Police body camera footage captures the moment officers confront Ralph “Phil” Grenon in the shower of his apartment in March. Photo courtesy of Burlington police
BURLINGTON — Video from a police officer’s body camera captures the instant when authorities say Ralph “Phil” Grenon thrust a knife toward police, as well as the moments that follow when he is shot to death.
That’s how the state’s attorney’s report and earlier police narratives of the incident describe when Grenon extends his left arm, in which he’s holding a large kitchen knife. In that moment Grenon can be seen wide-eyed, appearing surprised as the curtain is pulled back on the shower where he had sequestered himself.
Burlington police late Tuesday released “nearly all” body camera footage from a standoff March 21 that began with officers going to check on Grenon’s welfare, after he was reported to be screaming and making threats, and ended with the 76-year-old grandfather dead at the downtown apartment he was being evicted from.
The footage was provided to media outlets, city councilors, city police commissioners, a human rights lawyer and others. Police also released selected still images from the footage. Police released 16 videos using unlisted Youtube links, meaning they will not show up in searches but can be accessed with the web address.
Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo said he released all the video from the incident, except where it is “substantially redundant” or where it shows Grenon “after he is struck by gunfire and officers begin lifesaving measures, to include CPR.” Del Pozo cited the privacy of the dead man and his family and loved ones, and an effort to preserve “a modicum of Mr. Grenon’s dignity,” as his reason for withholding sensitive footage.
Del Pozo enjoined the media Tuesday to exercise judgment when handling the released footage. In an email Wednesday to media, del Pozo elaborated, saying his admonition was on behalf of Grenon’s family and a reminder to balance accountability with privacy.
At a news conference the day after Grenon was killed, del Pozo told reporters he wanted the body camera footage released as soon as possible without compromising a state police investigation, because he believed it would bear out the version of events he presented to the public.
Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo speaks at a news conference in March. File photo by Morgan True/VTDigger
Del Pozo’s decision to withhold some of the footage on privacy grounds is concerning, said Jay Diaz, an attorney with the Vermont chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union who reviewed the video police made public. It’s important to protect a person’s dignity, he said, but it’s also important “that the public know what the consequences of police actions look like.”
The Grenon case is part of an ongoing public dialogue about police tactics and use of force.
Diaz said he would need to look at relevant case law but that it’s not clear in this instance that the privacy rights of someone who is deceased “would trump the need to understand police conduct in this situation.”
Del Pozo said he believes the footage withheld is protected from disclosure under an exemption to Vermont public records law for material that “would cause the custodian to violate duly adopted standards of ethics or conduct for any profession regulated by the state.”
“Vermont police have always abided by an ethical standard of protecting the privacy of people in cases of severe medical distress,” del Pozo said in an email.
Police are not among the professions licensed by the state, something the Vermont ACLU has said could improve police accountability. There are, however, other ways the state can regulate police behavior, such as legislation. Diaz said the ACLU will continue to push for police professional licensure.
VTDigger is publishing a portion of the released footage.
Crucial moments captured
On Tuesday, prosecutors said Officer David Bowers, 23, was justified in his use of lethal force and will not face charges, because a reasonable person would have believed Grenon’s actions in the moments leading up to his death constituted a threat of death or serious bodily harm.
Ralph “Phil” Grenon. Photo courtesy of Niki Carpenter
Grenon’s daughter, Niki Carpenter, said he was a paranoid schizophrenic. Carpenter said Grenon’s mental health had been deteriorating over a period of months leading up to the confrontation with police.
Efforts to have him committed to a psychiatric hospital were rebuffed on the grounds that he was competent to make his own medical decisions and his behavior was not a credible threat to himself or others, according to Carpenter.
Police were called to Grenon’s apartment three previous times in 2016, and a mental health services team was “engaged in an ongoing effort to put Mr. Grenon in contact” with help, according to Chittenden County State’s Attorney TJ Donovan’s report.
The released video captures critical points in the standoff between Grenon and police: the tense initial contact, the moments leading up to the shooting, and the moment Bowers fires.
Officers Durwin Ellerman and Bowers, along with Howard Center street outreach worker Hannah Toof, can be seen arriving at the 101 College St. building where Grenon lived. They’re met by a neighbor who had called Toof earlier. The neighbor reads from a pad some of the violent threats Grenon was shouting.
Toof had asked officers to accompany her to check on Grenon because his behavior had grown threatening. She had told police that the same neighbor had reported similar complaints the week before.
Once on Grenon’s floor, the building manager tells the officers that Grenon was threatening to “stab everybody. … I mean, this is really, really scary.” She tells officers Grenon is inside his apartment.
