In policing, undercover work is among the dirtiest and most dangerous, with officers sometimes required to make split-second decisions on whether actions they take could compromise their cover or put themselves or others in danger, experts say.
But when the guns come out, it’s incumbent on undercover officers to sufficiently identify themselves, according to officials.
This week in U.S. District Court, attorneys representing members of a North Georgia drug task force filed their answer to a $5 million lawsuit that accuses undercover agents of civil wrongdoing in the shooting death of a Lavonia pastor.
Jonathan Ayers, 28, was shot to death by undercover officer Billy Shane Harrison when agents tried to stop Ayers while he was in his car at a Toccoa convenience store. A Stephens County grand jury cleared the officers, who said Ayers steered his car toward them in a threatening manner and that shots were fired in self-defense.
Ayers’ widow, Abby Ayers of Hall County, filed suit last month, alleging the officers failed to follow proper police procedures during the shooting.
One of the plaintiff’s arguments is that Ayers had no way of knowing the two men who rushed his car with weapons drawn were police officers. The only identifier Harrison wore was a badge that hung around his neck, which Ayers’ attorney said could be mistaken for jewelry.
“A reasonable law enforcement official would understand that if he were dressed as a criminal and acting as a criminal that he might very well be perceived as a criminal,” Gainesville attorney Roland Stroberg wrote in the lawsuit.
Terry Williams, attorney for the officers being sued, did not return a phone message seeking comment.
But in the response to the lawsuit filed in court this week, Williams acknowledged that the officers arrived on the scene “in an unmarked vehicle that did not resemble the traditional law enforcement vehicle, and the officers had not used lights or a siren when they approached.
“The defendants deny the remaining allegations and inferences of liability,” Williams wrote.
Hall County Sheriff’s officials declined to comment specifically on the Stephens County case, but said in general, they have strict procedures they follow when undercover officers are involved in arrests.
Col. Jeff Strickland said the agency’s undercover cars are equipped with blue lights, and any plainclothes or undercover officers involved in take-downs wear vests or jackets that clearly identify them as sheriff’s deputies.
Capt. Woodrow Tripp said the sheriff’s office has a policy that whenever search warrants are served by drug agents, uniformed officers must be present “so there can be absolutely no doubt as to who they are.”
Tripp said undercover officers should only take law enforcement actions without vests or other identifiers “if it’s a life-threatening situation — either for them or someone else. At the minimum, they should have their badge exposed.”
“The burden’s on us to clearly establish who we are as law enforcement,” Tripp said.
Michael Levine, a New York-based law enforcement consultant who has served as an expert witness in federal civil trials, called undercover work “a very high-risk situation.”
“It’s all in the planning,” Levine said. “You refrain from having undercovers make the arrest. If at all possible, you set it up so that someone in uniform makes the arrest.”
Levine, who is not familiar with the Stephens County case, said such cases often come down to whether officers “acted reasonably and in accordance with their training.”
“All of that is dependent on the specifics,” he said. “Sometimes you can’t predict what’s going to happen at the spur of the moment — you have to act, and that happens.”
But the best practice, Levine said, is “if you know you’re going to make an arrest, just put the jacket on.”
Levine said wrongful death lawsuits against law enforcement agencies “are like showdown poker.
“With the family suing, they’re not going to just walk in there with their hand out and get a settlement,” Levine said. “They’re going to have to show they have a case.”