Dontre Hamilton Case Study

Thirty one year old Dontre Hamilton was shot and killed by officer Christopher Manney in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The incident occurred on the evening of April 30, 2014 at Red Arrow Park after a nearby Starbuck’s employee complained about an alleged homeless Hamilton sleeping in the park. Hamilton was initially confronted by two different officers and they concluded that he was not doing anything wrong. Officer Manney was unaware of the previous officers’ presence so he decided to follow up on the disturbance call. At the time of Manney’s arrival the other officers had already left the scene, thus officer Manney approached Hamilton and conducted a pat down. During the frisk, officer Manney states that Hamilton twists his body to show his right hand that was balled into a fist, ultimately facing the officer. Hamilton then allegedly lunges toward officer Manney and strikes him with his fist. The altercation continues as Hamilton grabs officer Manney to initiate a blow to the right side of his head. Officer Manney describes the blow to his head as the point at which he felt he lost control of the situation. Feeling as though he is losing control to Hamilton, officer Manney pulls out his baton to strike the suspect several times. Unfortunately officer Manney states that his efforts with the baton end with Hamilton escaping with the weapon wedged between his torso. With Hamilton escaping, he turns back to officer Manney and strikes him with the officer’s own baton. Fearing for his life, officer Manney draws his gun and starts firing at Hamilton, and continues to fire until Hamilton is completely on the ground. After fourteen bullets fired, officer Manney justifies his actions as a necessary means of defense. The incident between Dontre Hamilton and officer Christopher Manney is often described as a case of police brutality. In the our society, conflicts between police officers and …show more content…
Milwaukee had a writ of mandamus issued to prevent officer Manney from working after the altercation. The government exercised its’ right to prior restraint by preventing the publication and broadcasting of objectionable material to the general public during the trial. Officer Christopher Manney was not charged with the murder of Dontre Hamilton, but Manney’s local police chief still found faults in his officer’s actions despite the lack of a conviction. Due to the power of the local police department, the police chief was allowed to release officer Manney from the police force without a conviction. Citizens supported the Milwaukee police chief, but were upset that charges were not brought. Many may have believed that the crime committed was a hate-crime. A hate-crime is a legislative measure that increases penalties for persons convicted of criminal offenses motivated by prejudice based on race, religion, national origin, gender or sexual orientation, and this case was categorized by the prejudice based on race. Officer Manney was a white man with a wrongful viewpoint of a non-violent African American Dontre Hamiltion, that may have been based on his disliking or miseducation of other cultures.
In conclusion, our society needs to watch for officers that have different interpretations of the law. The death of Dontre Hamilton could have easily been prevented if police officers such as Christopher Manney were screened more throughly before they hit the streets. Until a system that properly addresses and screens against discrimination, police officers will continue to be involved in cases of