A redacted and eagerly awaited third-party investigation revealed that the local police department frequently made erroneous arrests and neglected to fully investigate civilian complaints following over a year of protests in a small city in north Alabama over the fatal police shooting of a Black man outside his home.
The Decatur Police Department “often” prosecuted civilians with disorderly behavior and obstruction of governmental activities without conducting a comprehensive investigation into civilian complaints, including use of force events, according to the 43-page report released Thursday.
“There are significant areas that require attention,” according to the report. “The commendable instances of compassionate and empathetic behavior by DPD officers are sometimes overshadowed by occurrences of unprofessionalism or lack of empathy.”
Decatur, which is roughly 30 miles (48 kilometers) from Huntsville, Alabama, is home to about 60,000 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Officers “improperly” detained someone for disorderly behavior on many times, according to the report, “and described the facts of the arrest differently in their arrest report compared with what was observed” in body-camera footage.
According to the article, on other occasions, authorities detained people for merely using foul language.
“DPD should provide additional training to sworn personnel regarding free speech to ensure that citizens’ rights are not infringed upon,” the report suggests.
In 2023, a Black man was shot dead outside his home, sparking widespread protests around the city. The Decatur City Council unanimously decided to employ Green Research and Technology to provide an independent third-party study of the department.
Over 300 hours of body-worn camera footage, two years’ worth of citizen complaints against the department, and more than 100 interviews with Decatur residents and police department staff were all part of the investigation.
According to the study, a disjointed structure for addressing civilian concerns hindered the third-party probe. Internal investigations by the department revealed that some policy infractions, including as failing to turn on the body-worn cameras and improperly restraining of inmates, were “rarely documented.”
According to the study, the third-party investigators were unable to “thoroughly” examine every complaint submitted by community members since some films were incorrectly filed and removed.
Hours after he first saw the redacted report, Decatur Police Chief Todd Pinion held a press conference on Thursday to defend his department.
“There are situations where we could have made better decisions. I believe these are isolated incidents and not a reflection of the overall conduct of our officers or this department,” Pinion stated.
When a tow truck driver attempted to reclaim Steve Perkins’ truck on September 29, 2023, Decatur Police Department officers joined him and shot and murdered Perkins, 39. Mac Bailey Marquette, a former police officer, is facing murder charges and will stand trial in April.
According to the study, policemen “were growing exhausted and becoming emotionally overwhelmed” as tensions between the police and protesters increased on the streets of the small city and at tense city council meetings. Officers were seen agitating and detaining demonstrators on body cam footage, wasting “the opportunity to engage with the protestors professionally.”
The deadly shot was caught on tape from Perkins’ neighbor’s house, which WAFF aired. An cop can be heard yelling, “Police, get on the ground,” which is nearly immediately followed by a barrage of gunshots. Police have not made the encounter’s body camera footage public.
At first, the police department said that Perkins had a gun and had confronted the officers, refusing to drop his weapon when instructed to do so. Later, the department claimed that was untrue and that no such order had been issued.
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Marquette, according to protesters, did not allow Perkins enough opportunity to reply.
In a written request for an immunity hearing submitted in early January, Marquette’s attorneys claimed that he shot his weapon because Perkins had left his home and “rapidly advanced toward the tow-truck and was pointing” a rifle with a flashlight on top “toward the tow-truck driver.”
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Marquette’s defense attorneys stated that the statute’s “stand your ground” immunity, which has been upheld by recent Alabama appellate court rulings, protected their client’s actions.
Defense attorneys wrote, “The defendant fired his duty weapon to eliminate the deadly threat to himself, his fellow officers, and the tow-truck driver out of fear for his life and the lives of others.”
That motion will be heard by Alabama Circuit Judge Charles Elliot on March 25.
