University Police officers face a new regulation that will give them discretion when handcuffing arrestees with certain medical needs or disabilities.
Under the new policy, individuals in wheelchairs or with conditions such as broken arms, would not necessarily be handcuffed behind their backs. Instead, their conditions would be taken into consideration, said Gene Burton, the interim director of the Department of Public Safety.
The former policy, approved on Jan. 1, 1992, dictated that anyone under arrest must be handcuffed with their hands behind their back and double locked.
The decision was made based on recommendations by an Indiana police academy, Burton said.
Burton said the former policy did not violate any standards. It was revised, he said, because of recent criticisms against the policy.
Previously, Dean of Students Randy Hyman asked the former director of public safety, Joe Wehner, to re-examine the policy after the arrest of university donor and businessman Ben Delk on Jan. 5 of this year.
Delk was arrested on charges of operating while intoxicated with a blood alcohol content of .08 or above. According to the police report, Delk was "intoxicated and argumentative. It seemed he thought since he is a business owner that he is above being arrested."
Delk's arrest prompted a meeting with Hyman and Wehner. Vice President of Student Affairs Doug McConkey later testified Delk was upset about the manner in which he was handcuffed.
President Blaine Brownell justified the meeting at a later press conference, but Delaware County Prosecutor Richard Reed wrote in a letter to Brownell that the meeting "may border on criminal obstruction."
Reed wrote another letter to Ball State's Board of Trustees, where he questioned Hyman's request to give officers more discretion when handcuffing.
In the letter, Reed wrote all subjects under arrest are required to be handcuffed "behind the back" prior to transport and while in custody.
"However, the public might wonder about any change in policies to make exceptions for 'prominent persons,'" Reed wrote.
According to Burton, had the handcuff policy not been changed now, it would have been reviewed during the comprehensive review, a three-part study of the University Police Department.
The comprehensive review is not formally connected to the review by the Indiana State Police or the advisory group created by Brownell.
Hyman, McConkey and Reed were out of town and not available for comment.
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