Officer Guilty of Hitting Handcuffed ‘Prisoner’

A veteran Los Angeles police officer was found guilty Wednesday of violating department policy for striking a handcuffed prisoner, who was actually an undercover officer posing as a narcotics suspect.

After deliberating for nearly two hours, a three-member Board of Rights panel found Officer Michael L. Sillers, 37, guilty of “unnecessarily involving himself with a handcuffed suspect and of unnecessarily striking a handcuffed officer posing as an arrestee.”

The 16-year police veteran faces another hearing Tuesday to determine what penalty will be assessed.

His face flushed and his body shaking, Sillers declined comment after the decision.

According to testimony, Officer Ed White and another officer were sent to the Southeast Division station on Feb. 3 to investigate reports that jail personnel were allegedly extorting money from prisoners to run errands, and stealing prisoners’ property.

Posing as arrested narcotics dealers, the undercover officers were handcuffed to a bench on the second floor of the station when Sillers walked by, witnesses testified.

Much of the questioning at the hearing concerned the specific behavior of the two undercover officers and whether Sillers might have justifiably believed that his actions were needed to maintain order.

One police supervisor who was participating in the operation testified that the two undercover officers were told to act assertive and cocky, in keeping with their guise as street-smart black drug dealers.

White testified that he mimicked an expression Sillers had uttered, as the officer, who was in plain clothes, approached the two undercover officers. Sillers responded by kicking him in the leg and punching him in the face, White testified.

Sillers, however, testified that White and the other officer were acting rowdy and that White cursed him, calling him a “. . . (expletive) white boy.”

Sillers said that when he approached the two undercover officers, White lifted his leg as if to kick him. He deflected the kick with his own leg and then made an attempt to grab White, who screamed and slumped to his side, Sillers testified.

The defense attempted to prove that Sillers could not have delivered a forceful blow, by calling former Los Angeles County Coroner Thomas T. Noguchi, who testified that medical records and photographs taken of White after the incident did not show evidence of bruises or swelling. However, Noguchi conceded that because of White’s skin color, bruises might not be readily apparent.

When asked why he did not simply ignore the two men, Sillers responded: “They seemed intent on provoking a confrontation with someone. If I had walked away I would have felt I was leaving a problem for the next guy walking up the stairs.”

The board, however, found that while the two undercover officers may have “overplayed” their role, Sillers need not have become embroiled in a physical altercation.

“Officer Sillers had several alternatives other than becoming involved--either ignoring the two prisoners, requesting the arresting officer to quiet their verbal banter or to verbally admonish the two prisoners to quiet them down,” the tribunal composed of Capt. Julius Davis, Capt. Alan Deal and Cmdr. James D. Jones ruled.

Sillers was relieved of duty without pay in April, pending the Board of Rights hearing. He has also been charged by the district attorney’s office with two misdemeanor counts of assault under color of authority and battery. He is scheduled to be arraigned today in Los Angeles Municipal Court. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to one year in jail and fined $10,000.