Shameful behavior exhibited in Mr. Ennis’s arrest clearly undermines the trust and respect that our police agencies deserve

Having read the Police Report by Corporal Lowery, as reported in the Royal Examiner, filed on the occasion of the arrest of Ralph Ennis on April 2nd, it strikes me (no pun intended) that the law enforcement officers who made the arrest used excessive force when taking Mr. Ennis into custody. Mr. Ennis, according to the report, clearly posed no threat to the officers. I did not know Mr. Ennis, nor do I know his family and friends; my feelings are entirely objective as a point of fact.

It was observed by Cpl. Lowery, in his report, that Mr. Ennis was elderly and seemed confused. The report shows that Mr. Ennis did not exhibit any threatening behavior. What was the reason why the deputy ran up behind Mr. Ennis, strongly restraining him, and “jerked him around,” slamming his face into the camper top of his pick-up truck? Was it perhaps a broken tooth or teeth that Mr. Ennis apparently spit out onto the ground? Why was it necessary to apparently shove Mr. Ennis in such a way that he tripped over the hitch on the rear of the truck, causing this collection of apparent flailing individuals to fall to the ground, at which time Mr. Ennis struck the back of his head on the pavement?

Moreover, the vehicle video footage and the body-cam footage of the arrest of Mr. Ennis confirm that Mr. Ennis was simply standing still when the police officer ran up behind him, restrained him from behind, and slammed him into the back of the pick-up truck. Moreover, in the body-cam footage, a police officer clearly stated, when he got back into his car, that the manner in which Mr. Ennis was arrested “was uncalled for.”

Based on the police report and the footage, was all of this physical force necessary to arrest an elderly and obviously confused man who apparently posed no threat to anyone? His apparent dementia aside, might have Mr. Ennis have been exhibiting signs of a diabetic emergency, which mimic the behavior that Mr. Ennis was reported to have shown, based on the police report? There have been instances where drivers with a diabetic emergency have been roughly treated by law enforcement, with serious consequences; the training for an encounter with a potential motor vehicle operator with a diabetic emergency has been included in some law enforcement agencies.

It seems to me that the written reported and video recorded manner in which Mr. Ennis was arrested, and his subsequent death, led to the apparent nationwide mistrust of law enforcement agencies by the public in recent years. In these perilous times, when crime and complete disregard for any type of lawful authority is thoroughly out of control, we cannot abide from having our local law enforcement agencies exhibit unnecessary behavior when the situation, as indicated in the police report and in the video footage, clearly does not call for excessive and unwarranted force.

On the contrary, had Mr. Ennis exhibited threatening behavior or in any way resisted arrest, then the manner in which he was arrested could have been justified. What transpired in this particular case was, in my opinion, clearly unwarranted and clearly unnecessary.

Our police agencies have a very difficult time as it is to uphold the law and the rights of the public; they deserve the utmost respect as they perform their sworn duties. Such shameful behavior exhibited in Mr. Ennis’s arrest clearly undermines the trust and respect that our police agencies deserve.

I hope that such behavior, as demonstrated in the police report and video footage, is an aberration of the normal performance by our local law enforcement agencies, and those who were responsible for the manner in which Mr. Ennis was arrested are or will be appropriately handled. I attend church and occasionally shop in Warren County, and I do not like to be nor want to be especially wary of the police and deputies in Front Royal and in Warren County. The Sheriff in Warren County and the Police Chief in Front Royal are ultimately responsible for what happens with their employees in their respective jurisdictions, and it is their responsibility to ensure that such actions as this response to arrest Mr. Ennis do not happen.

Arthur Candenquist
Amissville, Rappahannock County