IMPD releases edited video of Herman Whitfield's death: Family, clergy say it's not enough

Days after Indianapolis clergy and family called for the complete release of body camera footage showing Herman Whitfield III’s death in police custody, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department released a critical incident video showing portions of the encounter.

Leaders of the Black Church Coalition and Whitfield's family said the compilation is not enough.

“The video that was released by IMPD does not give a complete picture of what occurred in the death of Herman Whitfield III,” said Dr. Carlos Perkins of Bethel Cathedral A.M.E. Church. Perkins said the video served more as a "narration" versus an unedited account of the events leading up to Whitfield's death.

Richard Waples, who's representing Whitfield's family in a lawsuit filed last week, called the video "selective" and a "biased account" of the incident.

"The Whitfield family calls on IMPD to honestly respond to these important issues and not present a biased and false narrative of Herman’s death," Waples said in a news release. "All body cam videos should be released, and IMPD should honestly respond to the misconduct of its officers which led to Herman’s death."

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Whitfield, 39, died April 25 after being tased and handcuffed by Indianapolis police during a mental health crisis in his parent’s home. Police on Tuesday published a nearly 14-minute video narrating the moments leading up to Whitfield's death and piecing together portions of the body camera footage from among the five responding officers and one recruit trainee.

Such videos are routinely published by the department, typically after a police-involved shooting. The videos have also been shared to highlight an officer’s actions.

Chief Randal Taylor told IndyStar full body camera footage from officers in such instances must go through court proceedings before they are released. He noted Tuesday’s critical incident video depicting Whitfield’s death is different from previous videos, saying it does not make abundantly clear how the 39-year-old died.

“In pretty much all the videos in the past, you kind of get an idea of what happened,” Taylor said. “This one is different from the standpoint – you can watch this video and you will still not know what caused this man’s death.”

Taylor said an autopsy report for Whitfield has not been completed, as he hoped to include the results from the report in the video, but said the community has asked to see the footage and officials decided to publish the video without that information.

What video released by IMPD shows in Herman Whitfield's death

The video released by police depicts Whitfield’s mother calling 911 asking for help for her son, saying he “was having some sort of episode.” A man purported to be Whitfield is heard yelling in the back. Whitfield’s mother said he’s never been diagnosed with anything.

As police arrived about 3:20 a.m., Whitfield’s father is heard telling them at the front door his son was experiencing a “psychosis,” and asked for an ambulance. Officers encountered Whitfield naked and bleeding from the mouth.

Police in the narrated video said Whitfield moved throughout the home for the next 10 minutes. At one point, a clip from a body camera showed Whitfield moving from a bedroom into the home’s kitchen, which was dark. A scream can be heard, as well as the clattering of what’s assumed to be dishes and pans.

Police in the video said Whitfield began throwing things at this time. The family in a news release responded that Whitfield had picked up an empty water pitcher and tossed it into the air.

Shortly after, the body camera footage from one of the officers, identified as Steven Sanchez, shows him in the living room with his taser out and pointed. Whitfield, who is mostly blurred, is then seen coming into the frame. Sanchez then deploys the taser.

The footage shows Whitfield falling to the ground, pulling a tablecloth from the table as he falls, crying out “fire, fire.”

Police placed Whitfield in two pairs of handcuffs from behind as he laid on his stomach. Whitfield can be heard speaking, but he is muffled. The family, in a federal wrongful death lawsuit filed last week regarding the encounter, said Whitfield at that point was telling officers he couldn’t breathe.

After several moments, Whitfield becomes still and quiet.

Three minutes later, the video said, medics came into the room. Whitfield was unresponsive when police rolled him over. Medics took Whitfield to a hospital where he died shortly after arriving.

Police release video about a week after wrongful death lawsuit

The video comes nearly a week after Whitfield’s family and attorney announced the wrongful death lawsuit. In their announcement, the family’s attorneys also requested the release of the officer’s body camera footage, saying it refuted the department’s initial narrative about what happened and also showed Whitfield saying he couldn’t breathe while handcuffed.

Whitfield’s death renewed calls from community members over how the city handles requests for help regarding mental health crises.

Indianapolis currently has Mobile Crisis Assistant Teams (MCAT) consisting of an officer trained on crisis intervention and a clinician who respond to certain situations. Currently, those teams only operate on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The Office of Public Health and Safety said they are in the early stages of building a clinician-led program that could respond to calls 24 hours, seven days a week.

“We have been working on laying that foundation and building that program out and how it will look,” said Lauren Rodriguez, director of the Office of Public Health and Safety. “Right now, we’re definitely in the building phase.”

Indianapolis police’s Critical Incident Response Team is investigating Whitfield’s death in custody, as well as the department’s Internal Affairs Unit, the video concludes. Police said the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office is being consulted throughout the investigation.

When the criminal investigation finishes, the encounter will be reviewed by the civilian-majority use of force review board.

Contact Sarah Nelson at sarah.nelson@indystar.com or 317-503-7514.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Family wants unedited police body cam video in Herman Whitfield death