Green Bay Police release body cam footage of arrest amid 'community concerns'

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – The Green Bay Police Department has released body camera footage with audio from the arrest of a person after the use of force as a restraint device was used.

Officers say that the incident occurred on May 9 at around 9:30 p.m. when a patrol officer witnessed 24-year-old Edward Curtis from Madison in a vehicle at an apartment complex in the 2000 block of Deckner Avenue.

The officer was aware that Curtis had warrants out of Dane County, was being sought for allegedly fleeing a traffic stop in Appleton, and was suspected of possessing a stolen handgun.

Edward Curtis’ mugshot. (Brown County Jail)

While attempting to take Curtis into custody following his exit from the vehicle with a toddler, who was safely brought inside the apartment by another adult, Curtis attempted to flee, break away, and kick at the officer who was placing him in handcuffs.

This is what resulted in the utilization of restraint, as verbal attempts to calm Curtis down did not work.

“We are doing this to speak to community concern regarding the use of force as a body restraint device was used to assist in taking the suspect into custody while he was resisting arrest,” said officers.

As a precaution, paramedics were on the scene, and Curtis was transported to the hospital for medical evaluation. He received clearance before being booked into the Brown County Jail.

Following this arrest, the Green Bay Police Department received a public cell phone video, which has raised concern in the community.

Any time our officers use force, we conduct a thorough review to ensure our policies were followed. While the review of this incident is in progress, everything I have seen up to this point shows that the officers involved were confronted with a very dangerous situation involving an armed individual who resisted a lawful arrest. Officers are expected to attempt to de-escalate the situation and encourage voluntary compliance with lawful actions; in this case, these efforts included trying to reason with Mr. Curtis, using multiple officers to try to deter further resistance, and applying restraints to prevent him from kicking them. It’s important for the community to ask questions and share their concerns about how we in the police service do our work. Sometimes this helps us identify misconduct and hold our employees accountable. In this case, however, what looked from a distance like an officer striking a person in custody was actually the officer properly applying a restraint. I hope this provides clarity to our community, and I appreciate this being brought to our attention.
Chief Chris Davis, Green Bay Police Department

Curtis was charged with the following: