This video provides a rare firsthand view of an interaction between law enforcement officers, paramedics, and a young man in the throes of a mental health crisis. If offers another perspective on events seen in Part I as well as new footage of post-incident conversations among officers.
Although I typically do not post videos like this out of respect for the privacy of people who are victims of unfortunate circumstances rather than their own bad decisions, I will briefly explain my reasons for this apparent departure from policy:
First, broadly, this incident highlights the dire need for police officers to receive effective training in the recognition and handling of individuals experiencing mental health crises, and in differentiating those individuals from run-of-the-mill uncooperative subjects.
Just as importantly, it is a reminder that such skills are useless if they are not exercised when needed.
Second, more specifically:
1. The subject in this video is Kyle North. Mr. North recently filed a lawsuit against the Pullman Police Department over this 2016 encounter, claiming over $1 million in damages and citing violations of his civil rights, negligence, disability discrimination, assault and battery.
2. North’s complaint made serious allegations regarding officer training and qualification. In particular, it alleged that the officer who repeatedly tased Mr. North was forbidden under Department policy from even carrying a taser, and that the officer who employed a choke-hold (aka “lateral vascular neck restraintâ€) on Mr. North was similarly not authorized to use that technique.
3. The lawsuit describes all of the events in this video in great detail, adding a lot of information that could not be known solely from the video. It also explains Mr. North’s mental health status at the time of the incident, pulling no punches. The cat is well out of the bag.
4. North’s lawsuit settled this week; the City of Pullman didn’t even make a show of trying to defend its officers’ actions.
The complaint can be found at http://tiny.cc/northcomplaint.
The complaint is long, and it’s worth a read. (Incredibly, it seems that the officer actually did break North’s arm in this encounter.)
The City of Pullman’s answer to the complaint can be found at http://tiny.cc/citysanswer.
ABOUT COMMENTS ON THIS VIDEO: As always, criticism and debate are welcome. Incivility, however, will not be tolerated and may lead to removal of your comments. Be civil.
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His prayer is surprisingly eloquent and coherent.
Training won't help these cops. They are barbarians.
Do you want him trespassed??? Seriously? The fact that at that moment he is thinking of things to add on..
Oh so he choked him out too! Missed that on the part 1
This is the first RWP video that has made me sick at my stomach. The young man deserved better. His fear must have been unimaginable. I'm glad he won his lawsuit
Offensive title
He was paid $500,000 (1/3 went to his attorneys) from the lawsuit he filed.
Basically no need for the policeman to put hands on him and start him off. The cop just aggravated the situation. Always de escalate
Im 10 secs into the convo and the comments have confirmed my judgements about the officer.. clueless to mental health.
Look at all the armchair psychologist in the chat, how come everybody else's safety goes out the window when a person is going through a mental health crisis? Just because you're having a meltdown doesn't give you the right to hurt others doesn't give you the right to cause harm to others and it doesn't mean anyone else's safety is worth less than yours
I totally agree with any and all statements on how bad these officers screwed the pooch on this call and did not follow even the basic of CIT. As bad as this one is there are a lot of good outcomes from officers who actually paid attention in their ongoing learning…any chance we can see some of those also?
The police officers were very patient. North obviously was suffering a pschycotic breakdown. The officers were doing their best to accommodate him to get to hospital. I have trouble believing they broke his arm.
The realization that the fast food employees are 100x more qualified to do the LE officer's job than they are is frightening.
All officers involved in this call should be fired. If the officer who stayed on his back, then on his chest, after breaking his arm should have criminal charges. At a minimum, all involved should be demoted to desk for a few years followed by several years of ride alongs with a professional LE official. Until they are held to ANY human decency standards, and actually punished for standing by and watching this behavior, we cannot stop them.
After a seizure I was out of it screaming and my boyfriend was holding me down. Police were called and ambulance. Thank god the paramedics said to the cops do not handcuff her she had a seizure and is confused. One shot and I was out.
The problem with cops is that they have such little understanding of drugs that they think anything abnormal must be a symptom of drug use
you are all watching modern day mental health stigmatizing in a 45 minute video. the officers and paramedics are essentially making fun of him. @30:23 they poke a joke about someone trying to find him. even when all of their interaction
, in entirety, showed he was suffering from a psychotic episode.
Everyone here complaining about the Police Officers, Is Severely Mentally ill. The Kid was on Drugs.
