Indicted Dover cop has a history of using force in recent years
A Dover police officer charged with second-degree assault after a police dashboard camera recorded him knocking out a suspect with a kick to the jaw in 2013 has 29 use of force reports in his file, according to unsealed documents released Monday by Kent County Superior Court.
In a motion to include the reports, deputy attorneys general from Matt Denn's office wrote that they reviewed the 29 cases involving Cpl. Thomas Webster IV. Three of the incidents in which Webster struck people he had arrested were detailed in the documents unsealed Monday.
Use of force reports can be filed for many reasons, from an officer using fists, batons, or pepper spray, to deploying stun guns or lethal force. They do not need to be prompted by a complaint.
The deputy attorneys general argued in their motion that Webster's prior instances of using force show, "motive, intent, knowledge, plan and absence of mistake" and shows how Webster reacts when dealing with suspects. They also requested seven different activation reports from the Dover Police Department's early warning system, which is designed to identify officers having trouble on the job.
In one incident, Webster was disciplined for transporting two intoxicated individuals from a 7-Eleven in Dover to a rural area at least five miles away, where he left them even though one of the individuals had asked to go to the hospital. The two were later discovered by Delaware State Police troopers responding to a call from a neighbor.
Webster and a lower-ranking officer were investigated by Dover Police Department. As a result, Webster was suspended and put on disciplinary probation.
Reached Monday evening, Webster’s attorney Jim Liguori said that the Attorney General’s Office is trying to show a pattern. But the majority of the reports were unfounded.
“Tom Webster was a proactive police officer, the kind of police officer we want protecting our children and grandchildren,” Liguori said. “The majority of the complaints were by people who thought, ‘he shouldn’t have cursed at me’ and ‘he shouldn’t have placed me over the car like that.' ”
Referencing comedian Chris Rock, Liguori said that when a cop tells someone to do something, they should do it.
Liguori filed a motion earlier this month, asking the court to prevent prosecutors from arguing that Dover police concealed evidence connected to the case in an attempt to obstruct justice. In the motion, Liguori said he asked for the dashcam video from Webster's car, as well as the dispatch calls, but was told by the state that the footage cannot be found.
"Such argument is pure speculation, without merit and likely to cause confusion with the jury and a mini-trial to determine bias of the police department in favor of the Defendant," Liguori wrote.
Carl Kanefsky, a spokesman with the Attorney General’s office, declined to comment on the case.
On July 21, 2006, Webster punched a suspect in the face several times with, "an open and closed hand" after the subject, who was under the influence, had led police on a car chase that caused another officer's car to flip over and strike Webster's vehicle. In that case, Dover police Internal Affairs concluded that Webster did not violate policy or regulations.
In another case, on Sept. 15, 2010, Webster was helping three other officers with a subject suspected of driving under the influence. After blood was drawn for the blood-alcohol test, the subject became combative and struck Webster in the sternum, according to court documents. In response, Webster struck the subject twice in the face with his fist, breaking his nose. According to the court document, Webster hit the subject with such force that it bruised Webster's right hand and caused lacerations to his knuckles.
In the third case detailed in the documents, Webster punched a subject four times in the face after tasering him. The incident occurred on Nov. 20, 2010, and came after a foot chase between the subject and Webster.
Also in the file, from an Aug. 27, 2012, performance evaluation for Webster, it was reported that, “PFC Webster has made some poor decisions and he obviously does not think of the consequences of his actions.”
Another performance evaluation, dated Aug. 21, 2006, reported that, “Officer Webster is very fit and strong. There have been times when he should have attemted [sic] lesser degrees of force to accomplish an objective. He has been spoken to regarding this issue.”
When asked how Webster was on the force after 29 use of force reports, and one prior suspension, Dover police spokesman Cpl. Mark Hoffman wrote in an e-mail that the department is prohibited from discussing disciplinary matters.
“While the department prides itself on transparency, any further comment on this matter would be in violation of Delaware law, which therefore prohibits us from commenting on that issue,” he said.
The dashboard video showed Webster kick a black man, Lateef Dickerson, in the head during a 2013 arrest. The blow knocked Dickerson out cold and broke his jaw.
Dickerson was initially charged with assault, theft and resisting arrest, but those charges were later dropped. He does face charges in other cases, including gun-related offenses that could see him face life in prison. Dickerson was also recently charged in a case in Kent County, Maryland. Those charges include first-degree burglary, theft and gun charges.
A first grand jury did not indict Webster in 2014, but a second grand jury, called by new Attorney General Matt Denn this May, did. The move sparked criticism from police union officials that the grand jury was called for political reasons and in reaction to heightened tensions between police and the black community nationwide.
The court file was unsealed late Friday after Judge Ferris Wharton issued an opinion on several motions, including one by Webster's attorney, Liguori, to interview members of the second grand jury that indicted Webster. Liguori made the request after one of the jurors contacted the court and said she felt "pressured and manipulated" during the state's presentation of evidence.
Wharton denied the motion, saying that protecting the secrecy of a grand jury overrode the defense's pursuit of evidence that may or may not exist.
Also included in the unsealed court filings are the questions that the defense is requesting the court to ask while evaluating jurors for the trial, scheduled for November 30.
Among the questions:
"Do you identify with or support the 'Black Lives Matter' movement?"
"Did the events in Ferguson, Missouri, make a significant impact on you?"
"How serious a problem do you think racial discrimination against Blacks is in Delaware?"
Contact Jon Offredo at (302) 324-2226, on Twitter @jonoffredo or at joffredo@delawareonline.com.