Classmates of the late Sgt. Cornel Young Jr. say that if they were to draw their weapon while off-duty, they were supposed to hold their badge right next to their gun.

01:00 AM EST on Thursday, December 1, 2005

BY EDWARD FITZPATRICK
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE -- Police academy classmates of Sgt. Cornel Young Jr. testified yesterday they were taught that they did not have to jump into the middle of life-threatening situations while off-duty.

The classmates said that depending on the circumstances, off-duty officers could fulfill their duties by merely calling the dispatcher and being a good witness.

And the classmates said that if they did decide to draw their weapon while off-duty, they were supposed to hold their badge right next to their gun and follow the commands of on-duty officers.

The testimony came as city defense lawyers attacked the idea that Young's death resulted from slipshod training and a dangerous policy that required off-duty officers to carry guns and become involved in life-threatening situations.

In all, five of Young's classmates took the witness stand in U.S. District Court during the 14th day of a civil trial stemming from Young's death in January 2000.

Young drew his gun while off-duty to break up a melee outside Fidas restaurant. Officers Michael Solitro III and Carlos A. Saraiva mistook him for an armed suspect and shot him. Young's mother ended up filing a constitutional rights lawsuit against the City of Providence.

Police Officer Gary Slater testified that a training academy instructor, Sgt. Robert K. Boehm, emphasized the need to be aware of your surroundings when weighing whether to intervene while off-duty.

"If you are with your wife at a restaurant, don't just jump into action," Slater said, recalling Boehm's instruction. "A lot of times you want to be a cowboy, but if some guy starts acting up, intoxicated, it's not best to run up to that person because a knife or a fork could be used as a weapon."

Defense lawyer Michael J. Colucci asked what procedures recruits were told to follow if they decided "to get physically involved in a crime scene" while off-duty.

Slater said officers were told to identify themselves with loud commands and to place their badge next to their gun. Also, he said recruits were taught that on-duty officers are in charge of crime scenes even if "the president, the chief or a senator" is on the scene.

According to defense lawyers, Saraiva and Solitro did not hear Young identify himself as a police officer outside Fidas, Young did not take his badge out of his back pocket and Young did not drop his gun when told to by the uniformed officers.

During cross-examination, plaintiff's lawyers zeroed in on the fact that the classmates who testified had met in a group with defense lawyer Colucci to discuss what was taught in the training academy. They questioned whether those meetings shaped yesterday's testimony.

For example, plaintiff's lawyer Nick Brustin asked whether those group meetings had helped Officer Maxwell Dorley remember what training he'd received. Dorley said, "It did bring back some memories."

Brustin asked, "Is it possible that some of the specific things were mentioned at the meetings and didn't necessarily happen at your academy?" Dorley answered,"No."

Later, Colucci asked Dorley if anyone in those groups did not remember being taught how to identify themselves while off-duty and to obey the commands of on-duty officers. Dorley said, "No. Everybody remembered."

Earlier in the day, plaintiff's lawyer Barry C. Scheck cross-examined another of Young's classmates, Sgt. Roger A. Aspinall, who'd begun testifying on Tuesday.

"You think your training 8 1/2 years ago was that it's enough to be a good witness and there was no policy to intervene if there's an immediate threat to life and property?" Scheck asked. Aspinall said: "That's correct."

"There's no chance you are mixing up what you know from experience on the street and thinking you were told things in the training academy?" Scheck asked. Aspinall said, "No."

"Or that after group sessions it built up to more than it really was?" Scheck asked. Again, Aspinall said, "No."

When the case first came to trial, in 2003, a separate jury found that Solitro had violated Sergeant Young's constitutional rights but that Saraiva had not. Scheck asked Aspinall if he agreed with that verdict, and Aspinall said, "To be honest, I never really understood the verdict."

While Young was black, the two officers who shot him are white. And Scheck asked: "Did you receive training to avoid stereotypes about who might or might not be a police officer in an off-duty setting?" Aspinall said he couldn't recall a specific class on such situations, but he said, "We had a cultural diversity class. We had classes about how to act as a police officer, and we were taught not to stereotype someone."

The jury is expected to spend most, if not all, of today listening to testimony from a firearms instructor, Sgt. Kenneth Vinacco.