Police leaders called the training “routine” when one recruit died and another was badly injured at their academy. It wasn’t the first time the Evansville Police Department in Indiana had downplayed the use of force, as a series of four deaths on city streets shows.
Published: 18 minutes ago
“C’mon, you got to go home!” another instructor yelled. The message: Hacker needed to fight harder to survive violent encounters on the street. The Big Fight at the Southwest Indiana Law Enforcement Academy underscores a culture of aggression that persists at some police departments, where officers are taught to view virtually everyone they encounter as a potentially deadly threat. That mindset can lead officers to resort quickly to physical force and weapons on patrol.
Evansville was among the departments where AP found use-of-force training, tactics and oversight that was similar to practices in cities where the U.S. Department of Justice has raised concerns over the past decade. In June, for example, the DOJ faulted Phoenix police for training and oversight deficiencies that contribute to escalation and force.
Hacker shaved the beard he wore as a coal miner and proudly showed off his uniform to family. He thought wearing the badge would make him a role model for his boys — all under age 12.For fight day, he was paired with Mike Fisher, a sheriff’s major from a nearby county. A longtime instructor, Fisher had pummeled recruits during a boxing drill two days earlier in what one described as a “beatdown.”
About 15 minutes later, four instructors and recruits carried an unconscious Hacker across the gym as another fight continued. They anxiously waited for an ambulance before rushing Hacker to the hospital in the back of a police car. Video shows Fisher sitting and lying on Corum’s chest, holding him to the mat with an arm around his neck and punching him in the stomach as Corum fought to break free. Corum told Fisher he couldn’t breathe, and one recruit later said the restraint “appeared to be suffocating” him. Fisher put him in a headlock and took him back to the mat.Afterwards Corum couldn’t move his head. His neck felt tight, his right arm trembled. He started walking to his truck to get Tylenol and collapsed.
When dozens of uniformed officers gathered at an Evansville church for Hacker’s funeral a week after he died, Corum was up front – in a wheelchair. Vanderburgh County Sheriff Noah Robinson told the crowd they could honor Hacker by committing themselves to the “truth” – a message, he acknowledged later to AP, intended to stop chatter about what caused Hacker’s death.
Spencer Fomby, a longtime use-of-force trainer, questioned the design of Evansville’s scenario, saying police on patrol would very rarely — if ever — fight a larger person on top of them while exhausted without backup or weapons. He said recruits should be taught to avoid trading strikes or engaging in prolonged ground fights, and instead transition to Tasers or other options.Had academy instructors stopped when Hacker was clearly exhausted, he would have recovered, said Dr.
The coroner announced his ruling weeks later: Hacker died from “exertional sickling due to sickle cell trait.” During exertional sickling, red blood cells become misshapen, causing a drop in blood flow. He said sickle cell trait may have been a contributing factor but Hacker’s medical records don’t prove that. Testing at the hospital did not reveal any sickling — that was only detected later, at the autopsy, when it would be expected after cells were deprived of oxygen.
Fisher, the academy instructor who is a major with the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, declined an interview. He told investigators that he wanted to put Hacker and Corum into uncomfortable positions that would cause their hearts to race, but that he wasn’t there to hurt anyone. Before patrol shifts, training Officer Matthew Taylor required Koontz to recite a saying out loud: “Whoever I am dealing with may try and kill me. I will not make a mistake so that my wife is a widow.” Koontz, who had served stateside in the Army, would later describe it as a profound reminder of the dangers of his new job.
One September evening, a manager at a Honda dealership called 911, worried that an apparently intoxicated man looking for his truck would stumble into traffic. The man, Edward Snukis, a 55-year-old construction contractor and grandfather, was a 12-hour drive from home in St. Clair, Pennsylvania. He had no criminal history and was unarmed but, his son recalled, had started using methamphetamine after a painful divorce.
“Get on the ground or you’ll get it again,” Taylor yelled. Snukis was on the ground. Taylor shocked him a second time. Witnesses were stunned. A woman told police that Snukis was just standing there before the officer grabbed his arm. “I didn’t see him do anything,” she said. Lewis would later say in a lawsuit deposition he didn’t see anything remarkable in body-camera footage. He never learned Taylor required Koontz to recite the saying – which was not department-wide practice — or that Taylor repeatedly punched Snukis. Lewis never talked to the backup officer who in deposition testimony questioned why officers didn’t try to talk to Snukis first. Both Lewis and police union representatives did not respond to AP’s requests for comment.
Coroner Lockyear ruled Snukis’ death was an accident caused by meth. He acknowledged to AP that it is “extremely dangerous” for officers to pile on suspects who are face down but said that’s not why Snukis died, saying Evansville has long been a “meth capital” and the drug causes aggression. Lockyear also said he would only rule a restraint death a homicide – a death at the hands of another – if officers acted recklessly or showed an intent to kill.
The pathologist who conducted Snukis’ official autopsy testified he could not rule out asphyxia as the cause, but added he could not tell since video didn’t clearly show the force. He said if he’d been told that Taylor repeatedly punched Snukis’ head, he would have examined the skull and brain more carefully.
Neither Koontz nor Taylor faced disciplinary action. But weeks later, at the end of his probationary period, Koontz resigned. Department officials had informed him that his attention to officer safety still fell short. Koontz did not return messages seeking comment. The next month, police responded to a motel where an agitated man had been scaring guests. After Steven Beasley resisted handcuffs, an officer threw him to the ground and his head struck a wall, bystander cellphone video showed. Another shocked Beasley with a Taser while he was handcuffed face down, saying he was kicking and trying to bite an officer. Several officers put pressure on his back and head, at times joking and laughing as Beasley, 37, became unresponsive.
This image from Evansville Police Department video shows Evan Terhune, hands cuffed behind his back and his face covered by a spit hood, in the back of a police van in Evansville, Ind., on Nov. 14, 2020. By the time officers opened the van, he was unresponsive. The department closed its investigations of the officers without finding fault, and the county prosecutor’s office said it had no record of reviewing any of the four cases.Lij Hacker holds a photo of his late brother, Asson Hacker, during an interview in Bloomington, Ind., on June 4, 2024.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
A series of deaths and the 'Big Fight': Uncovering police force in one Midwestern cityPolice leaders called the training “routine” when one recruit died and another was badly injured at their academy. Both men had battled the same hulking instructor last year during a tradition known as the “Big Fight.
Read more »
‘Fight, fight, fight’: Local nonprofit hosts 5K at UNF to give children a chance to dreamThousands gathered at the University of North Florida on Saturday to get moving. Runners, walkers and rollers hit the course as a part of the 7th annual Dreams Come True 5K.
Read more »
FTC head Lina Khan fighting Big Tech, Big Pharma and Big GroceriesFederal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan has gone after some of the biggest companies in the U.S. Under President Biden, the FTC has cracked down on big companies they say are hurting consumers.
Read more »
Kroger's Merger Fight Could Reshape How Agencies Decide Big CasesAs Kroger and Albertsons seek to merge, their battle with the FTC over jurisdiction highlights a broader debate about administrative law judges and presidential oversight.
Read more »
USC Trojans vs. Wisconsin: Miller Moss, Ja'Kobi Lane ‘Show Fight’ In 1st Big Ten WinAfter a tough loss against Michigan, USC Trojans quarterback Miller Moss, wide receiver Ja'Kobi Lane, and the entire USC team bounced back emphatically against the Wisconsin Badgers and former defensive coordinator Alex Grinch.
Read more »
Jake Paul-Mike Tyson documentary series due days before big fight“Countdown: Paul vs. Tyson” is set to air in three parts before the boxers’ anticipated fight takes place.
Read more »