A former Delaware police officer was convicted of crimes related an excessive force incident that took place in September 2021, according to a press release from the state’s attorney general.
A jury found Samuel Waters guilty Monday of felony Tampering With Public Records in the First-Degree, Falsifying Business Records, Assault in the Third-Degree, and Official Misconduct. According to the state’s Department of Justice, the conviction marks “the first conviction at trial in a police use of force case during Attorney General Kathy Jennings’ tenure.”
Waters reportedly smashed Dwayne Brown‘s head against the wall of a convenience store and then lied about the circumstances of the incident and subsequent arrest in official reports.
From the Delaware Department of Justice:
The Division of Civil Rights & Public Trust (DCRPT) first opened its investigation into Samuel Waters after discovering footage of a September 21, 2021 incident in which he repeatedly forced a man’s head against a plexiglass window, causing lacerations and bruising. The incident came to DCRPT’s attention after surveillance video of the arrest went viral.
Wilmington PD supervisors and investigators informed DCRPT that Waters had failed to turn his body worn camera on when he should have (and regularly failed to do so), that he had lied in official documentation of the incident, and that just 9 days prior he was involved in another excessive force incident wherein he used his nightstick to repeatedly apply downward pressure on the back of a victim’s neck, pushing their face into the back of a vehicle and causing injuries. WPD’s Use of Force instructor informed DCRPT that the force Waters employed was against policy and inconsistent with how WPD officers are trained.
In other words, Waters’ body camera was not activated at the time of the incident, but security-camera footage from inside the store shows Waters confront Brown, and within seconds pressing Brown against a plexiglass wall and grabbing the back of his head and driving it multiple times into the glass before the two appear to go to the ground.
Brown told the jury that didn’t make any attempt to peacefully talk to him and instead “started at ‘Turn around, put your hands behind your back.’”
“That’s not initiating a conversation; that’s a demand,” Brown told the jury.
Waters then took Brown outside and placed him under arrest for harassment and resisting arrest — charges that were later dropped.
Watch the security camera footage below:
Update: He’s angry he got his head slammed into a wall. Cop accidentally admitted on body-cam he assaulted suspect, leading to conviction. [officer facing 0 to 8-years]
by u/real-m-f-in-talk in worldnewsvideo
