HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018CV3112 - Sean Slatton V. Fort Collins Police Department, Todd Hopkins, Brandon Barnes And John Hutto - 137F - Exhibit F - Mccambridge Depo Excerpts30(b)(6) City of Fort Collins Lieutenant Adam McCambridge - September 15, 2021
1 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO
2
Civil Action No. 1:18-cv-03112-RBI-STV
3
_________________________________________________________
4
SEAN SLATTON,
5
Plaintiff,
6
vs.
7
CITY OF FORT COLLINS,
8
Defendant.
9
_________________________________________________________
10
VIDEOCONFERENCED 30(b)(6) DEPOSITION OF
11 THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
BY LIEUTENANT ADAM MCCAMBRIDGE
12 September 15, 2021
_________________________________________________________
13
VIDEOCONFERENCED APPEARANCES:
14
ON BEHALF OF THE PLAINTIFF:
15 TYRONE GLOVER, ESQ.
Killmer, Lane & Newman, LLP
16 1543 Champa Street, Suite 400
Denver, Colorado 80202
17 Phone: 303-571-1000
Email: tglover@kln-law.com
18
ON BEHALF OF THE DEFENDANT:
19 MARK RATNER, ESQ.
Hall & Evans, LLC
20 1001 17th Street, Suite 300
Denver, Colorado 80202
21 Phone: 303-628-3300
Email: ratnerm@hallevans.com
22
Also Present: John Duval, Esq., City of Fort Collins
23
24
25
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30(b)(6) City of Fort Collins Lieutenant Adam McCambridge - September 15, 2021
1 Q And then lastly -- and this one is not so
2 much for the court reporter -- your attorney may -- or
3 Mr. Ratner may, from time to time, make objections. If
4 he is instructing you not to answer, he will say so. If
5 he doesn't say so, then you can go ahead and answer.
6 He's making those objections to preserve the record.
7 A Okay.
8 Q All right? So let's go ahead and get
9 started.
10 Lieutenant, what is your current job?
11 A Currently, I'm a lieutenant in the
12 Professional Standards Unit at Fort Collins Police
13 Services.
14 Q How long have you been in that job?
15 A I've been in this job since July of last
16 year, so approximately 15 months.
17 Q So has the majority of your time in that
18 job been during the pandemic?
19 A Yes.
20 Q So tell me, how has that been?
21 A Well, it's been unique, I think, like it
22 has for everyone else. Worked remote part of the time,
23 and in the office now full-time, basically. So that adds
24 a level of uniqueness, I guess, as it does for everybody.
25 Q How, if at all, is the job different when
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30(b)(6) City of Fort Collins Lieutenant Adam McCambridge - September 15, 2021
1 Q Okay. So just let's recap briefly so I
2 make sure my timeline is right. In 2013, you were a
3 sergeant in the Patrol Division. May of 2015, you became
4 a sergeant in the Criminal Investigations Division,
5 Impacts Unit. January 2019, you were promoted to a
6 lieutenant in the same Investigations Division. And then
7 in July of last year, you were promoted to lieutenant in
8 Professional Standards?
9 A Yes, sir.
10 Q What do you do as a lieutenant in the
11 Professional Standards Division?
12 A My current role, I'm in charge of the --
13 I'm the accreditation manager for our agency. So I'm in
14 charge of our CALEA accreditation. I also oversee our
15 Crime Analyst Unit, and I oversee our Internal Affairs
16 Unit.
17 Q So Crime Management, Internal Affairs, and
18 I apologize. I didn't get the -- I think there was one
19 other, the first one that you mentioned.
20 A I'm the accreditation manager, so I oversee
21 our accreditation with CALEA. And then the Crime Analyst
22 Unit, and Internal Affairs.
23 Q And how old are you, Lieutenant?
24 A I'm 50.
25 Q And what did you -- before then, you were a
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30(b)(6) City of Fort Collins Lieutenant Adam McCambridge - September 15, 2021
1 lieutenant in the Investigations Unit; and before that,
2 you were a sergeant in that same unit. What was the
3 function -- what was your function in that role?
