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| − | {{Infobox Biography
| + | '''Victor Demarius Steen''' (November 12, 1991 - October 3, 2009) was struck and killed by the cruiser of [[Pensacola Police]] Officer Jerald Ard while riding his bicycle in the [[Brownsville]] neighborhood of Pensacola. Officer Ard claims to have spotted Steen at an empty construction site around 1:50 AM and attempted to stop him for questioning. Ard then assumed Steen was trying to flee and proceeded to tase him from the window of his moving police cruiser. Steen was then struck by the cruiser and dragged to his death on a median in an empty parking lot at the corner of Cervantes and R Streets. |
| − | | subject_name =Victor Steen
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| − | | date_of_birth =[[November 12]], [[1991]]
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| − | | date_of_death =[[October 3]], [[2009]]
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| − | | place_of_death =Pensacola
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| − | | parents =Cassandra Steen
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| − | '''Victor Demarius Steen''' was a teenager who was killed when struck by a Pensacola Police cruiser on [[October 3]], [[2009]].
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| − | Steen was struck and killed by the cruiser of [[Pensacola Police]] Officer Jerald Ard while riding his bicycle in the [[Brownsville]] neighborhood of Pensacola. Officer Ard claims to have spotted Steen casing a construction site around 1:50 AM and attempted to stop him for questioning. According to Ard and dashcam footage, Steen fled the area, attempting to avoid arrest. Ard pursued Steen in his police cruiser with his patrol lights on going the wrong way on a four lane highway (lights were activated to alert Steen and avoid danger to others) and attempted to fire a Taser weapon from the window of the moving cruiser.<ref name="ppd1">[http://www.ci.pensacola.fl.us/ppd/press.asp?action=detail&ID=14279 Pensacola Police Department press release, October 3, 2009.]</ref> The chase ended when Steen was struck by the cruiser and dragged until the cruiser came to a stop at a median in an empty parking lot at the corner of [[Cervantes Street|Cervantes]] and [[R Street]]s. Steen was pronounced dead at the scene.
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| − | ==Reaction== | + | == See also == |
| − | In the days after the incident, Officer Ard was placed on paid administrative leave, per Department policy. On [[October 13]], he returned to plain-clothes duty doing administrative work for the Department's patrol division.<ref>"Ard back to work." ''Pensacola News Journal'', October 22, 2009.</ref>
| + | * [[Pensacola Police Department]] |
| | + | * [[Brownsville]] |
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| − | Separate investigations were launched into the incident by the Florida Highway Patrol, which investigates vehicular accidents, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which investigates officer-involved fatalities.<ref name="ppd1" />
| + | == External links == |
| − | | + | * [http://www.sclcfl.org/victorsteen/index.html SCLC: Victor Steen]<BR> |
| − | ==Effects on police policy==
| + | * [http://www.wkrg.com/florida/article/silent-march-loud-message/454277/Oct-17-2009_10-16-pm/ Silent March, Loud Message] |
| − | Steen's death triggered an internal administrative review of departmental policies,<ref name="ppd2">[http://www.ci.pensacola.fl.us/ppd/press.asp?action=detail&ID=14313 Pensacola Police Department press release, October 7, 2009.]</ref> and several changes were made in the months following Steen's death.
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| − | On October 9, 2009, the Department changed its Taser policy to specifically prohibit officers from firing the weapons from a moving vehicle or into a moving vehicle.<ref>"Pensacola police update Taser policy after teen's death." ''Pensacola News Journal'', October 10, 2009.</ref> On November 19, the Department altered its vehicle pursuit policy. The changes prohibit officers from conducting vehicular pursuits "through apartment complexes, yards, or other populated off-road locations" and caution officers to maintain distance from bicyclists and pedestrians so that "the injury risk will not be elevated by a vehicle's proximity to the suspect."<ref>"Pensacola police revise chase policy after death." ''Pensacola News Journal'', December 9, 2009.</ref>
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| − | ==See also==
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| − | *[[Pensacola Police Department]]
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| − | *[[Brownsville]]
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| − | ==External links== | |
| − | *[http://www.sclcfl.org/victorsteen/index.html SCLC: Victor Steen] | |
| − | *[http://www.wkrg.com/florida/article/silent-march-loud-message/454277/Oct-17-2009_10-16-pm/ Silent March, Loud Message] | |
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| − | ==References==
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| − | {{reflist}}
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| − | [[Category:2009 deaths|Steen, Victor]]
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