BOULDER, Colo. — The City of Boulder is paying $95,000 to settle a lawsuit filed last year against a former Boulder Police Department officer.
Sammie Lawrence accused officer Waylon Lolotai of unlawfully arresting him at Mapleton Ballfields in 2019.
Lolotai was responding to a call about homeless people littering there. According to the federal lawsuit, Lawrence wanted to stand close by the scene to observe the interaction between Lolotai and the small group of people.
Body camera video provided to 9NEWS by Lawrence's attorney shows Lolotai asking Lawrence to move farther away several times, and to put down a stick he was holding.
Lawrence needed this stick as a walking aid because of a seizure disorder, according to the lawsuit.
"Mr. Lawrence again explained that he was at a safe distance to observe, was concerned about his friends being harassed, and that he had a right to observe the interaction as a citizen," the complaint said.
When Lawrence did not move farther away after several minutes, Lolotai arrested him. The lawsuit said Lolotai used unreasonable force against Lawrence and that he had no probable cause to make the arrest.
An independent investigation came to a different conclusion. The report found Lolotai had probable cause to arrest and that the use of force was reasonable and appropriate. The investigation concluded the use of force complaint was unsubstantiated.
The city is not admitting to any wrongdoing, but in the settlement agreement, Boulder did agree to share use of force data with Lawrence's attorney, Darren O'Connor.
O'Connor said he wanted to find out if force was being used too often at the Boulder Police Department.
"Information that will allow us to know the average use of force every month by which we can compare Officer Lolotai's use of force in those months," O'Connor said.
The city will send the data to O'Connor, and he plans to share it publicly. It will include the total number of instances of use by force by Boulder police officers each month between July 2019 and June 2021, including force involving firearms and tasers.
According to O'Connor, Lolotai used force almost every week while he was an officer with the Boulder Police Department.
O'Connor said through a discovery, they found 81 instances of use of force between January 2017 and the fall of 2020.
While he won't get the data until February, he believes the data will show them if that's above average for the department.
"Had we had that information from the beginning before this ever went to a lawsuit, city council members could have looked at that data and said 'this is a real problem,'" O'Connor said.
This lawsuit was dismissed after the settlement, but there is another lawsuit against Lolotai. A woman named Michele Rodriguez is suing him for excessive force.
Lolotai left the department in September 2020 during an investigation into posts he made on social media. The Boulder Police Department said the violations were minor and would have only required additional training and coaching if he stayed.
In a release about his departure, Police Chief Maris Herold described Lolotai as a skilled police officer who has the potential to make a positive difference in policing.
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