Finally, Walker maneuvered Jenkins into a position where he was face-down in a snowbank, his sweat pants pulled down during the struggle and his bare buttocks exposed. Walker lay on top of him, waiting for backup.

Jeez, the poor guy was only trying to resist surprise buttsecks!

Or "The erase button and it's proper deployment."

But there's a very good reason that the law should assume that failure to provide the video from the required Dash Cam produces a mandatory assumption that the police officer is at fault and knew it.

Cop's Heated E-Mail Defends Officers In Beating

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ―

In an e-mail titled 'Use Of Force,' officer Mike Sauro blasts those who passed judgment on the officers' actions in the violent arrest of Derryl Jenkins.

A 35-year veteran on the Minneapolis police force is defending colleagues accused of going too far during an arrest.

But that's not all. He advocated an approach to the use of force that directly contradicts what his boss, Police Chief Tim Dolan, has said.

The video showed six officers kicking and punching Derryl Jenkins in February. Last month: The city's police chief said he's concerned about some of what he sees there. He asked the FBI to investigate and told supervisors to use the video as a learning and training tool.

That's when Lieutenant Mike Sauro sent an e-mail to his officers in the 4th precinct. The e-mail was titled "Use of Force."

In it Sauro wrote, "What I observed was a controlled use of force by a group of highly trained professional police officers."

Sauro wrote the e-mail in response to a request from Dolan to discuss use of force.

"Clearly Lt. Sauro's concern for the safety of officers was what sparked this. He is very passionate about it," said Deputy Chief Janee Harteau.

Sauro blasts those who passed judgment on the officers' actions. He says it's easy to dissect a force incident in the safety of City Hall or a newsroom.

Deputy Chief Janee Harteau says Sauro's intentions were good, but his e-mail didn't generate the conversation that the department would like to see.

"There certainly are components and his personal view were in the e-mail that are certainly not consistent with views of the MPD," said Harteau.

Sauro is a high-profile supervisor who was the subject of an excessive force civil lawsuit that cost the city of Minneapolis more than $1 million back in the early 90s.

Sauro says if he were in a situation similar to this, he would "strike the suspect with hands, feet and baton."

This is in direct contradiction to what Chief Dolan said after watching the video. He said, "the actions of the first officer on the scene here all appear to be very appropriate. Some of the actions of officers who arrived later, specifically the kicking of the suspect, give me concern. Because of this I am asking for an outside review by the FBI."

Sauro goes on to blast the FBI by saying, "How much expertise does the FBI have in use of force? My experience tells me very little."

In the e-mail, he even questions the FBI's investigation of terrorists before 9/11, asking, "How did that turn out?"

Lt. Mike Sauro: After midnight on January 1, 1991, Lt. Mike Sauro was working off duty in uniform, at a club for a New Year's Eve party, when he arrested and handcuffed Craig Mische, then a twenty-one-year-old student at the College of St. Thomas, during a rowdy event. Mische claims he was kicked and beaten by Sauro in the club's kitchen while his hands were cuffed behind his back. Witnessestestified that they saw Mische being hit by Sauro, while officers contended that Mische was the aggressor.23

In September 1992, federal prosecutors decided not to pursue the case, explaining, "We do not believe there's a reasonable likelihood that a jury would find [Sauro] guilty beyond a reasonable doubt."24 Local prosecutors also reportedly decided not to prosecute Sauro in relation to the alleged Mische beating. Mische filed a police misconduct civil lawsuit, and the city council decided against settling with Mische for $415,000, and instead went to trial.25 Their decision followed Sauro's campaign on television and radio news shows, defending his record and convincing the public and the council that the city would win if they went to court.26

Sauro was wrong, and his conduct and the department's indifference cost the city $700,000, the largest civil award in a police misconduct case in the city's history; with attorneys' fees the case would cost the city over $1 million.27 The jury found the city liable for "maintaining a custom of deliberate indifference to complaints about excessive force in the department."28 At the time of the civil trial, Sauro had in his nineteen-year career reportedly been the subject of thirty-two internal affairs complaints, many alleging excessive force; none were sustained, and he was promoted through the ranks.29 In the Mische case, the department reportedlydecided not conduct an internal affairs investigation at all because its findings could have had a detrimental effect on the city's attempts to defend itself in the civil trial.30

Sauro had been the defendant in an excessive force lawsuit that was settled for $350,000 in 1991. And in 1996, the city agreed to pay $300,000 to another plaintiff in relation to an alleged beating by Sauro on the same night as the Mische incident.31 In December 1996, the city settled for $25,000 with yet another plaintiff alleging excessive force used by Sauro in a September 1992 incident.32 While a sergeant, Sauro led the 1989 mistaken raid on the home of an elderly couple who were killed in a fire set off by the officers' use of a "flash bang" grenade - an incident that reinforced distrust of the police in the black community and led to the creation of the CRA.33 (See above.)

Despite the large civil jury award and two attempts to fire him, Lieutenant Sauro has successfully fought efforts to have him removed from the force. In July 1997, an appellate court upheld an arbitrator's ruling that Sauro had been fired improperly in 1995 and should be reinstated with seniority and back pay.34 Sauro's lawyers had argued that the complainant's injuries were not consistent with his testimony and that the mayor's attempt to rescind a suspension ordered by the police chief and to instead dismiss Sauro constituted double jeopardy.35 Sauro was fired a second time by Chief Olson in July 1996 after an internal investigation into another incident. Chief Olson reportedly found Sauro's conduct, "incompetent, unprofessional andinappropriate, at best. At worst it constituted criminal assault." The dismissal was subsequently reversed by an arbitrator who cited the alleged victim's inconsistencies and lack of credibility.36 Lieutenant Sauro was again reinstated with rank and back pay.37 In an interview with Human Rights Watch, Chief Olson stated that the arbitration system was perhaps the greatest barrier he faces in his efforts to hold police officers accountable for misconduct.38

The word I heard, years back, was that when the hit was done on Jerry Haaf, it was Sauro that was the target, and the triggerman screwed up. But that was just hearsay.

In the Mische case, the department reportedly decided not conduct an internal affairs investigation at all because its findings could have had a detrimental effect on the city's attempts to defend itself in the civil trial.

I've heard the same story. Don't know if it's true. I do know that Sauro's absence from the MPD would have saved Minneapolis taxpayers a lot of money -- he's a very expensive thumper to maintain.