Palmetto Chief asserts agency's transparency as investigation into tasing death continues

PALMETTO — Palmetto Police Chief Scott Tyler stood by his officers' handling of an emergency call in which a 36-year-old Black man was tasered and later died late last year, saying he believed the outside investigation, though painfully slow, will vindicate the agency.

Tyler urged the public to be patient, while saying he empathized with the family of the man who died, Breonte Johnson-Davis.

"I'm anxious to put it out and I'm anxious to be able to show you the body camera footage about what we actually did. But we have to wait, not only as a practice but logically as a chief, this needed to be independently investigated. I believe that I need to get it investigated independently because it's about transparency to this community. Whether there is a problem with this agency's response or whether there is not. The best I can do is give this to a third-party investigator and with that my hands are off of it. I can not control the timing," Tyler said during an interview in his office this week.

Tyler said he has known Johnson-Davis' parents, Tracey Washington and Wille Davis, for many years. "This is a small city. I do understand Breonte's family and his friends," he said. "They are desperate to see answers, they are hurt, they're angry. I wish I could have given them answers long before this but I have to wait for it."

The comments by the chief of the small agency in Manatee County came after sustained public protests in recent weeks over Johnson-Davis' death and questions about the police department's handling of the encounter and its aftermath.

This week, nearly a dozen community members pressured city leaders for the release of information related to the case. At the city commission meeting Monday, Tyler also pushed back against a Herald-Tribune report that the agency had not submitted a report on the use of force in the incident to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. He contended the report was submitted last month, though the publicly accessible database does not show the document.

Herald-Tribune investigation: Investigation: Palmetto police use-of-force report shows officers turn to Tasers most often

On Wednesday, in his Palmetto Police administrative office, Tyler offered a look into the submission process for the FDLE use of force reporting requirements.

According to the available information from the use of force report, five officers were present during the emergency call at a Palmetto Circle K convenience store.

Four Palmetto police officers — three white and one Black — were noted in the report. The report also revealed that a fifth officer, from the Bradenton Police Department, was also at the scene.

Tyler did not provide names or badge numbers for any involved officers due to the open investigation. Other details about what happened are not available in the report, including how many times a taser was deployed.

A screenshot of Tyler's Florida Incident-Based Reporting System, or FIBRS, account indicates a submission for a use of force report dated Dec. 19, 2023. The FDLE site shows the time stamp for each report or modification uploaded into a portal. A second time stamp, dated Jan. 4, is currently noted in the database following additional details added to the report by Tyler.

However, the public-facing portal of the system shows no record of Palmetto's use of force report, though others submitted by the agency are available.

"This is the report that has to do with Breonte. It's in there," Tyler said noting the report's date and location.

"I want to show the community that we are doing the required reporting. This (report) specifically addresses the response to resistance ... there is very much an accountability trail."

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The FIBRS database contains all use-of-force reports submitted by Florida law enforcement agencies. Each report contains details of police encounters including victims, offenders, arrestees, and property data on each single crime occurrence. Data flows from Tyler's desk and is manually inputted into the FIBRS database; from there, the FDLE reviews and transfers submissions to the national FBI and NIBRS database.

A representative from the 12th District Assistant State Attorney's Office stated via email Wednesday that the investigation has been assigned to an attorney, but the office did not provide further comment regarding the timing for release of results of the investigation.

Tyler attributed the length of time for results to be made publicly available in part to how long it takes for toxicology test results to be delivered.

According to Washington, her son was involved in a mental health episode when Palmetto police arrived at a Circle K convenience store on 8th Street West, less than a mile from the Palmetto police station.

"Breonte, my son, was going through a paranoia episode and needed medical attention ... Instead of facilitating the medical help he needed they tased him and punched him sending him into cardiac arrest," Washington said at a protest earlier this month. "Ever since, the Palmetto Police Department has given my family zero answers."

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Chief Tyler demonstrates transparency amid FDLE tasing death probe