Crestview officials say cops 'did what they were supposed to do.' NAACP, Wilks family disagree

CRESTVIEW — Crestview officials and leaders of the local NAACP have viewed body camera footage taken at the scene of an October 2021 incident that led to the death of Calvin Wilks Jr.

They have formed radically different opinions regarding what the video evidence showed. 

In a Tuesday interview, Okaloosa Branch NAACP President Lewis Jennings described watching three big, strong white police officers manhandling a much smaller Black man. In a news release issued last weekend, he said he saw Wilks beaten while "handcuffed and hogtied" and officers deploying stun guns against him "multiple times."

Background on the case:

Original reporting:Man dies after being tased by Crestview police during welfare check; NAACP seeks 'fairness'

Indictment handed down:3 Crestview cops indicted for manslaughter in stun gun death. NAACP, Wilks family are 'pleased'

Family in mourning:'The time to stop killing us is now': Wilks' family responds to indictment of Crestview officers

​​​​​​Legal battles brewing:Wrongful death: Legal battles ensue after indictment of Crestview officers for lethal struggle

In the same release, Jennings said the NAACP "found it alarming" that Crestview City Manager Tim Bolduc stood behind the actions of his officers and, in the days following the fatal incident, made a public pronouncement to that effect. 

Bolduc, according to the release from last year, said "The Crestview Police Department stands by the actions of the officers in this case, after an administrative review of the case and review of body-worn cameras worn by the officers involved demonstrated that officers acted accordingly when responding to the aggressive and combative actions of Mr. Wilks.” 

Bolduc this week confirmed the accuracy of the the quote attributed to him. And he said until he gets more information to work with, he's bound to stand behind his comment.

"We did perform a review of the body cam footage specific to the case immediately after the incident, and it was turned over to the FDLE (Florida Department of Law Enforcment)," Bolduc said. "To this date we have not received a specific statement from the FDLE or State Attorney's Office saying what violations were committed by the officers."

An autopsy did reveal the cause of Wilks' death to be homicide, which in a Medical Examiner's report indicates a violent death while not implying criminal intent.

Earlier this month, nearly nine months after Wilks died, Greg Anchors, Okaloosa County's chief assistant state attorney, took evidence gathered following the death, including body cam footage, to a grand jury. Jurors returned indictments for manslaughter against officers Brandon Hardaway, William Johns and Evan Reynolds. The case against a fourth officer was reviewed but he was not indicted.

The next day, Anchors offered a brief explanation of what had led his office to convene the grand jury.

"The state had concerns about the right of entry to the premises as well as the degree of force that was used," he said. "Those were the concerns that our investigation initially revolved around."

Anchors' statement has been as close as the FDLE or the State Attorney's Office have come to providing a rationale for the indictments.

Bolduc said the city has been told it will be provided copies of the FDLE's findings in its investigation into Wilks' death only through legal discovery as the criminal case proceeds against Hardaway, Johns and Reynolds.

FDLE officials have told the Northwest Florida Daily News the investigation of the indicted officers remains active.

"We have no reports to release at this time," agency spokesman David Fierro said in an email. 

The State Attorney's Office has said any reports or video footage presented to a grand jury are exempt from the public record.

Some of Wilks' family members viewed the body camera footage of Wilks being taken down by Crestview officers at the same time the NAACP leaders saw it. They have spoken publicly of witnessing 45 minutes of horror as their loved one was brutalized by police.

The family has hired attorneys and notified the city and Police Department of their intention to file wrongful death lawsuits. A Statement of Claim and Interest has also been filed on behalf of Wilks' mother against the estate of Calvin Wilks Jr.

The news release issued by the NAACP, which was sent out following a Saturday press conference conducted by the family, said video evidence does not make it clear the officers followed department protocol regarding the justifiable use of non-deadly force.

"Our review of the body cam video did not reveal that any of the actions of Mr. Wilks rose to the level of being tased multiple times while handcuffed and hogtied," the release said. "Nor was Mr. Wilks being placed under arrest or being taken into custody. The bottom line is Mr. Wilks was lawfully within his rights to be where he was and the CPD did not have probable cause to use the level of force it used for a mere wellness check."

The release called upon the Police Department to examine its policies and procedures to ensure its officers are held to a higher level of responsibility. Specifically, it called for two members of the public to be added to a Critical Incident Review Board that reviews cases in which a death occurs. At present the CIRB is composed of four members of the Police Department's administration.

"Although the Crestview Police Department’s (CPD) written guidelines require a CIRB to be conducted, completed and turned over to the chief within 72 hours of a death or serious injury, we question if such an internal investigation occurred," Jennings said in the release. "We further believe if the CPD had followed their own procedures, they would have immediately placed all three officers on administrative duty pending the outcome of a CIRB."

Action before indictments:Four Crestview cops on administrative duty after man dies during struggle; NAACP raising questions

City guidelines actually state only that the CIRB be convened within 72 hours of completion of a criminal or administrative internal investigation. It provides no timeline for the findings to be turned over to the Chief of Police.

The NAACP release alleged that if the Critical Incident Review Board was ever convened, then its members had not taken the proper time to examine the evidence it had in front of it, as "it obviously did not conclude with a true assessment of events of the deadly encounter with Mr. Wilks."

Shortly after Wilks' death Jennings said the body cam footage appeared to verify some parts of the Police Department's narrative regarding what had happened. This week he said the video also revealed holes in the agency story.

"Some of the things they said were collaborated by the body cam," he said. "Some is what they said it was, some of it was not what they said."

Bolduc defended the city's critical incident review process in Wilks' case by pointing out that both members of NAACP leadership and representatives of the Wilks family had been given the opportunity to view the body cam evidence.

He said the city is "always open to look at our policies" and added that he had told the State Attorney's Office following Wilks' death that if anything stood out in the evidence gathered that needed to be immediately addressed, all suggestions would be welcome.

Given the continued silence of the agencies that officially reviewed the officers' actions on Oct. 14, 2021, Bolduc said he has turned to other law enforcement experts and legal professionals to review available evidence in the Wilks' case. 

"We have reviewed the footage with representatives of other law enforcement agencies and legal experts," he said. "Everyone we have shown the video to believes the officers did what they were supposed to do that night. The only group that has reviewed this and come to a different conclusion is the State Attorney's Office."

Bolduc said that while the city's perspective on the actions of its officers could change based on what the FDLE and State Attorney's Office reports show, for now it continues to stand by a statement Crestview Police Chief Steve McCosker made following the indictment and arrest of the three officers.

“As a law enforcement agency, we must trust the justice system we are charged to enforce.” McCosker said in a news release. “We will continue to cooperate with all parties involved as we await the outcome of the upcoming trial.”

If convicted of manslaughter, Hardaway, Johns and Reynolds face a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.