Taken away in handcuffs in an involuntary psychiatric hold by the LAPD, Douglas was dehumanized, mocked and insulted by police. He was then wrongfully hospitalized against his will, given nine forced injections, rendered semi-unconscious and violated with a needless catheterization procedure.
Douglas felt he had been terribly mistreated, and a Los Angeles jury agreed in January—awarding him a $6.8 million judgment against the City in a case that highlights the danger of involuntary commitment and so-called psychiatric “treatment” at mental institutions.
“The major breakdown of Western democracy is its habit of carelessly basing legal actions on false reports.” —L. Ron Hubbard
Douglas—a veteran, a former college football and track star, Golden Gloves boxer, former law enforcement officer and college graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Florida State University—set off a firestorm of revenge when he threatened to report a VCL counselor for racial discrimination.
She responded angrily and, when Douglas ended the call, called him back to “continue her tirade.”
“Approximately an hour later, the LAPD was at my door,” Douglas said. The counselor had falsely reported that Douglas had threatened to commit suicide, a charge Douglas denies.
When the police arrived, Douglas allowed them to come in, but objected when they began to search his home. Things went rapidly downhill from there, with Douglas requesting the officers leave and picking up the phone to call 911 for help.
“Put down the damn phone,” LAPD Officer Jeremy R. Wheeler, who was accompanied by Officer Jeffrey H. Yabana, told him, as Yabana snatched away the phone, in a moment captured in body cam footage.
Douglas was swiftly handcuffed. Wheeler then informed Douglas that he would now be in custody because he was under a mental health evaluation.
Dressed only in a T-shirt and shorts, he was taken from his apartment and placed in the back seat of a patrol car. Douglas asked to be handcuffed in front due to a back injury, but the officers refused, instead contacting their supervisor, Sergeant Andrew Kang, who told them to use Douglas’ pain complaint to justify calling EMTs.
“The smartest thing is going to be to put him on a gurney, handcuff him to the rails, take him to the hospital, tell the doctor he’s complained that he’s got previous back injuries … and you need to clear him,” Kang is heard saying in body cam footage. “That way, it takes all the liability off of you guys, takes it off the City. And I think that’ll be the best thing to do.”
And half an hour later, that’s exactly what they did.
At the hospital, Douglas was injected nine times, rendering him semi-unconscious. Blood was drawn to test for illegal drugs, and Douglas was catheterized and forced to undergo medical treatment he insisted he did not want, nor require.
“It appears that the officers were laughing and joking about Douglas’ statements about his [physical] disability at certain points,” the lawsuit states, referring to Douglas’ back problems.
The tests showed no alcohol or drugs in Douglas’ system and, after seven hours of being in custody, he was allowed to leave.
The coverup continued at the VCL, as Douglas’ attorneys discovered that the organization intentionally deleted phone calls containing the false suicide claims made about Douglas.
The case delivers a devastating indictment of a system that justifies stripping away an individual’s civil and constitutional rights in the name of a “welfare check” triggered by a false report that the individual was on the verge of taking his own life.
If counselors and psychiatrists can do it to Douglas, they can do it to anyone.
Make the wrong person angry, and they can do it to you.
“The major breakdown of Western democracy is its habit of carelessly basing legal actions on false reports,” L. Ron Hubbard wrote in his essay “Justice.”
“Anyone can say anything about anybody, and police powers and courts are liable to act on reports so false that a child could see through the lie.”
He continued: “Human rights have as one of their threats the false report.”
Slade Douglas v. City of Los Angeles—The Veteran They Tried to Silence, a powerful documentary about the case, reveals how “they stripped him of his dignity.… Douglas was subjected to force, humiliation and dehumanization, all under the guise of protection … carving deep wounds of trauma which no human being should ever be forced to endure.
“His body was violated, his dignity shredded. The sheer brutality of it defies comprehension, leaving scars that will forever haunt the soul.”
The LAPD and City of Los Angeles tried to claim immunity for the officers, but US District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong ruled that the police officers were not entitled to qualified immunity due to their use of excessive force, unconstitutional detention, retaliation, battery, false arrest, false imprisonment, negligence, and violations of due process, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Bane Act.
“The case of Douglas v. City of Los Angeles has become one of the most disturbing civil rights lawsuits in recent memory,” a Texas Metro News article read, “brought on American soil, against an American soldier, a hero who paid too high a price so that others could live in freedom.”
“It’s a level of dehumanization, and it’s clear that the City and LAPD believe certain people are not entitled to their constitutional rights,” Douglas said.
The jury awarded Douglas $6.8 million.
“This verdict affirms that constitutional rights are not optional,” said Douglas’ counsel, Peter L. Carr IV.
It is unknown whether Los Angeles will appeal the verdict.
“The work continues. We’ll be calling for the City to implement stronger oversight, better training and policy reforms to ensure its officers are fit for duty. The community deserves a system that protects them. That’s what we’re fighting for,” Lauren McRae, another of Douglas’ attorneys, said.
“This jury didn’t buy the excuses. They stripped away the coverups, rejected the deflections and delivered pure accountability. This verdict is justice for Mr. Douglas—and hope that fear of the next verdict drives real reform.”
We can only hope.
