Juneau’s Police Department has released its internal policy on how and when officers can use force.
Earlier this week, Juneau Assembly asked to see the written policy and Chief Ed Mercer refused to turn it over without first consulting with the police department’s legal team.
Deputy Chief David Campbell said Thursday that using force is always something that’s going to be used in police work. But, it has to be justified.
During a lunch meeting with the city’s Chamber of Commerce, Campbell said that for people who aren’t used to seeing officers use pepper spray or a taser — it can be difficult to figure out what is justified.
“For people that aren’t used to living in this world, you can see something that might be reasonable and necessary and it might look really bad,” Campbell said.
During the chamber meeting, both Campbell and Mercer brought up the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. A widely shared video of Floyd’s death shows a police officer kneeling on his neck for several minutes during an arrest, even as Floyd repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe.
Campbell said what happened in Minneapolis was outrageous.
“We don’t train like that,” he said.
Juneau joins the Anchorage’s Police Department which released its written policy on Tuesday.
The City and Borough of Juneau will hold a digital listening session to hear community concerns on policing, racism and social justice on June 17 at 7 p.m.
