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Police chief defends officers' actions during car stop
By Philip Gambini philip.gambini@niagara-gazette.com
A criminal justice student in Niagara Falls was left shaken Tuesday morning after uniformed officers mistook him for a wanted felony suspect.
Daequan Overton, 19, a student at Niagara Community College, was pulled over on Niagara Street at approximately 10:30 a.m. by a U.S. marshall and a member of the Niagara Falls Warrants Unit in an unmarked police van after being followed from the 600 block of 7th Avenue. Officers approached the vehicle, one holding a flashlight and the other with his gun at his hip, before asking Overton to roll the window down. After realizing that Overton was not the individual they were looking for, they let him go.
According to Niagara Falls Police Superintendent Bryan DalPorto, the officers misidentified Overton for an unnamed individual with a violent history and outstanding federal warrant.
“They identified a person driving a car as best as they could see as the car passed,” DalPorto said. “They pulled over the car and after they ascertained that it was not the person, they let them go.”
Nonetheless, Overton and his passenger, Henry Scott, were both left shocked and frightened from the incident.
“I was nervous,” Overton said. “I didn’t do anything wrong, but a gun is threatening regardless of who is holding it.”
Scott, 50, a carpenter doing work at Overton’s grandmother’s house, advised Overton as the officers approached the car to be still and remain calm.
“Because of all the stuff that’s been in the news lately,” Scott said, “I feared for our life.”
Scott said he did not sleep the night after the event, and that he prayed. He felt it was unfair that Overton be subjected to the event, calling him a hard worker and a “brilliant kid.” He wants to seek a lawyer, and characterized the incident as harassment.
Overton emphasized that officers’ silence as they approached the vehicle was what made him the most panicked about the situation.
“I’m not going against the fact that they pulled me over,” he said. “They noticed the car, and it was similar to the car their suspect was driving ... But they’re not saying anything, nothing to warn me. The way they approached the car was dangerous.”
Without communication, Overton said, there was an overwhelming fear about the potentiality of the situation. He questioned what could have happened if he had been a more anxious individual, if he was not educated in criminal justice, or if he had been prone to panic attacks.
“You never know how you’re going to react in a situation like that,” he said. “It was a mistake, but it could have been a fatal mistake.”
According to DalPorto, the officers quickly left the scene with an apology, though Overton and Scott noted that the officers questioned if the two had been drinking alcohol that day based on a cup in of Kool-Aid in the car.
DalPorto said that the vehicle approach was a “judgement call by the officers on the street” and that there were many ways in which they could have conducted the evaluation. He said that the two officers followed standard protocol.
“Do they need to start yelling and screaming to get out of the car?” he said. “That may create more panic. That could have escalated the situation.”
DalPorto called the event “unfortunate, but unpreventable.” He said that he had reached both Overton and members of his family by phone. He stressed that the man police were looking for had a history of violence, and that the officers needed to take precautions for their own safety.
“I reached out because (Overton) ... felt it was an unjustified situation,” DalPorto said. “Once I find out, as a police chief, if an individual feels they have been wronged, I let them know about the complaint process. Sometimes complaints are justified, sometimes they are not.”
Overton himself plans to be a police officer one day, and says the event will do nothing to discourage that goal.
“I’m living my simple life doing what I had to do that day,” he said. “It won’t effect me. I feel like this is my dream and what I want to do. This makes me more eager to change how police conduct themselves in the community.”
http://www.niagara-gazette.com/news...cle_979b7ad7-35db-5b53-92a9-3db1b06a3210.html
By Philip Gambini philip.gambini@niagara-gazette.com
A criminal justice student in Niagara Falls was left shaken Tuesday morning after uniformed officers mistook him for a wanted felony suspect.
Daequan Overton, 19, a student at Niagara Community College, was pulled over on Niagara Street at approximately 10:30 a.m. by a U.S. marshall and a member of the Niagara Falls Warrants Unit in an unmarked police van after being followed from the 600 block of 7th Avenue. Officers approached the vehicle, one holding a flashlight and the other with his gun at his hip, before asking Overton to roll the window down. After realizing that Overton was not the individual they were looking for, they let him go.
According to Niagara Falls Police Superintendent Bryan DalPorto, the officers misidentified Overton for an unnamed individual with a violent history and outstanding federal warrant.
“They identified a person driving a car as best as they could see as the car passed,” DalPorto said. “They pulled over the car and after they ascertained that it was not the person, they let them go.”
Nonetheless, Overton and his passenger, Henry Scott, were both left shocked and frightened from the incident.
“I was nervous,” Overton said. “I didn’t do anything wrong, but a gun is threatening regardless of who is holding it.”
Scott, 50, a carpenter doing work at Overton’s grandmother’s house, advised Overton as the officers approached the car to be still and remain calm.
“Because of all the stuff that’s been in the news lately,” Scott said, “I feared for our life.”
Scott said he did not sleep the night after the event, and that he prayed. He felt it was unfair that Overton be subjected to the event, calling him a hard worker and a “brilliant kid.” He wants to seek a lawyer, and characterized the incident as harassment.
Overton emphasized that officers’ silence as they approached the vehicle was what made him the most panicked about the situation.
“I’m not going against the fact that they pulled me over,” he said. “They noticed the car, and it was similar to the car their suspect was driving ... But they’re not saying anything, nothing to warn me. The way they approached the car was dangerous.”
Without communication, Overton said, there was an overwhelming fear about the potentiality of the situation. He questioned what could have happened if he had been a more anxious individual, if he was not educated in criminal justice, or if he had been prone to panic attacks.
“You never know how you’re going to react in a situation like that,” he said. “It was a mistake, but it could have been a fatal mistake.”
According to DalPorto, the officers quickly left the scene with an apology, though Overton and Scott noted that the officers questioned if the two had been drinking alcohol that day based on a cup in of Kool-Aid in the car.
DalPorto said that the vehicle approach was a “judgement call by the officers on the street” and that there were many ways in which they could have conducted the evaluation. He said that the two officers followed standard protocol.
“Do they need to start yelling and screaming to get out of the car?” he said. “That may create more panic. That could have escalated the situation.”
DalPorto called the event “unfortunate, but unpreventable.” He said that he had reached both Overton and members of his family by phone. He stressed that the man police were looking for had a history of violence, and that the officers needed to take precautions for their own safety.
“I reached out because (Overton) ... felt it was an unjustified situation,” DalPorto said. “Once I find out, as a police chief, if an individual feels they have been wronged, I let them know about the complaint process. Sometimes complaints are justified, sometimes they are not.”
Overton himself plans to be a police officer one day, and says the event will do nothing to discourage that goal.
“I’m living my simple life doing what I had to do that day,” he said. “It won’t effect me. I feel like this is my dream and what I want to do. This makes me more eager to change how police conduct themselves in the community.”
http://www.niagara-gazette.com/news...cle_979b7ad7-35db-5b53-92a9-3db1b06a3210.html
shit is real in LA
