car while they searched him for contraband.

When Jennings exited the vehicle, Decker allegedly tackled him to the icy pavement. The officers claimed he was fleeing, according to the lawsuit. However, Jennings reported that he only turned away when Decker put his hands in the rear of his pants during the search because he felt violated.

Decker ordered Jennings to stay on the ground and Ettinger approached and struck Jennings once on the side of the head, the lawsuit stated. The CRB found that Jennings was not resisting arrest because he was being forcibly held, syracuse.com reported.

The CRB recommended that the officers receive letters of reprimand in their files for a year and be retrained on proper report writing as well as stop and frisk procedures, according to syracuse.com. The CRB’s power is limited to recommendations, however, so it is unknown whether SPD implemented the recommended actions.

Decker and Ettinger were previously involved in a police shooting while on the CRT. Ettinger shot and killed Sahlah Ridgeway in February 2016 after she refused to put down a shotgun while the officers were responding to a drug deal complaint call.

An Onondaga County grand jury determined that Ettinger acted appropriately to Ridgeway threatening him with a firearm. The two did not face charges and a lawsuit filed by Ridgeway’s family was dismissed.

Published on September 27, 2023 at 12:38 am

Contact Stephanie: spwright@syr.edu