13-year-old sues city of Evanston, police after wrongful handcuffing
Source: Screenshot WGNTV
Diwani Greenwell, The 13-year-old son of Medill Prof. Ava Greenwell, filed a lawsuit against the city of Evanston and Evanston Police Department after a police officer mistakenly handcuffed him as a burglary suspect. He was ultimately released when witness exonerated him.
September 27, 2012
The 13-year-old son of a Northwestern professor filed a lawsuit Sunday against the city of Evanston and an Evanston police officer following an incident last month when the policeman mistakenly handcuffed the boy as a burglary suspect.
"This is not just for our son,” Medill Prof. Ava Greenwell wrote in an email to The Daily on Wednesday. “I've heard from several African American mothers in Evanston who told me of similar stories where their son was stopped and harassed for no legitimate reason. In addition, several black NU alums have contacted me saying they were stopped and harassed by Evanston police decades ago. We want the city to take a really hard look at its police procedures and make sure they are equitable and ethical."
Evanston Police Department Officer Mark Buell detained Diwani Greenwell the morning of Aug. 20 as the teen was riding his bike near his house. EPD officials said he matched the description of a burglary suspect, which detailed a “black male wearing blue cargo shorts.”
Greenwell said the boy was released after about ten minutes when the witness exonerated him. Still, she said she felt certain EPD acted inappropriately by not communicating with her on the scene. Additionally, she said police surrounded her son with an excessive number of police officers, unnecessarily handcuffed him and failed to provide a sincere apology once he was cleared.
Greenwell filed a formal complaint with EPD, citing these grievances as well as her suspicion that Buell racially profiled her son. EPD’s internal investigation of Buell’s actions is still ongoing.
Diwani is the plaintiff. However, because he is a minor, he needs a “next friend,” someone to act on his behalf. In this case his mother acts represents his interests as his next friend.
Christopher Cooper, the Greenwell family's attorney, said even though EPD is currently conducting an internal investigation, he believes the result will not favor the Greenwells simply because police will want to avoid taking responsibility. He added that he doesn't fear the lawsuit will affect the investigation because city officials will likewise try to have the suit dismissed rather than settle with the Greenwells.
“I don’t think you can trust most municipalities to perform an objective investigation,” Cooper said. “In other words, in my experience as a civil rights attorney, most municipalities will not act appropriately when they learn of wrongful conduct by an employee. I don’t have any confidence in Evanston politicians resolving this.”
Cooper said the Greenwell suit is the first Evanston case he has worked on, but “if Evanston is like most cities in America, it will not in any shape or form admit wrongdoing at any time.”
The suit Cooper filed alleges assault false imprisonment and violation of the Illinois state constitution. In the legal sense, “assault” defines a situation in which someone feels apprehension of being touched, whereas “battery” occurs when someone is actually touched.
It is not yet clear for how much the Greenwells are suing the city and Buell. A judge or jury will eventually determine monetary reparations, but at some point during proceedings Diwani Greenwell will be expected to put a value on the suit’s charges with Cooper’s assistance, Cooper said.
He added Diwani Greenwell’s goal is to change police policy in terms of how officers interact with children as well as how officers behave when searching streets for suspects.
“I believe that we can show that the city and the officer acted wrongly, behaved improperly,” Cooper said.
EPD declined to comment on Buell’s situation or whether the department will support him in litigation.
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the date on which Diwani Greenwell was detained. It was Aug. 20. The Daily regrets the error.
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Seriously? Being detained for ten minutes now equals a lawsuit? Your son matched the description of an active criminal currently roaming the streets of your town. While I appreciate your efforts to eliminate racial profiling, I must point out that there is no evidence that the police sought this kid out for any other reason then he matched the description of the suspect..... who happened to be a black male wearing similar clothing. If they had no eyewitness description of the offender and had stopped your son just for the heck of it your complaint might actually make some sense.
It's unfortunate that your child was uncomfortable and scared for ten minutes. I understand that you are upset. However, the good news is your kid was not involved in any crime. You are a good mother who has done what she can to instill right from wrong in your son, I'm sure. To that same point, the police are trying to do their job's as well. It is hardly unreasonable that they stop someone who fits the eyewitness description of a thief in the area that the crime was just committed. Instead of trying to profit off of this maybe you could use this as a teaching moment for your child and point out how hard the police work to keep the streets of your town safe. Remind him that people make mistakes. Let him know that there are other young children not quite as lucky as him who don't have the guidance from a parent like you and who do turn to lives of drugs, alcohol, and crime. Teach him that sometimes you forgive just because it's the right thing to do.
Your family and especially your son are certainly owed a sincere apology. It's sad if the police involved didn't offer one. My guess is they didn't want to admit much wrong doing because it would open them up to the inevitable lawsuit coming anyway. I wish that instead of investing your time and money in teaching the Evanston Police Department (and ultimately the city's taxpayers) a lesson you would concentrate your efforts in helping find your school's missing student Harsha Madula. Luckily for you, you still have the oppurtunity to teach and guide your child. Harsha's parents may not.....
