Time for serious look at Officer Mackdanz Time for serious look at Officer Mackdanz (February 23, 2005)

The city of Menlo Park can't be happy about the outcome of the excessive force civil court case brought against one of its police officers by tree trimmer David McBay. Although the city may have had the option to settle for $29,000 after Mr. McBay won an arbitration hearing to recover lost wages and pay medical bills, the city decided to take its chances in civil court, but lost the case after a trial of about two weeks.

City Attorney Bill McClure has said it is unlikely that the city will appeal, so the cost to put on the city's case and to pay the defendant's lawyer could add up to $200,000 or more, with about half covered by insurance. hundreds of thousands of dollars. In retrospect, the opportunity to settle for much less looks appealing in the case, in which officers arrested Mr. McBay for trespassing at a North Lemon Avenue home he had permission to be in.

And although the police department has had a very good record of dealing with the public over the years, it may be time to take a hard look at the career of Officer Scott Mackdanz, who the jury agreed used excessive force during the McBay arrest. The verdict came despite testimony by Officer Mackdanz and other officers involved that Mr. McBay was injured when he tripped and fell into a window in a door of the house. Mr. McBay claimed he was hurt by being thrown face-first into a driveway, in handcuffs, by Officer Mackdanz.

Officer Mackdanz has been accused on at least two other occasions of using excessive force during an arrest. Last year, the city settled a lawsuit filed by Menlo Park couple Anthea Shands-Serret and Agustin Serret for $1,000 -- another case involving Officer Mackdanz. Another resident's claim of $90,000 against the city after a 2004 arrest by Officer Mackdanz has been denied by the city, so that case may also result in a lawsuit.

It should be noted that Mr. McBay was highly intoxicated during his encounter with police, so he was not an easy subject to subdue. But intoxicated or not, he had every right to be in the house as a caretaker, and was not trespassing, as initially thought. Certainly, he was not given the benefit of the doubt. He did not have a weapon and it would seem that the three officers present could have controlled him.

Menlo Park Police Chief Chris Boyd told the Almanac earlier this month that after a thorough internal affairs investigation in the Serret case, "we are certain there was not misconduct on the part of the officers." When queried after the McBay case about a possible further internal review of Officer Mackdanz, Chief Boyd responded only that he could not comment on personnel matters.

Overall, the residents of Menlo Park can take comfort in their police department, which according to Chief Boyd had about 35,000 contacts with citizens last year and received only three complaints. Although complaints filed against police officers are not public, we know that since 2000 at least two lawsuits and one claim charged that Officer Mackdanz used excessive force.

This is not a good record. It is time for Chief Boyd to take a hard look at the record and decide if Officer Mackdanz's on-duty behavior squares with the otherwise admirable performance of the city's police department. Given the recent court decision, and the possibility of another trial, it may be time for Officer Mackdanz to look elsewhere for employment.

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