Incident

Incident Description

On January 9, 2009, a Black man, age 47, called the Mobile Crisis Unit to his home because his wife was in mental distress. Instead of the crisis unit, RPD Officer Brian
Cala and other police officers barged into the house. When the civilian's wife told him to get out of the house, Cala pepper-sprayed her, then punched her in the face several times. When
the civilian tried to help her, another officer pepper-sprayed him. The civilian’s wife was then forced to sit on their front steps in the cold, and when other family members came toward the house, saw her injuries, and asked who had done it, Cala yelled, “I fucking did it!” When the civilian’s complaint was presented to the Civilian Review Board in 2011, Officer Cala was exonerated.

Outcome

None