(Omaha, NE) -- A 14 year veteran of the Omaha Police Department is cleared of any wrongdoing in a use of force investigation.
On Friday, the Omaha Police Department announced that the Internal Affairs Unit had completed its investigation into the incident, and Chief Todd Schmaderer determined that Officer Tyler Hansen will be exonerated of the excessive use of force allegations. Back in June, a video circulated on social media showing Hansen pushing a juvenile up against a cruiser, before taking him to the ground and cuffing the juvenile.
“I want to thank those who forwarded video of the incident to the OPD. A thorough investigation of the officer’s actions commenced as a result. The distanced citizen’s video brought questions of excessive use of force; however, after a complete review, it was determined the officer’s up close body-worn-camera video portrayed a more detailed account of why the officer took the measures he did. I find the officer to be exonerated in this matter” - Chief Todd Schmaderer
You can read the Omaha Police Departments full release below:
The investigation showed that on Tuesday, June 21, 2022, at 2:29 p.m., Uniformed Patrol Officers received a call to the Atlas Apartments, 2929 California Street, for juveniles trespassing on the property. The juveniles had left before the officers arrived at the scene. The Atlas Apartment Staff provided security camera footage that captured the juveniles on the property. Additionally, the apartment staff told the officers that the same group of juveniles had damaged property at the apartment complex on other occasions.
At 2:57 p.m., Uniformed Officers responded to a radio call of a disturbance in the area of N 33rd and Burt Streets. The caller told the 911 Dispatcher that a group of juveniles was refusing to leave their property. The caller described the juveniles as being “aggressive.” The Officers contacted six juveniles near the southeast corner of N 33rd and Burt Streets. The Officers recognized the juveniles as being involved in the recent trespassing call to the Atlas Apartments.
The Officer directed the juveniles to leave the area. As they were dispersing, another male juvenile walked up and began to entice the group. The male juvenile aggressively approached the Officer, yelling, “fuck the police,” and “you can’t do anything to me.” The Officer warned the juvenile that his aggressive behavior was disorderly and instructed him to leave. The male juvenile refused to leave and started inciting the other juveniles to yell profanity at the Officer. The male juvenile began encircling the Officer from behind and, at one point, lunged toward the Officer. The Officer pushed the male juvenile away from him. The male juvenile again lunged at the Officer. The Officer physically forced the male to the ground, placing him in handcuffs. The male juvenile pulled away and attempted to fight the Officer, at some point hitting the Officer, causing a laceration above the Officer’s eye.
Officer Hansen arrived to assist with placing the juvenile into a marked police cruiser. His Body-Worn-Camera (BWC) captured the event. The BWC captured the male juvenile continuously cursing as he repeatedly pulled away from Officer Hansen. Officer Hansen pushed the male juvenile against a police cruiser to gain control of him and used his body weight as leverage as the juvenile tensed his body and pulled away. The BWC captured the male juvenile as he maneuvered his arms towards his right side onto the cruiser door, which he used as leverage to push himself back into Officer Hansen. Officer Hansen was able to place the male juvenile in the cruiser. Once inside the cruiser, the juvenile continued using profanity, telling Officer Hansen he would “lose” his job. The juvenile then placed his feet in the door jamb to prevent the door from closing. The juvenile spat at Officer Hansen as he was closing the cruiser door. Officer Hansen gave loud verbal commands during his entire contact with the male juvenile to ‘stop fighting.”