A British police force has referred itself to a watchdog after a video emerged of a man shouting that he could not breathe as he was forcibly detained by officers in a city centre.
Devon and Cornwall police has referred a complaint from the family of 35-year-old Simeon Francis to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). The complaint relates to an arrest that took place last year.
The IOPC is also currently investigating Francis’s death, after he was found unresponsive in the custody suite in Torquay, in Devon, last month.
On Thursday, Francis’ family released the video, taken by an onlooker, of him being arrested 10 months earlier, in July last year. The family claims the video shows excessive force.
In the video, Francis is pushed against a wall by officers and taken to the ground. At one point he is heard telling them “I can’t breathe” and later appears to shout “You’ve got my throat”. Francis, who is black, accuses the police officers during the arrest of being racist.
Around 10 officers are involved. Initially three hold him down, one near his head, one at his middle, one at his feet. Shortly afterwards, two more join in to help restrain him while others stand by. At one point an officer’s knee appears to be pressed into Francis’ back. An onlooker asks: “Do you really need that many officers on him?”
Officers are seen asking him to be calm and one asks him to “work with us”. After about 13 minutes he is carried into a police van.
Birmingham community activist Desmond Jaddoo, who is assisting the family and acting as their spokesman, said they had told the police they believed excessive force was used in the 2019 arrest.
Jaddoo added: “This video raises concerns of the actual treatment of Mr Francis by Devon and Cornwall police. It has caused his family further and extreme distress during this difficult time.”
A spokesperson for Devon and Cornwall police said: “The video of Simeon Francis being arrested relates to a recall to prison for Mr Francis in July 2019.
“The force has received a complaint in respect of the video on 17 June 2020. The complaint will now be assessed and is subject to a voluntary referral to the IOPC. The force has received no complaint in relation to the arrest prior to this point.
“The independent IOPC investigation relating to the death of Simeon Francis in police custody on 20 May 2020 remains ongoing and Devon and Cornwall police continue to co-operate fully with that investigation.” No officers have been disciplined over either the 2019 arrest or Francis’s death.
Deborah Coles, director of the charity Inquest, said: “This footage is disturbing. Simeon Francis, who is in obvious distress, is restrained by multiple officers for a long time with force and handcuffs. Some officers on the scene seemed more concerned to stop people filming rather than making sure that Simeon was safe. Restraint is inherently dangerous with the ever present risk of death and harm.”
Francis, a father-of-one originally from Birmingham, was arrested at 12.45am on 20 May this year on Cowley Bridge Road in Exeter. He was taken by police van to Torquay police station more than 20 miles away, where he was booked into custody at about 3am. He was later found unresponsive in his cell and an ambulance was called, but he was pronounced dead at 6pm the same day. An initial postmortem examination did not establish the cause of death.
