By COLLEEN SLEVIN
DENVER (AP) — A police recruit who had to have both of his legs amputated after losing consciousness and repeatedly collapsing during fight training at Denver’s police academy is suing those who allegedly forced him to continue the “barbaric hazing ritual” after paramedics ignored warning signs.
Victor Moses, 29, alleges in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that aggressive officers knocked him down multiple times in the second round of “fight day” last year, with one of them shoving him off the mat and causing him to hit his head on the floor. He said he was pressured to continue, with officers picking him up and setting him back on his feet, before paramedics standing by were asked to check him out, the lawsuit said.
Moses told them he had the sickle cell trait, which puts him at an increased risk of medical complications from high-intensity exercise. He also said he had very low blood pressure and complained that his legs were cramping, according to the lawsuit. The symptoms are danger signs for people with his condition.
Nevertheless, paramedics cleared Moses to return to training, which the suit alleges was a decision made to support the police.
The type of training described in the lawsuit is common in the United States and helps prepare recruits for scenarios they could face on patrol, said Ian Adams, an assistant professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of South Carolina. Minor injuries are common and occasionally recruits die, often because of an underlying medical condition, he said.
Both the Denver Police Department and Denver Health, the public hospital that employed the paramedics, declined to comment on the allegations, saying they could not address pending litigation.
“Safety and well-being is a top priority for Denver Health and its paramedics,” the hospital said in a statement.
A telephone call and email seeking comment was also left with the city attorney’s office.
All recruits must complete the training to prepare them physically and mentally for fights they could encounter on the street. It includes having recruits punch and kick a dummy or a trainer holding pads, using a padded baton to fight trainers, wrestling and practicing to arrest a suspect who assaults them, according to the lawsuit.
The legal action alleges the practice is an unnecessarily violent rite of passage that recruits have to endure to be accepted into the police “fraternity.” It notes that other recruits suffered injuries before Moses started his drills, including one person whose nose was broken.
The lawsuit also claims that training teaches recruits that excessive force is “officially tolerated, and indeed culturally expected.”
Moses’ lawyers, John Holland and Darold Killmer, say that mindset has nurtured a violent police force and led to lawsuits costing Denver millions of dollars.
“Fight Day both encourages Denver police to engage in brutality and to be indifferent to the injuries they inflict,” Holland said.
The lawsuit claims paramedics cleared Moses to continue the training on Jan. 6, 2023 even though he was not able to stand or walk to the next round — wrestling. Instead, a trainer came to Moses and got on top of him. The recruit soon said he could not breathe, became unresponsive and was taken to the hospital, according to the lawsuit.
“If this had been a football game or boxing match, the head injury and losses of consciousness would have ended any continued participation or fighting immediately,” Moses’ lawyers argue.
The lawsuit alleges that Moses was essentially in police custody after becoming incapacitated and the victim of excessive force as the training continued without him being able to consent.
Moses used to spend free time going to breweries and hiking with friends, but now he is largely confined to his apartment in Denver. He is learning to walk again with prosthetics, but cannot electronically charge them himself because of damage also done to his hands. Despite taking powerful opioids, he lives with constant phantom pain from the limbs he no longer has.
The former rental car manager wanted to be a police officer because he thought it would be a more interesting and meaningful career for someone who enjoys connecting with people.
When Moses was eventually taken to the hospital, his lawyers say police mislead doctors by not revealing that he had hit his head on the floor, compromising the care doctors were able to provide.
Moses remained in the hospital for over four months, had both of his legs amputated below the knee and underwent surgery in July to try to restore his grip in one hand.
Now he wonders what would have happened if police had just stopped the training.
“I more than likely could still have my legs. I more than likely could still have my sanity. I could have been a police officer had you just not hazed us,” he told The Associated Press.