Kenosha Police Releases Restaurant Arrest Use of Force Report-Two Officers Suspended

The Kenosha Police Department released the following report about two arrests in the Kenosha Applebee’s from July:

On July 20th, 2023 at about 11:00pm, officers from the Kenosha Police Department responded to the intersection of Hwy 31 (Green Bay Rd.) and Hwy 50 for a report of rollover collision involving two vehicles.

Occupants of one of the vehicles fled the scene.

The suspect in the hit and run was eventually located hiding in a nearby Applebees restaurant.

As many people have seen, two other individuals, Jermelle English and Shanya Boyd, were also taken into custody during the course of the investigation. Mr. English and Ms. Boyd were not involved in the hit and run crash. Force was used in affecting those arrests, which in turned automatically triggered an internal
review of this incident.

After an exhaustive review by our department and the West Allis Police Department, we identified violations of Kenosha Police Department policy committed by both Officer Courtier and Officer Vences.

Officer Vences received a four-day suspension as it was determined that the initial force used by Officer Vences was reasonable but that he should have re-evaluated the effectiveness of those strikes and considered other options to overcome Mr. English’s resistance.

He also failed to complete a report that met the standards of the Kenosha Police Department. Officer Courtier received a ten-day suspension.

The investigation found that Officer Courtier failed to decontaminate Ms. Boyd after utilizing pepper spray and did not meet the standards of the Kenosha Police Department in regard to professional communication, the safe operation of department vehicles and report writing.

The Kenosha Police Department is committed to providing the highest quality service to its citizens and guests.

We strive to train our officers to the highest standard and will hold them accountable if they fall short of those standards.

In addition to the suspension time both officers are receiving supplemental training to correct the deficiencies that were identified in their response to this situation.

The Kenosha Police Department will not be commenting further on this investigation.

Thank you for your patience and understanding while this incident was under review.