A rough ride is a form of police brutality in which a

handcuffed ''Handcuffed'' is a 1929 American silent mystery film directed by Duke Worne and starring Virginia Brown Faire, Wheeler Oakman and Dean Jagger.Munden p.322 Synopsis Gerald Morely's father is ruined in a stock fraud and commits suicide. When sho ...

prisoner is placed in a

police van A police van (also known as a paddy wagon, meat wagon, divisional van, patrol van, patrol wagon, police wagon, Black Mariah/Maria, police carrier, or in old-fashioned usage, pie wagon) is a type of vehicle operated by police forces. Police vans ...

or other patrol vehicle without a

seatbelt A seat belt (also known as a safety belt, or spelled seatbelt) is a vehicle safety device designed to secure the driver or a passenger of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result during a collision or a sudden stop. A seat belt red ...

, and is thrown violently about as the vehicle is driven erratically. Rough rides have been implicated in a number of injuries sustained in police custody, and commentators have speculated that the practice contributed to the

death of Freddie Gray On April 12, 2015, Freddie Carlos Gray Jr., a 25-year-old African American, was arrested by the Baltimore Police Department over his legal possession of a knife. While being transported in a police van, Gray sustained injuries and was taken to ...

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, Maryland, in April 2015. Throughout the U.S., police have been accused of using aggressive driving tactics to "rough suspects up", resulting in numerous injuries, and millions of dollars of

damages At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognised at ...

awarded to victims and their families. Baltimore lawyer Phil Federico described the practice as "definitely intentional", saying "they're unbelted, the inside of these wagons are not padded, they can't protect themselves, and they get thrown from one side to the other, usually landing on their head, and fracturing their neck." The practice has been described as

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. definitions of tortur ...

by Philadelphia based activist and academic

Marc Lamont Hill Marc Lamont Hill (born December 17, 1978) is an American academic, author, activist, and television personality. He is a professor of media studies and urban education at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Hill is the host of '' Up ...

. University of South Carolina professor Geoffrey Alpert, an expert in police use of force, has asserted that the practice was common in the 1980s and 1990s, but has become less so with the increased presence of

video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syst ...

recording equipment in police vehicles. There are no reliable records of the frequency of these incidents. Other terms for the practice include "nickel ride" (a reference to

carnival rides Amusement rides, sometimes called carnival rides, are mechanical devices or structures that move people especially kids to create fun and enjoyment. Rides are often perceived by many as being scary or more dangerous than they actually are. This ...

), "cowboy ride", "joyride", "bringing them up front" (referring to sudden braking), and "screen test" (as the prisoner may hit the protective screen behind the driver).

Alleged incidents

Baltimore

In 1980, 58-year-old John Wheatfall broke his neck and became

paralyzed Paralysis (also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 5 ...

during a ride to

's Southwestern District. Wheatfall was seated on a bench with his hands cuffed behind his back, when he was thrown to the floor and hit his head against the wall. Baltimore police vans did not have seatbelts at the time. The officer driving stated he had swerved to avoid an oncoming car, and an investigation did not find evidence of negligence. Wheatfall sued for $3 million, and was awarded $20,000 for his injury. In 2004, Jeffrey Alston was awarded $39 million after becoming paralyzed from the neck down as a result of a ride in a Baltimore police van. In 2005, Dondi Johnson Sr., a plumber, was arrested in Baltimore for public urination. Apparently uninjured at the time of his arrest, Johnson emerged from the police van paralyzed with a broken neck, and died two weeks later from pneumonia resulting from his injuries. Johnson stated he had been thrown face-first into the interior of the van during a sharp turn. His family sued the Baltimore police and were awarded $7.4 million, which was reduced to $219,000 under a cap imposed by Maryland state law. In 2012, Christine Abbott, a 27-year-old assistant librarian at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

, was arrested at a party she was hosting at her home in Baltimore's Hampden neighborhood. She was handcuffed and put into a police van. Abbott later sued the officers in federal court, describing her ride as "like a roller coaster", and accusing the officers of braking short and taking "wide, fast turns" which slammed her into the walls. Police acknowledged that Abbott was not buckled in during her ride. Some media commentators have suggested that the "rough ride" practice was a factor in the 2015

, although state prosecutors have not alleged that Gray was subjected to a rough ride. Gray was arrested on April 12, and was conscious and able to speak before being placed into a police van. Following a thirty-minute ride, Gray was comatose and not breathing. He was treated at the

R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center (also referred to simply as Shock Trauma) is a free-standing trauma hospital in Baltimore, Maryland and is part of the University of Maryland Medical Center. It was the first facility in the world to treat shock. ...

of the University of Maryland Hospital, where his

spinal cord The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular structure made up of nervous tissue, which extends from the medulla oblongata in the brainstem to the lumbar region of the vertebral column (backbone). The backbone encloses the central canal of the sp ...

was found to be 80% severed, an injury consistent with a serious car accident. Gray died a week after his arrest. Medical experts say Gray may have sustained a neck injury during his arrest which could have been exacerbated during his transport. Police acknowledged that Gray was not buckled in, contrary to departmental policy. On September 9, 2015, the City of Baltimore approved a $6.4 million civil settlement with Gray's family. The first criminal case to be tried of the police officers involved with Gray's arrest resulted in a

mistrial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, ...

