The Board of Public Safety in Anderson, Indiana, has cleared a police officer of wrongdoing who was captured on video using what many say looks like a chokehold on a suspect – days after the city’s police department banned the move.
In June, Officer Brandon Reynolds was videotaped restraining Spencer Nice by putting his arm around Nice’s neck and bringing him to the ground. Just 30 hours before, the Anderson Police Department had banned chokehold moves.
Now Reynolds is returning to active duty after board members voted Monday that he didn’t violate the department’s code of conduct or use improper force.
Anderson’s police chief had recommended Reynolds be fired. But the president of Anderson’s police union says the board made the right decision.
The board could not decide whether the officer, who has been on unpaid administrative leave since late June, was entitled to back pay.
After the video of Nice’s arrest was released, Anderson’s mayor and police chief announced the department would buy body cameras for active officers to wear. Officials say a camera system is expensive and gave no timeline for when they’d actually be purchased.
