I wish those critical of Officer Andrea Mendoza had attended all of her trial as I did. They would have seen videos of the suspect continuing to viciously assault her after she applied a Taser to his back. He wasn’t “stripped in public”: it was dark. There weren’t any spectators. She didn’t know if he had a weapon. He kicked her twice in the chest and punched her partner in the face, giving him a black eye.
The city’s expert witness — a 6-foot tall, 200-pound Clark County sheriff’s sergeant — said Mendoza could have beaten the suspect in the genitals with a baton or used a Taser on his genitals over clothing. That would have been OK. Instead, by using the threat of pain, she didn’t have to inflict pain.
The jury found her actions reasonable despite not knowing: (1) the man was on drugs; (2) the prosecutor dropped the charge for assaulting a police officer “without prejudice,” meaning he could be recharged if he didn’t testify against Mendoza; and (3) he is currently incarcerated for a more serious assault while he was in custody the night he was arrested.
So, yes. The police training manual does allow officers to protect themselves using reasonable force.
