Chief Jacobson with Assistant Chief David Zannelli and Capt. John Healy at Tuesday's presser.
Police Chief Karl Jacobson disagreed Tuesday with a finding by the city’s Civilian Review Board (CRB) — then promised to use the episode as a spur to work better with its members and “do better” as a department.
Jacobson delivered that message during a multi-subject press conference at 1 Union Ave. police headquarters.
He was responding to a CRB recommendation that he reconsider an internal affairs (IA) investigation into how an officer handled a 2019 arrest of a man involved in a car crash.
The IA report concluded the officer, Mark Salvati, did not use excessive force in the incident. The CRB concluded that he did. Read a full story about that here.
Jacobson said Tuesday that the CRB recommendation prompted him to review the case. He found that Officer Salvati in fact worked hard to limit harm done to the arrestee in the case, he said.
The case involved a driver who sped away form the scene of a shooting, drove his Cadillac through a red light and crashed into a pickup truck at the intersection of Quinnipiac Avenue and East Grand Avenue. The truck rolled over.
He was badly injured. Salvati arrived to find the man on the ground, bloodied — with a handgun close by.
Salvati removed the gun. He called for medical backup. The man told him that he had been carjacked and other people were involved, according to Jacobson. So Salvati questioned him in order to find out if other people needed emergency medical help. The CRB faulted Salvati for conducting an interview while the man was badly injured. Jacobson said Salvati was right to engage in the conversation the driver started, in the interest of learning if he had to act fast to help others.
Salvati also saw the man reach for a shard of glass. According to the police, the man ignored Salvati’s commands not to grab the shard. He picked it up, turned toward Salvati, and refused to drop it, according to Jacobson. At that point Salvati kicked the man in the chest and stepped on his hand to remove the piece of glass.
The CRB questioned whether Salvati was really in danger and concluded he shouldn’t have kicked the man — and potentially furthered his severe injuries. The CRB called on Jacobson to discipline Salvati for use of excessive force.
Jacobson said he respectfully disagrees with that assessment.
“I’ve reviewed the incident. I concur with the internal affairs investigation,” he said.
He said Salvati could have used a taser or pepper-spray to immobilize the man and retrieve the glass shard. But that would have potentially caused more harm. Kicking was a necessary, and less dangerous, use of force, Jacobson said.
That said, Jacobson added, “I’m not saying everything we do is right.”
He said the department’s “use of force people” will review the body cam video footage and use it in training officers to explore alternative options. “We can get better. We can give officers other suggestions.”
Jacobson, who became police chief on July 5, added there needs to be closer collaboration between the department and the CRB. He said he’d like to offer opportunities for CRB members to go on more ride-along with cops and learn more about how the department approaches use-of-force decisions. He also pledged to keep in closer contact with CRB members.
“I’m not blaming the CRB. I blame myself for that. I’m the chief. I should have gotten this working faster,” Jacobson said. “I’m looking forward to working more with them. Criticism makes us better. I’m going to reach out to the CRB immediately. I’m going to take it upon myself to be better.”
Watch Jacobson address the CRB recommendation beginning at the 17:25 mark in the above video.
The right call.