The family of Bernard Placide Jr. is still waiting for the state of New Jersey to officially release its investigative report on the young man’s killing.
On Sept. 3, 2022, the then 22-year-old Placide was shot and killed by members of the Englewood Police Department (EPD). The shooting devastated his family and led to their filing of a wrongful death lawsuit.
New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin ‘s office took control of the internal affairs investigation into the case, and civil litigation attorney Eric Kleiner –– who is representing the Placide family in the lawsuit –– points out that Platkin’s office has yet to adjudicate it. “Because of that,” Kleiner explained, “the civil case remains on the dockets. We have to wait for the attorney general to finish because the files are confidential; we only have about 4% of the body cams at best. My take is we’re probably missing 97% of the files. …Until they finish their thing, the federal judiciary is going to respect the confidentiality of [the Attorney General’s] guidelines.”
Scott T. Jenkins, a former Englewood police officer who now serves as vice president of the North Jersey Black Caucus for Social Justice (BCSJ), has been a vocal advocate for justice in the Placide case. He insists that the city of Englewood doesn’t necessarily have to have the attorney general’s report, but he thinks the family’s civil rights case hasn’t moved forward because Englewood’s lawyers want to use the attorney general’s determination to justify any settlement offers.
He doesn’t know what he’s doing
Placide had grabbed a kitchen knife and lashed out at his family members that morning. His mother, Myrlene Laurince, called 911 for assistance: She needed urgent help subduing him since Bernard had already cut her; his stepfather, Obed Hilaire, who had barricaded himself in the bathroom; and his grandfather.
Laurince wanted to ensure everyone’s safety: “I don’t know what happened to him, he’s acting crazy lately,” she is recorded saying to the police dispatcher. “You have to come right away; I don’t know what happened to my [son]. …He doesn’t know what he’s doing. … He’s crazy.”
Police bodycam footage shows that officers arrived, went to the rear entrance of the house, and began methodically looking for Placide with their guns drawn. As they entered the apartment, they found Obed Hilaire wounded in the bathroom that was near the front door. After continuing down the hallway and searching other rooms, they found Placide, who had returned to his bedroom.
“Put your hands up now, or you’re going to get shot,” officers yelled as they demanded Placide drop the knife he was holding. “Put your hands up now, or you’re going to get shot – I’m not playing!” Placide was either confused or unwilling to cooperate; he held onto the knife in his hands. When the police saw the knife, they demanded that he drop it. When he ignored them, Officer Brian Havlick tased him, and Officer Luana Sharpe ran into the bedroom to try to subdue him. As Placide fought with Sharpe, her gun went off, and she ended up shooting him.
In October 2022, the attorney general’s office wrote in a press release about the incident that: “When Mr. Placide failed to comply, Officer Brian Havlicek deployed a taser. Officer Luana Sharpe discharged her firearm, fatally wounding Mr. Placide. Police and emergency medical personnel rendered first aid. Officer Sharpe was also treated for an injury to her hand from the knife.
“Investigators recovered a knife near Mr. Placide. Mr. Placide was transported to Englewood Hospital and pronounced deceased at approximately 9:17 a.m. The three wounded individuals were treated and released from an area hospital.”
Investigative report on the case remains delayed
The Placide family claim in their lawsuit that EPD officers were trained to de-escalate situations like this by calling in a Rapid Response Team, composed of individuals trained to work with life-threatening healthcare emergencies. Instead, the police who arrived appeared determined to confront Placide in a domineering way, which led to his death.
“Officer [Luanna] Sharpe, in a heinous and indefensible spontaneous act that proves Sharpe had immediate and unvarnished consciousness of guilt, failed to render any medical aid to Bernard, and instead callously and capriciously fled the scene ignoring her first responder duties as a police officer, leaving Bernard for dead; stopping and delaying Bernard from receiving treatment in a life and death moment,” their lawsuit claims.
Because Sharpe immediately ran out of the room after shooting Placide, her fellow officers handcuffed him and searched him for weapons. Placide’s family said this delayed his being transported immediately to the hospital and lowered his chances of survival.
On April 22, 2024, a grand jury voted not to pursue criminal charges against Officer Luana Sharpe for her actions. Attorney Kleiner has expressed doubts about the strength of the case A.G. Kleiner presented to the grand jury. Now, he and Placide family advocates are also asking why it’s taking so long for Kleiner’s office to submit its investigative report on the case.
New Jersey attorney general guidelines specify that internal affairs investigations, like this one, must be completed within 45 days, BCSJ’s Jenkins points out. That means the report was due by June 6, 2024. “If investigators are unable to complete an internal affairs investigation within 45 days of receiving a complaint, they must notify the agency’s law enforcement executive on or
about the 45th day,” states the Internal Affairs Policy and Procedures (IAPP) handbook. If the investigation can’t be completed within 180 days, the attorney general is required to submit a report to the state legislature explaining why the report is being delayed.
“The attorney general’s Office of Public Integrity (OPIA) took it and has not yet issued anything — no disclosure of the results of the investigation,” Jenkins said. “The family is being victimized every moment by the intentional delays and failures of the attorney general. We mustn’t forget the fight for Bernard Placide Jr and all the other victims of senseless police shootings and brutality.”The Amsterdam News reached out to A.G. Platkin’s office to ask about the status of its report on the investigation into the killing of Bernard Placide Jr. The attorney general’s office replied by noting that it is obligated to do an “administrative review of a fatal police encounter after the grand jury has acted. The administrative review here is ongoing,” a spokesperson said.