Two Athens-Clarke County Police officers under investigation after restraining a child during a domestic violence call have been cleared. The inter affairs investigation determine the officers acted appropriately when they restrained the child who became distraught when his father was being arrested.
According to the report, the investigation was handled by Lt. Richard Odum, commanding officer of the department’s Office of Professional Standards.
43-year old Jawoski Collins was being charged with aggravated assault strangulation and false imprisonment. During his arrest, the child became extremely upset and launched himself toward the officer. He was placed on the ground and the officers held onto him until he calmed down.
Odom found Officers Shawn Bond and James Trotter should be exonerated in the incident.
The report does state the officers could have filed charges against the child, but declined to do so.
Chief Scot Freeman ordered the investigation into the incident. The department also released the officer’s body cam footage during the encounter. That video was made public and was posted to the ACCPD’s Facebook page. It was also posted by various media outlets, including the WUGA website.
Video link:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/mu1qhb2vnaopswl/ACCPD_072018_Incident_Blur.mov?dl=0.