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^^^ Spoken like a true person of unearned (white) privilege with a complete lack of empathy for others. I don't think you'd be so forgiving if it were your 13 year old son handcuffed outside of his own home. But then again, the odds of that happening to someone like you are slim to none, so why should you care if it happens to this little black boy. Just get over it, right?
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colleen carroll Reply:
September 27th, 2012 at 2:46 pm
If my white 13 year old was handcuffed, unharmed for ten minutes in a legitimate case of mistaken identity, I assure you, I would not lawyer up.
This is not a racial issue and I am not a racist. The facts are that an african american male, wearing blue cargo shorts committed a crime. Following a search, the police encountered an african american male wearing blue cargo shorts in the area of the break-in. It is not very difficult to figure out how this happened. The boy was unharmed, nothing indicates he was treated poorly, and he was let go immediately after the witness cleared him. He was not held for an unreasonable period of time. Noone is alledging he was verbally or physically abused. If he was emotionally abused I'd like to see evidence.
I spend my days at work caring for legitimate victims of child abuse. I do not choose my patients based on the color of their skin or ability to pay the bill. Sadly, innocent people have been accused of horrific crimes, arrested, imprisoned, and horribly mistreated. There are legitimate cases of police brutality and mistreatment. This however, is not one of them, and in my opinion, detracts from true victims.
Its easy to accuse me of being unsympathetic simply because I am white and from the suburbs. I'm not sure why you think any privledge I have is unearned but I assure you bad things happen to good people of all race's. I do care what happens to this kid. However, I think it is irresponsible to teach any child that police are not allowed to make mistakes or that they are out to get you based on the color of your skin. I wonder how far you would get if you were held to such high standards that you could never make an error in your line of work or at school? I also wonder how many criminals would be roaming the streets if police could not stop someone for questioning unless they were 100% positive they had the right guy. Your logic makes no sense. My husband is a lawyer..... legal fees are a joke. If you think cases like these have merit than keep paying those fees. Then, and only then will my privledges be unearned.
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Laura Sanchez Reply:
September 27th, 2012 at 5:47 pm
This is a very unfortunate incident for both parties involved. I'm sure as a mother (of any race) it would be hard to see your child put into handcuffs. Especially if you are a good mother that knows your child is innocent. However to call this police officer racist and bring a lawsuit against him because he stopped a kid that fit the description of a suspect is ridiculous. Did the officer make any racist statements? Did he throw the kid to the ground? Did he man-handle the child? No. In fact the officer could have brought the child down to the precinct so that he could be identified by the witness, but instead they did an on the spot id. The witness said it was not the suspect, and the child was let go......AND the officer made an apology. However the mother did not think it was "sincere".
I am all for going after police officers who abuse their power and use their uniform as an excuse to be an a**hole......I'm sure there are MANY out there. However to smear a good police officers name for your own agenda is absolutely not right. Shame on you Mrs. Greenwell.
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Does every black male wearing blue cargo shorts deserve to be detained and handcuffed just because someone reports a burglary? On any given summer-like day you can find at least 8-10 black males in blue cargo shorts hanging out in any Evanston park. Should they all be handcuffed?? I guess you might feel it is ok to grab the first black male wearing blue cargo shorts you see but it's not ok. You really need to know that's not ok. What kind of description is that ... a black male in blue cargo shorts? Was the suspect wearing a shirt? What color/kind of shirt, shoes, hair style, hat color or approximate age of the suspect might have been helpful in finding the real criminal. A black male wearing blue shorts could be any black male age 13 to 73. Seriously?? Should we round them all up?? Would it be ok to detain and handcuff a white male in blue cargo shorts? Of course not...this kid was simply riding his bike near his own home. And he certainly may have been harmed mentally and physically when he was mistakenly detained and handcuffed. Did the witness just happen to be present when the kid was arrested or did they transport this kid to the witness to be identified? One thing we know for sure is that the police made a mistake so shame on anyone who criticizes Mrs. Greenwell for pursuing this issue legally.
Perhaps if the police had taken the time to talk to this young man they may have realized he was just riding his bike in his own neighborhood which is not a crime. It's what kids do!!
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All of you nine of you know him personaly so back off he is a god and innocent person and if his mother decided to lawyer.up then thats what she needed to do but don't act like if you were in the situation you would react any differently I should show him how ignorant people are of how blacks get treated and to be honest coleen you probably wouldn't be afraid because if a white boy is wrongly accused of something police will run jump and skip to apologize and make sure to please you.get over your hough house lady because you know that if your don was ever in that situation you world raise hell.
By:eryn towns,14 diwani's friend
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