PHILADELPHIA, PA- Time was when a police officer could engage a citizen in a casual conversation, not for the purposes of an “interrogation” but merely to engage in a bit of back-and-forth. In Philadelphia, however, police officers engaging in such conversation are, at least in some areas, racists who are racial profiling. Or at least that’s the impression of at least one city resident. No, so-called “mere encounters” are being questioned by the police Oversight Commission.
NBC-10reports that a man named Dennis Jones was returning home from a night out. The report didn’t specify what type of neighborhood this encounter took place in, if it was a high crime area or a pretty quiet area of the city. Jones told the outlet that he was “walking up the steps,” trying to get into his house and “eating ice cream.”
Jones apparently dropped his keys near the front door, prompting police officers in a passing SUV to stop and ask him if he was ok.
“You come off a little nervous. Are you alright?” one officer asked Jones.
“Why would I be nervous?” Jones replied.
“No guns or anything?” an officer asked.
Again, the outlet didn’t specify what kind of area this encounter took place in, which is probably an important part of the story.
Doorbell camera video showed the officers shining a flashlight toward Jones’ waist and asked him to adjust a bag he was wearing across his chest. When he declined to do so, the officers left. They didn’t pull their service weapons. They didn’t pepper spray him. They didn’t tase him. They left.
Yet, for some reason, Jones said he “felt attacked.”
Jones is a black male and both officers appeared to also be black males. There clearly wasn’t a racial component in this encounter. Despite that, Jones thought what appeared to be a routine, non-confrontational encounter, crossed the line.
“They didn’t ask me, do I live here? They didn’t say, ‘Whose house are you going in?’ They didn’t say none of that,” Jones said. “You dropped your keys that’s given us the right to get out, to interrogate you, harass you, and bother you.”
The encounter lasted approximately 20 seconds. No interrogation, no harassment, no raised voices. Just a conversation.
That rather innocuous conversation has, however, raised the hackles of the Citizens Police Oversight Commission, which announced Wednesday it was launching an investigation.
Philadelphia Police Department policy defines a mere encounter as:
“This is a consensual interaction where the officer may ask the citizen questions and generally engage the citizen in conversation. In this interaction, the officer may ask for identification from the citizen, but the citizen is under no obligation to engage the officer or provide identification. Refusal to comply DOES NOT provide the officer with any additional suspicion to detain the individual.”
As noted above, at no time did the two officers ask Jones for his identification.
“Mere encounters provide officers with an important opportunity to engage with community members in a respectful, non-intrusive manner. These brief, voluntary interactions build trust, foster positive relationships, and enhance community policing efforts. By increasing officer presence and communication, mere encounters help identify concerns early, promote transparency, and prevent potential issues from escalating while safeguarding individual rights. A mere encounter does not involve reasonable suspicion or probable cause. If the person refuses to engage, walks away, or flees, these actions, without more, do not establish legal justification to pursue or detain.”
Officers are required, under the guidelines, to “activate their body-worn camera,” notify police radio,” and record the encounter in the patrol log.
Tonya McClary, executive director of the Oversight Commission wants to “better understand” if the mere encounters are falling within the guidelines.
“Just because it’s in policy, it doesn’t make it right,” McClary, “a pastor, movement strategist, lawyer, advocate, organizer and artist” said.
“Her life’s works are in the areas of transformative justice, criminal justice, healing, [and] civil and human rights,” reads her bio on the American Friends Service Committee website. In other words, she’s apparently made her living being anti-police.
“If an officer can walk up to you and say, ‘How are you doing?’ and ‘Do you have a gun?’ What does that look like?” McClary said. “Should they also add phrases like, ‘Well sir, you don’t have to answer that,’ or, ‘You are free to walk away from me right now?’”
Preliminary data reviewed by McClary’s commission shows that mere encounters account for about 6% of all police incidents.
In a statement, the Philadelphia Police Department explained how the agency trains officers on constitutional policing standards:
“The Philadelphia Police Department has devoted significant time and resources to ensuring officers understand and comply with constitutional policing standards, including the distinction between mere encounters, investigative detentions, and lawful searches,” the statement said.
“Long before this report, the Department had already identified opportunities to strengthen training and policy in this area through our own review processes, including supervisory oversight, body-worn camera review, and ongoing policy evaluation. Those efforts have led to a fundamentally new approach to policy implementation, pairing policy revisions with comprehensive training, scenario-based instruction, and interactive testing to ensure officers not only understand policy changes, but can apply them in the field. This represents a significant evolution in how the Philadelphia Police Department develops, implements, and reinforces constitutional policing, and it will remain the model moving forward. We remain committed to protecting both public safety and the constitutional rights of every Philadelphian.”
The Oversight Commission said they plan to review body-camera footage and incident reports related to mere encounters, and has also posted a survey on its website seeking feedback from residents about their experiences with such encounters.
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