They gave him plenty of Respect.And Plenty of chances to get a grip.They just didn't wanna Coddle the little Religious Freak.
OMFG! I think the Officers were doing their Jobs Perfectly!
But for a stroke of luck, any of us males could have been that poor young man.
Not to bash the police because they do serve the public, but they saw him getting agitated and had no clue how to deescalate the situation.
At least he survived the police brutality, the young guy in Dallas Tx wasn't so lucky, and the police got off . He was face down with a knee to the head where he suffocated.
At least the kid got half a Million Fuck the Police
The way I see it the cops should be sending his health insurance a bill. Cops are not mental health workers doctor's or even orderlies. They worked with the man very respectfully for 15 minutes everything was decided and the the man tried to dictate what was happening … that is not reasonable in the least . At that point it was an arrest. He was resisting and what ever metal problems he was having are not relevant. His arm was broken because he resisted.
What I found interesting is that the cops would even allow him to drive. If he had and getting injured the the settlement might make sense. The guy is ether nuts and or on drugs I can bet he will skip his meds and be doing this again. The what the taser was useless makes me think drugs must be part of it.
The courts are so busy as are the DA and the cops I guess the figue the settlment was cheaper
This video release, except in the lawsuit,
should never have been aired. SHAME
ON YOU! GOOD THAT THE Police Dept settled
the suit, BAD that the taxpayers footed the bill.
That 500k could have gone for addtl training within the Police Dept. LOSE, LOSE! ALL THE WAY AROUND…
A common result of taking too much Adderall is the development of a paranoid psychosis indistinguishable from schizophrenia, during which such a patient may be a serious social threat. A person with a pre-existing mental health condition, the side effects of Adderall abuse are likely to be more severe.
That's my brother. That's your brother. Actually my brother is in Washington right now ten times worse than this and just gets released on his own reconnaissance after days to a week. He's non violent and doesnt break the law so no one cares about him. 🙁
Thank you officers for doing your best here. Its heartbreaking really it is..
Next time talk him into going with the paramedics. Anyone whose paranoid like that cant focus long enough to drive! Look where he parked?! He panicked when u wanted to take him out of the building poor love. And they get a rush of adrenaline that causes them to have inordinate strength. It's so so dangerous and yet theres no help for these people.. they're being tossed to the policing realm. Its cruel. An incident like this can cause severe PTSD as he truly believed human beings (cops at that) were trying to kill him. "This must not come upon me!" <—Kyle feels powerless. Kyle IS powerless. Kyle will not forget these feelings and next time he will respond even more drastically!
Lot of cops r nerds that got picked on
I hope the young man would be fine.
He suffered a fractured arm (and was given $1 million in damages). That’s why he screamed so much when they pulled on his right arm, which resulted in him being tased multiple times. Poor guy.
I hope the city’s officers got more training on recognizing mental illness and how to best approach and communicate with someone in crisis. 💛
Thank you for this, part 2. As hard as these have been to watch, I think everyone can learn from them. Also, if Kyle ever comes and sees this video, he can see just how upset & angry so many people are, on his behalf. So many of us really do care. â™¥ï¸ God bless him ðŸ™ðŸ»â™¥ï¸
can you do that chock a young man out???? very unprofessional
Here's just a small sampling from the complaint regarding Officer Sontgerath's action, which states; "Officer Sontgerath broke North’s right arm at the medial and lateral epicondyles and dislocated his elbow. The force used to inflict the injury was so great that it ripped the collateral and annular ligaments completely off the bones underneath." WTF?
At 17:55 The officer said "You're obviously on drugs… pal."
It was pretty 'obvious' the poor boy had a mental condition. How could these cops not see that? And TASERING him!?
Both officers should be fired for their appalling behavior and uneducated accusations, not to mention stinking condescending attitude!
The one that's wearing this body cam escalated everything. The other guy was trying to reason with him and not get him freaked out… but even the way he twisted his arm back to handcuff him and tazed him a bunch of times was him acting out of anger over necessity. Other officer did good!
i came on here to find away to help my brother. He doesnt want help and i know he has schizophrenia. i cant sleep at night bc hes loud talking to him self banging stuff. i confront him mad at him and thats the only way he calms down. i know its the wrong way but dont know what else to do
very professional cops. lets just assume hes on illicit drugs, taze him, kneel on his neck, and then stand around afterwards making jokes and mocking him while the medics load him him..