4 A As a lieutenant?
5 Q Yes.
6 A So as lieutenant, I oversaw several units
7 within the Criminal Investigations Division. I oversaw
8 the Criminal Impact Unit, the Property Crimes Unit, the
9 Financial Crimes Unit, and our group of officers that
10 work at a Drug Task Force. So I didn't oversee the Drug
11 Task Force, per se; I was kind of the personnel liaison
12 for those officers that worked there.
13 Q Okay. And can you attempt to explain in, I
14 guess, as layperson terms, non-legal, non-law
15 enforcement, what exactly it is -- let's first start with
16 what exactly do you do in Professional Standards?
17 A Sure. Majority of my time is spent on
18 accreditation matters. So we are CALEA-accredited, which
19 means that we have gone through a process whereby an
20 organization has gone through and looked at our policies
21 and practices and given us -- awarded us an accreditation
22 after a lengthy process. It's my job to then make sure
23 that we maintain that accreditation. So that's an
24 ongoing process that we reassess every year. And so one
25 of my main functions is to make sure we are prepared for
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30(b)(6) City of Fort Collins Lieutenant Adam McCambridge - September 15, 2021
1 involve?
2 A Well, it involves -- as I said, CALEA sets
3 a group of standards for law enforcement agencies to
4 achieve that are what are considered a gold standard of
5 law enforcement practices based on input from groups
6 from -- or from individuals and organizations around the
7 country. And those folks put together these sets of
8 standards, and then we agree to and do adhere to those
9 standards. So by doing so, we are making sure that our
10 policies and practices are meeting the highest standards
11 of accepted law enforcement practice.
12 Q And, I guess, let's -- specifically as it
13 relates to excessive force --
14 A Okay.
15 Q -- you know, this case -- are you aware of
16 when this incident took place?
17 A Yes.
18 Q So it was -- I'll represent to you that it
19 was 2016. Have those standards and practices, those
20 CALEA standards and practices, changed as it relates to
21 excessive force since 2016?
22 A Well, we were not CALEA-accredited in 2016.
23 We were -- we became CALEA-accredited in 2019. We were
24 in the process -- we began the application process in
25 2015; however, we had not achieved accreditation at that
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30(b)(6) City of Fort Collins Lieutenant Adam McCambridge - September 15, 2021
1 for third-degree trespass? Yes. So...
2 Q (By Mr. Glover) And I guess I'm curious. I
3 mean, what I'm trying to understand is what is -- you
4 know, within the law, what is the policy, practice, and
5 training for your department on a case like this, where
6 you've asked somebody to comply with an order? Is it
7 your practice and training that if they don't immediately
8 comply or they hesitate for even a second, you can
9 just -- you can arrest them? Is that the practice in
10 Fort Collins?
11 MR. RATNER: Object to form. It might
12 actually be outside, a little bit, of the scope.
13 But, Lieutenant, you can answer. Do you
14 understand the question, Lieutenant?
15 THE DEPONENT: Yeah.
16 A The practice is to assess every situation
17 individually. There is no blanket policy or practice
18 that says if you ask somebody to leave, they don't leave,
19 you give them five minutes, and then if they still don't
20 leave, then you can cite them. There is nothing like
21 that, obviously. Every situation, like I said, is
22 different.
23 Now, there are a number of factors that may
24 have gone into Hopkins' decision. I don't know. I
25 wasn't there, and there's not a lot of detail to explain
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30(b)(6) City of Fort Collins Lieutenant Adam McCambridge - September 15, 2021
1 Q Correct.
2 A It is within Fort Collins training, yes.
3 Q Is it within Fort Collins practice?
4 MR. RATNER: Object to form.
5 Q (By Mr. Glover) The use of the baton.
6 MR. RATNER: Same objection.
7 A Yes.
8 Q (By Mr. Glover) And is it in accordance
9 with Fort Collins policy the way that the baton was used
10 in this circumstance?
11 A Yes.
12 Q Tell me a little bit about how -- you know,
13 what is the practice and policy for baton use as it
14 relates to someone who's walking away, like we saw in
15 this situation?
