Muncie Police Department

The Muncie Police Department is the primary law enforcement agency for the city of Muncie, Indiana. It is one of three law enforcement agencies located in Muncie, along with the Delaware County Sheriff's Department and the Ball State University Police Department. MPD's current Chief of Police is Steve Stewart, who has been in office since January 2012. MPD is based in only one police station which serves the entire city, and it is located within the City Hall building in downtown Muncie, adjacent to the Delaware County Jail. The Muncie Police Department features a Uniform Division, Traffic Enforcement Division, Criminal Investigations Division, Records Division, Domestic Violence Unit, Narcotics Unit, and SWAT Team.

The Muncie Police are perhaps most famous for hosting the 2007 reality television series Armed & Famous, which featured celebrities Erik Estrada, La Toya Jackson, Jack Osbourne, Trish Stratus, and Jason Acuña (more commonly known as "Wee Man" from the television program Jackass) while they served as reserve police officers in the Muncie community.

Police Misconduct

On September 7, 2009, Muncie Police Officer Richard Howell spotted 36-year old Kenneth Lamonte Hardy leaving a convenience store at approximately 11:37 a.m.^[1] Officer Howell was aware that Kenneth Hardy had open warrants for felony offenses and approached Hardy while in full uniform. Kenneth Hardy cites this incident with claims of excessive force and Police misconduct by the Muncie Police Department.

Kenneth Hardy recognized Officer Howell as a Muncie Police Department employee. Officer Howell stated that he informed Kenneth Howell that he had open warrants for his arrest and reached for Kenneth Hardy's wrists to handcuff and place him under arrest. According to Officer Howell, when he reached reached for his handcuffs to place Mr. Hardy under arrest, Mr. Hardy jerked his wrist free and began to flee from the scene. Mr. Hardy testified that he ran because he did not want to go to jail. Officer Howell testified at this point that he loudly commanded Mr. Hardy to stop running, but Mr. Hardy did not obey the command and continue to run southwest from the convenience store into a residential alley. Officer Howell chased Mr. Hardy, and once Officer Howell was within 8–10 feet of Mr. Hardy he testified that Mr. Hardy allegedly stopped running and turned around toward Officer Howell. Seeing that Mr. Hardy had stopped running and turned around as the officer had instructed, Officer Howell immediately pulled his Taser and pointed it at Mr. Hardy. When Officer Howell pointed his Taser weapon at Mr. Hardy, Hardy turned again to run away a second time to avoid being shot by the Taser. At this point, Officer Howell fired the Taser weapon, striking Mr. Hardy in the back of the head and in his lower back. After being struck with the two Taser probes Mr. Hardy collapsed to the ground allegedly landing face first. Mr. Hardy testified that after he was shot with the Taser he cannot tell what happened once he fell to the ground. Officer Howell testified that Mr. Hardy fought through the pain of the Taser and began to stand up despite multiple commands that he remain on his stomach and on the ground.^[2] Officer Howell then deployed a second burst of electricity from the Taser, lasting approximately five seconds, which caused Mr. Hardy to fall to the ground a second time. At this point, Officer Howell testified that he did not deploy any additional bursts from the Taser and that he did not touch or attempt to use any force in apprehending Mr. Hardy. Officer Howell testified that he immediately called EMS and additional police back-up to the scene. The EMS had removed the two Taser prongs from Mr. Hardy and transported him to Ball Memorial Hospital where he was treated for a fracture to his left eye wall cavity, his left naval cavity, a split lip, and a broken jaw. Mr. Hardy was charged was Resisting Arrest and Battery on a Police Officer, along with other preliminary drug charges which resulted in the open warrant. Officer Howell insisted that the injuries Mr. Hardy suffered to his face were the result of the falls that he had made after being struck by the Taser both times, however eyewitness accounts claimed that they saw Officer Howell beating the unconscious man repeatedly before finally calling for EMS. Since the Incident Mr. Hardy has experienced vertigo, loss of memory, sleep disruption, some blurriness of vision and slurring of speech.

During the ensuing civil lawsuit, Officer Howell claimed immunity from all excessive force and civil rights violations in the course of the arrest of Kenneth Hardy. Officer Howell argued that he is entitled to immunity under current doctrine to protect the United States government and its entities while performing discretionary functions even if their conduct directly results in civil damages so long as their conduct does not directly and clearly violate established constitutional rights of which a person of reasonable education would have known at the time. Because it was decided that Officer Howell had no violated Kenneth Hardy's constitutional rights, particularly his fourth amendment right to be free from the use of excessive force in the course of an arrest, Officer Howell was granted immunity from the lawsuit. However, the extent of the injuries Kenneth Hardy received on his face before EMS and back-up law enforcement arrived, and the eyewitness account testifying that Officer Howell was seen beating the unconscious man, raise much debate on the issue of Police misconduct. In a later interview, Mr. Hardy's mother states that Mr. Hardy will require reconstructive surgery and that she is unsatified with the result of the court hearing granting Officer Howell immunity despite eyewitness accounts testifying that Officer Howell was seen beating Kenneth Hardy.^[3]

Rank Structure

Vehicles

• Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor (second generation)
• Ford Explorer (second generation)
• Ford Taurus (fourth generation)
• Hummer H3
• Toyota Camry (XV40) hybrid

Fallen Officers

References