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'''{{Infobox Biography| subject_name =Victor Demarius Steen''' (| image_name =| image_size =| image_caption =| date_of_birth =[[November 12]], [[1991 - ]]| place_of_birth =| date_of_death =[[October 3]], [[2009) ]]| place_of_death =Pensacola| occupation =| religion =| spouse =| parents =Cassandra Steen| children =}}'''Victor Demarius Steen''' was a young male who was killed when struck and killed by the a Pensacola Police cruiser of on [[Pensacola PoliceOctober 3]] Officer Jerald Ard while riding his bicycle in the , [[Brownsville2009]] neighborhood of Pensacola.
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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 at an empty construction site around 1:50 AM and attempted to stop him for questioning. According to Ard, Steen fled the area. Ard pursued Steen in his police cruiser 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.
==Reaction==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> 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" /> ==Effects on police policy==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. 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> ==See also==*[[Pensacola Police Department]]*[[Brownsville]] == 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] ==References=={{reflist}} [[Category:2009 deaths|Steen, Victor]]