16 MR. RATNER: Object to form.
17 A So this is -- in Officer Hopkins' mind, I
18 believe, based on all this, this is now an obstruction
19 and resisting case. Mr. Slatton has been told he's been
20 detained, and then was told he was under arrest. And
21 Mr. Slatton clearly said, No, I'm not; continued to walk
22 away.
23 So, you know, per our policy, officers are
24 justified using reasonable and appropriate force to
25 effect an arrest. And I think, you know, we had the
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1 original charge of third-degree trespassing, which is a
2 summons-able offense, which progressed into an arrestable
3 offense once we reached the levels of obstruction and
4 then resisting after that.
5 So in those circumstances -- and then you
6 look at the actual circumstance of the officers
7 attempting to arrest Mr. Slatton. What does that look
8 like from an arrest control standpoint? The baton, in
9 this situation, was an option to effect an arrest of a
10 resisting person.
11 Q (By Mr. Glover) So are you saying, in your
12 view, at the moment before -- immediately before Officer
13 Hopkins hits Mr. Slatton on the leg, that he is resisting
14 arrest?
15 A Yes. Mr. Slatton has been told he's under
16 arrest. He's been told to stop. He does not. He says,
17 I'm not under arrest. He uses those words. And
18 continues to walk away, defying the commands of both
19 officers.
20 So, yes, he was resisting arrest prior to
21 being struck with the baton.
22 Q And, Lieutenant, you testified in -- or
23 have you been involved as a patrol officer otherwise in
24 resisting-arrest cases?
25 A Yes.
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30(b)(6) City of Fort Collins Lieutenant Adam McCambridge - September 15, 2021
1 Q So you're familiar with resisting arrest in
2 Colorado, right?
3 A Yes.
4 MR. RATNER: Object to form.
5 Q (By Mr. Glover) And I just want to make
6 sure we're talking about the same resisting arrest. This
7 is the Class 2 misdemeanor of resisting arrest?
8 A Yes, sir.
9 Q And this is the one that makes it a crime
10 to use threats, force, or violence against the police
11 officers to resist arrest, right?
12 A Yes.
13 Q So, I guess, under these circumstances,
14 what threats, force, or violence was Mr. Slatton using
15 prior to being struck with the baton?
16 MR. RATNER: Object to form.
17 A Well, when you -- as an officer, if you
18 tell somebody they're under arrest, they begin to walk
19 away and then use the words, "No, I'm not," that
20 indicates that there is a level of resistance there that
21 is going to require something more than your words,
22 likely, to effect that arrest. In that -- and due to
23 that, that's a dangerous situation for the subject and
24 for the officer who could -- you know, that could result
25 in bodily injury for the officer. So that is possible.
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1 Q (By Mr. Glover) I guess that wasn't my
2 question. You had said that the force was justified
3 because he was resisting arrest at that point. And my
4 understanding of resisting arrest in Colorado is there
5 needs to be a threat, force, or violence against the
6 officer in order for them to be resisting.
7 My question was: At what point prior to
8 being hit with the baton was he using threats, force, or
9 violence against the officer? And if he wasn't, then
10 that could be the answer. If you have other reasons for
11 why you thought it was justified, I think you just
12 articulated it, but my very specific question is: Did
13 you observe any threats, force, or violence in resisting
14 arrest?
15 MR. RATNER: Object to form.
16 A I would -- as an officer, I could interpret
17 his statement of -- in response to, "You're under
18 arrest," his statement of, "No, I'm not," as a threat.
19 Q (By Mr. Glover) And threatening what in
20 particular?
21 A Threatening the fact that the officer --
22 he's basically telling the officer, You're going to have
23 to -- he's telling the officer he's going to have to do
24 more to arrest him or do something to arrest him, because
25 he is not going into custody.
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1 Q Just to finish off the video. So we have
2 the baton strike.
3 (Playing video.)
4 Q And then the OC spray.
5 A Yes.
6 Q So was the OC spray in accordance with Fort
7 Collins training, customs, practices, and policies, in
8 your view?
9 MR. RATNER: Object to form. You mean the
10 use of the OC spray?
