A Louisiana officer was arrested on Friday for allegedly using a taser on a suspect who addressed him using racial slurs.
Monroe police officer Timothy Miller was arrested after an investigation was launched to look into his use of force while dealing with a suspect during an arrest on September 24, KNOE 8 News reported.
Miller reportedly asked a suspect to get into his patrol unit numerous times but the suspect refused to comply with orders, according to an affidavit for the arrest warrant.
The suspect was reportedly trying to give his phone to a family member before Miller took out his taser. But Miller allegedly used the taser when the suspect started throwing out racial slurs while he was seated in Miller’s patrol unit, according to the news outlet.
Miller, on Friday, was charged with aggravated battery and malfeasance in office after he was arrested by the Ouachita Parish Sheriff’s Office, according to a statement released by the city of Monroe, KNOE 8 News reported. Miller was placed on administrative leave on September 27.
The Monroe Police Department asked the Sheriff’s office to conduct a full independent criminal investigation into Miller’s actions after the department reviewed body camera footage.
“Our police officers face difficult and challenging situations every time they put on the uniform and are forced to react in tense, evolving circumstances.” Monroe Police Department Chief Victor Zordan said, according to KNOE 8 News. “The job is understandably difficult, but I expect nothing less than the highest levels of professionalism and integrity from our officers in the performance of their duties.”
“I will continue to hold officers accountable to these standards and take action where necessary to ensure that those standards are met,” Zordan added.
Monroe Mayor Friday Ellis said that officers are expected to act within the “bounds of the law.”
“I support the hard work and dedication of our officers who devote their lives to ensuring the safety of ours, but I expect all officers to operate within the bounds of the law,” Ellis said in the statement. “When officers step outside those bounds, they, like any other citizen, will be held accountable.”
Newsweek reached out to the mayor’s office, Monroe Police Department and Ouachita Parish Sheriff’s Office for comment.
Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Some police brutality incidents have been recently reported in different parts of Louisiana. On October 13, a state trooper who accused his department of police brutality was told he will be fired for violating the department’s policy.
Thirty-three-year-old Carl Cavalier was accused of violating the department’s policy when he spoke out about the death of Ronald Greene during a 2019 arrest.
Louisiana troopers at the time reported that Greene died from injuries he had from a car accident after a high-speed chase. But, an autopsy later revealed that Greene died of “cocaine-induced agitated delirium complicated by motor vehicle collision, physical struggle, inflicted head injury, and restraint.”
“There are killers,” Cavalier said in an interview with WWL-TV in August, “and there are people who are OK with the killers being on the job. And that’s the people who are a part of the cover-up.”
“I considered it a murder,” Cavalier continued. “Because why else would we hesitate to be transparent about it? Why else would we not do our jobs and hold these guys accountable? Why else? What other reason?”
