Nearly three years after a Ramsey County corrections officer punched and kneed a handcuffed suspect, that staffer is without a job and county officials are vowing to ensure it never happens again.
"The conduct of the corrections officer inflicting significant force on an already restrained individual was extremely disturbing, even more so when other officers were observing and participating in the restraint of the individual," County Board Chairman Jim McDonough said Tuesday after seeing video of the incident for the first time.
The corrections officer involved, Travis VanDeWiele, pleaded guilty last month to misdemeanor disorderly conduct and has resigned his job.
Sheriff Bob Fletcher released the video of the incident, which occurred before he took office this year, and assured the public Tuesday that changes are already underway.
Fletcher announced a slew of policy and staffing changes at the jail as part of his call for a culture shift in the Sheriff's Office. Those changes include a new civilian ombudsman program and complaint system, de-escalation and cultural competence training and an upgrade in video equipment used in the booking area.
Employees also will be required to intervene any time they see excessive use of force, he said. The conduct on the video, he said, "will not be tolerated under my watch."
"It really is disgusting that one human being can treat another human being the way that Mr. Johnson was treated," Fletcher said, referring to Terrell James Johnson, the inmate. "Equally disturbing is the fact that no one else in that video, whether it was the six correctional officers or the two police officers, were willing to step forward and put a hand on Mr. VanDeWiele and say, 'Hold on, I got it from here.' "
The incident is steeped in racial overtones — Johnson is black and VanDeWiele is white — and has ignited tensions between law enforcement and the local black community. Local leaders were blunt in their assessment of the encounter between Johnson and the officers.