11 Q (By Mr. Glover) The use of the OC spray.
12 A Yes. Officer Hopkins was continuing to try
13 to get Mr. Slatton to comply and take him into custody at
14 that point.
15 Q And so in your view, in Fort Collins' view,
16 that amount of force to take him into custody on a
17 summons-able petty offense was appropriate?
18 A Well, at that point, we're not dealing with
19 the petty offense only. We're dealing with the other
20 crimes that have been committed at this point. So
21 there's probable cause for the other related crimes of
22 the actions of Mr. Slatton that happened from the time
23 that he committed the crime of third-degree trespass
24 until he was -- or during the time he was standing there.
25 The application of OC, there's other crimes that occurred
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1 the situation with Mr. Slatton. Was there any sort of
2 Internal Affairs investigation into what happened?
3 A No.
4 Q Was there a use of force investigation?
5 A Yes.
6 Q What is your understanding of what happened
7 during that use of force investigation?
8 A So that investigation was undertaken by
9 Sergeant Heather Moore. She responded -- so these are --
10 that was what we call a Level I use of force. Those
11 are -- on every use of force incident, a supervisor is
12 required to respond and investigate, to respond to the
13 scene and investigate. Sergeant Moore -- the
14 responsibility fell on Sergeant Moore to do this. So she
15 undertook the investigation that night.
16 Q And prior to being involved in this case,
17 were you aware of the use of force investigation?
18 A No.
19 Q Other than Sergeant Moore, you know, who is
20 aware, you know, in Fort Collins of this investigation?
21 A Well, as part of the data collection
22 function after use of force, officers are required to
23 fill out certain documents and certain systems that then
24 transfer up through the chain of command. So those
25 sergeants and lieutenants would ultimately be aware of
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1 after the investigation was completed and the findings
2 were -- and there were findings that were found.
3 Ultimately, as I mentioned before, the
4 officer was exonerated. The CRB reviewed the
5 investigation, confirmed that. And the chief at the time
6 ultimately concurred with that -- with those findings.
7 Q And just a brief detour, so that I have the
8 context as to what would have been, I guess, the process
9 for these Internal Affairs investigations. Just take me
10 through briefly, you know, what happens, who reviews
11 what, who is involved in this exoneration.
12 A So on use -- you know, use of force
13 complaints typically are what we call a level -- well, a
14 Type 2 -- Level 2 complaint -- I'm sorry -- which are --
15 Level 2 complaints are investigated by Internal Affairs
16 and not the officer's supervisor. So use of force
17 complaints are investigated by the sergeant who sits
18 underneath.
19 Those complaints certainly, if they come in
20 in written form and generally otherwise -- the results of
21 that investigation will go to the CRB for review, the
22 Citizens' Review Board, and for their input. And then
23 once their input is made on the investigation, it comes
24 back -- they give a recommendation, both the City manager
25 and the chief of police, whether they concur or don't
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30(b)(6) City of Fort Collins Lieutenant Adam McCambridge - September 15, 2021
1 recommendations on some of these cases. On -- I will say
2 at the Level I uses of force -- and in our policies and
3 procedures, Level 1 uses of force are things like --
4 generally, things like personal weapons, like going
5 hands-on with somebody or using -- using OC spray or
6 baton is considered Level 1 use of force. And those
7 things are investigated and looked at by the supervisor,
8 as we've discussed here today.
9 Higher levels of force, such as using a
10 Taser, maybe using a canine, vehicle pursuit, that
11 elevates it so that those incidents are then looked at by
12 a Force Review Board, a standing Force Review Board, a
13 group of Lieutenants who then do the same kind of thing.
14 You look at it for training, look for supervision, and
15 make recommendations based on that.
16 So -- and, obviously, officer-involved
17 shootings is a Level 3 use of force.
18 Now, any incident can be moved to a level
19 of review by the assistant chief, deputy chief, or chief,
20 obviously. So one of those folks can say, Hey, I would
21 really want a review board or a special review board to
22 look at this particular incident, whatever it is, no
23 matter what level of force was used. So that does
24 happen.
25 Q Isn't it a given that if it goes to the
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