Los Angeles

On April 15, 1990, Fernando Martinez was arrested by the

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD), officially the County of Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, is a law enforcement agency serving Los Angeles County, California. LASD is the largest sheriff's department in the United States ...

. In a 1991 class-action lawsuit filed by the

NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (NAACP LDF, the Legal Defense Fund, or LDF) is a leading United States civil rights organization and law firm based in New York City. LDF is wholly independent and separate from the NAACP. Altho ...

, it was alleged that a deputy drove recklessly while Martinez, a minor, was handcuffed in the back seat of a patrol car, causing his head to strike the partition separating the front and back seats, and that Martinez was further beaten, choked, and kicked on arriving at the police station. The case proceeded to trial, resulting in a $6 million award to the 54 plaintiffs, and a $1.5 million allocation for use of force training of the Sheriff's Department. Following a traffic stop on October 19, 1997, a

Los Angeles Police Department The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...

disciplinary panel concluded that officer Ray Logan had carried out a "screen test", among other abuses. Logan was subsequently fired.

Philadelphia

A 2001 investigation by ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'' documented twenty people injured in rough rides in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. Three suffered spinal injuries, and two were paralyzed. As of 2001, courts had awarded $2.3 million in legal settlements resulting from these cases, but no officer had ever been disciplined for the practice. The

Philadelphia Police Department The Philadelphia Police Department (PPD or Philly PD) is the police agency responsible for law enforcement and investigations within the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The PPD is one of the oldest municipal police agencies, fourth largest ...

began to introduce vans with padding and safety restraints in December 2000. On April 10, 1994, Gino Thompson was thrown from his seat when the police van carrying him stopped suddenly. Thompson sustained a spinal cord injury which paralyzed him from the waist down. Thompson was awarded $600,000. On March 31, 1995, John DeVivo was arrested, handcuffed, and placed in a police van. DeVivo reported that the driver slammed on the brakes, throwing him to the floor and fracturing his tailbone. The police claimed that a dog had run into the road, and denied wrongdoing. DeVivo sued and was awarded $11,000. On September 29, 1996, Bernadette Moore, age 34, sustained injuries to her shoulder and back after a police ride in which she reported that the driver was "swerving and slamming on the brakes". She was later awarded $15,000. In 1997, Calvin Saunders was thrown from his seat and slammed his head against the wall of a police van. He became paralyzed from the neck down, and was awarded $1.2 million. On April 15, 1998, Robert Schwartz Sr., age 44, broke a vertebra in his neck during what he described as a wild police wagon ride. He was awarded $110,000. On February 21, 1999, Carlice Harris, age 44, sustained injuries to her face, knees, and wrists during police transport. She was awarded $22,500. In 2011, James McKenna was arrested outside a Philadelphia bar. McKenna alleged that he heard an officer tell the driver of the van to "fuck him up." During a 20-minute ride including quick stops and sharp turns, he repeatedly slammed his head into the walls, ultimately breaking three vertebrae in his neck. McKenna was awarded $490,000.

Other incidents

In 1980,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

plumber Freddie Franklin alleged in a federal lawsuit that he was wrongfully arrested by six members of the Chicago Police Department and forced into the back of a police van in handcuffs. The van was allegedly driven recklessly, throwing Franklin around the van and causing him to bite off his lower lip. Franklin received $135,000 from the city in a settlement of the lawsuit. In 1999, a former police chaplain in Aurora, Illinois sued that city's police department, alleging that it was a common practice for police in Aurora to drive recklessly so as to attempt to injure handcuffed suspects. The department denied the allegations and the lawsuit was eventually settled. In November 2017, Andreu Van den Eynde, a lawyer for several ministers of the

Republican Left of Catalonia The Republican Left of Catalonia ( ca, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, ERC; ; generically branded as ) is a pro-Catalan independence, social-democratic political party in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia, with a presence also i ...

sentenced to prison in Spain, questioned how his clients "were contained mechanically" during transport from the

Audiencia Nacional The Audiencia Nacional (; en, National Court) is a centralised court in Spain with jurisdiction over all of the Spanish territory. It is specialised in a certain scope of delinquency, having original jurisdiction over major crimes such as those ...

to a prison in Estremera, away. Spain's

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministr ...

did not confirm whether the prisoners were cuffed in the vans or not. Van den Eynde did not immediately file a complaint of mistreatment, pending medical reports. In November 2022, five members of the

New Haven Police Department The New Haven Police Department is the law enforcement agency responsible for the city of New Haven, Connecticut. History Founding and early years The NHPD was formed with the signing of a bill on July 27, 1861. Its first elected Chief was J ...

were charged with second-degree reckless endangerment and cruelty, after neglecting the injuries of a black suspect injured in their custody. In the June 2022 incident, the driver of a police van braked hard, allegedly to avoid a collision, causing Randy Cox, 36, to hit the metal partition headfirst, resulting in his paralysis. After being placed in a detention center, Cox's pleas for help were met with mockery, captured on surveillance and body-worn cameras. The five officers charged are next due in court on December 8th.

References

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United States District Court for the Central District of California The United States District Court for the Central District of California (in case citations, C.D. Cal.; commonly referred to as the CDCA or CACD) is a Federal trial court that serves over 19 million people in Southern and Central California, ...