FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO): The City of Fort Wayne and the American Civil Liberties Union jointly announced that they have resolved injunction claims in a still-pending lawsuit filed against the City in the wake of protests in downtown Fort Wayne, following the death of George Floyd.
Multiple discussions were held with an independent mediator, that ended in an agreement in principle over the following points, taken directly from legal documents:
- Persons have the right to engage in non-violent protests within constitutional and legal bounds. This generally allows for non-violent protests in parks, sidewalks, and on streets that have been closed to vehicular traffic consistent with the general practices and policies of the Fort Wayne Police Department (“FWPD”). The existing policies and procedures of the FWPD, developed over time, following existing case law and the training curriculum approved by the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy, promote and protect these rights.
- In circumstances where non-violent protesters enter public streets unlawfully, the FWPD, consistent with its general practices and policies, will take reasonable measures to temporarily close streets and/or to divert vehicular traffic until the unlawful assembly of protesters in the street can be cleared.
- FWPD, in accordance with its existing policies and procedures and applicable governing law, including the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, will use force that is objectively reasonable under the circumstances presented. Whenever circumstances permit, FWPD will continue to make reasonable efforts to deescalate any potentially unlawful situation presented during a protest prior to using force.
- Unlawful activities by protesters may require the FWPD, consistent with its established policies, including but not limited to the Public Safety Response Team (“PSRT”) Policy, to establish an emergency incident area or to declare an unlawful assembly or to make other dispersal orders. If the FWPD establishes an emergency incident area or an unlawful assembly or makes other dispersal orders, the location will be limited in scope to the area where the unlawful activity is occurring and will be narrowly tailored to the reasons for establishing the emergency incident area or declaring an unlawful assembly or the making of the dispersal orders. Absent an emergency, the FWPD will make reasonable attempts to notify persons within the area to leave and the routes that they should take to leave the emergency incident area or unlawful assembly. These measures may include, but not be limited to, general notices through loudspeakers, both on the ground and through drones; personal oral notice delivered by law enforcement personnel; and, geofencing. The FWPD will also make the same reasonable attempts, utilizing those same measures, notifying persons approaching the area that they are not allowed to enter the area.
- In the absence of an emergency incident area being established, or an unlawful assembly being declared, or a curfew being imposed, persons who are occupying sidewalks or parks, and who are not involved in unlawful activity, will not be ordered to disperse, and force will not be used against them unless the person is reasonably perceived to present an imminent threat of property damage or bodily injury. In the event an emergency incident area is established, or an unlawful assembly is declared or dispersal orders are given, the FWPD will not intentionally target those persons complying or attempting to comply unless they are committing a criminal act.
- FWPD acknowledges that the use of any chemical agent, including personal protective devices, is a use of force and that its use must be reasonable. When feasible, directives and warnings will be given that the deployment of personal protective devices is imminent.
- Absent exigent circumstances, prior to deploying crowd control-type chemical agents (i.e. chemical agents other than personal protective agents) against broad threat areas related to protesters committing unlawful acts, FWPD will take reasonable measures to announce the intention to use crowd control-type chemical agents and the announcements will be made through a variety of delivery systems to be heard, seen, or understood by anyone in the surrounding area. Absent exigent circumstances, announcements will be made through a variety of delivery systems in a manner to allow protesters and others the opportunity to comply and to leave the area. Consistent with its established policies, including but not limited to the PSRT Policy, FWPD will consider the safety of uninvolved citizens and those persons not engaged in unlawful activity.
- Consistent with existing policies, FWPD will not fire impact munitions indiscriminately into crowds; FWPD will not use direct-fired, impact munitions against non-violent or passively resistant protesters; and less-lethal, impact munitions shall, in all instances, be used only when it is objectively reasonable to do so and shall only be used to target persons engaged in conduct reasonably perceived to pose an imminent threat of property damage or bodily injury, persons actively engaged in such conduct, or persons resisting or interfering with an arrest.
The legal documents say that the ACLU and Plaintiffs in the case will dismiss their litigation in the above 8 points, however, damage claims will remain to be litigated if not resolved by agreement of both parties. Additionally, the documents said that both parties continue to have disagreements about certain legal standards that apply to the City of Fort Wayne, as well as certain facts related to claims in the litigation.
The agreement on these eight points do not constitute an admission of any wrongdoing by the City of Fort Wayne, The Fort Wayne Police Department or any individual officers.
City, ACLU; Oct. 28, 2021City ACLU additional information Oct 28 2021
1 comment
IT IS GREAT that Fort Wayne officials are getting together with groups to address issues in the community. Sometimes perception is different than reality. To help people express positions publicly there should be a system where individuals and groups can get a permit to protest and allow there voices to be heard peacefully. This would also allow time for the police to block off streets and divert traffic when needed. In the absence of a peaceful and lawful activity the protesters and there legal representation should be responsible for reimbursing the city for the extra cost associated with the nonpeaceful activity. If the lawyers were held financially responsible there would be better accountability. From what I saw downtown this was not a peaceful assembly. The right of way to area buildings was impeded without warning. The cause was just but the execution detracted from the message of racial injustice and support for the cause.