Toof stays at the end of the hall, while officers approach Grenon’s door, repeatedly knocking and asking to speak with him. After a minute and a half, Ellerman, with some effort, opens the door using a key provided by the building manager.
“I think he’s holding it,” Ellerman says.
Once the door opens, Grenon can be seen on Ellerman’s camera standing holding a large kitchen knife in his right hand. Police say Grenon was holding a another knife in his left hand.
Ellerman backs away, drawing his gun, and both officers exhort Grenon to drop the knives. Bowers draws a Taser stun gun. Grenon stands in the doorway largely motionless for almost two minutes while the officers continue to shout commands for him to drop the knives and call for backup.
“Phil, we don’t need to do this. Drop the knife,” they say. “Do not step towards us, Phil. Drop the knife. Why can’t you just talk to us?”
At one point, Grenon’s right hand begins to quaver and the kitchen knife can be seen shaking as he shifts his weight from one foot to another, increasing the intensity of officers’ commands for him to drop the knives.
“Don’t do it, Phil. Don’t do it. I will shoot you. I will shoot you,” Ellerman says at one point.
The tension eases as Grenon once again goes still. The two officers continue to exhort him to drop the knives and talk with them. Off camera additional officers arrive; it’s unclear exactly when.
Close to two minutes after Ellerman opened the door, Grenon addresses officers for the first and apparently only time during the encounter and subsequent standoff and shooting.
“I’m a lawyer. I’m a psychologist,” Gernon says.
“OK, well, why don’t you tell me about that?” Ellerman responds.
“I just did, you stupid son of a bitch!” Grenon says.
Both officers tell Grenon to drop the knives as he begins to shake and shout, “Leave me alone!” Grenon goes quiet again, and Ellerman tells the newly arrived officers to grab “nonlethal” if they have them — referring to nonlethal weapons.
Grenon takes a slow step forward and then slams the door as Bowers fires his Taser. At least one of the barbs is blocked by the closing door. An officer goes in to open the door but is told to leave Grenon alone for now.
“Let’s take a deep breath,” the officer says.
Over the next several hours officers evacuated Grenon’s floor and secured a rope around the door to prevent him from opening it, and two negotiators arrived. Members of the street outreach team contacted Carpenter, Grenon’s daughter, and told officers of his diagnosis, according to the state’s attorney’s report.
Officers called Grenon’s phone repeatedly and then began leaving messages urging him to pick up, informing him that they could not leave without talking to him, and asking him to think of his family.
When an officer posted across the street could no longer see Grenon, and a camera inserted through a hole drilled above the door could not locate him, officers decided to enter the apartment. It was around 9:15 p.m. Ellerman, Bowers and Toof had arrived just after 5 p.m.
Officers entered in a stack formation with ballistic shields, nonlethal weapons and handguns. They found Grenon in the apartment’s bathroom, inside the shower with the curtain drawn, according to the state’s attorney’s report. They backed away and decided to fire pepper balls, an airborne irritant, into the bathroom, while repeating commands for Grenon to drop the knives and think of his family, says the report.
When Grenon did not respond, officers decided to enter the bathroom again, swapping out the ballistic shield for a clear plastic shield. Their plan was to subdue Grenon with Tasers and pin him with the shield so they could take the knives and handcuff him, according to the report.
Seven officers approached the bathroom, which opens off the bedroom, with Ellerman in front holding the clear plastic shield and a Taser. Bowers, holding his gun, is just behind to Ellerman’s left. Sgt. James Trieb, just behind Ellerman to his right, uses a broom to pull back the shower curtain.
As Trieb pushes the curtain back, footage from Ellerman’s body camera shows Grenon standing in the shower holding a large kitchen knife in each hand. Then comes the moment when the state’s attorney’s report says Grenon thrusts a knife toward officers.
Ellerman shocks Grenon with the Taser, and Grenon begins to scream loudly. He looks down and appears to pull the Taser barbs out of the shirt covering his stomach and from his sleeve near his wrist without letting go of the knives.
An officer can be heard saying, “Get back, get back, get back,” and Ellerman backs out of the bathroom as Grenon steps out of the shower and advances toward him, still screaming and holding the knives.
The state’s attorney’s report says Grenon is “swinging the knives,” which appears to be a reasonable characterization of how Grenon is holding the knives. It also appears plausible that Grenon is off balance after stepping out of the shower, and the knives wave before him as he attempts to regain his balance.
Ellerman backs into the bed directly behind him, and Bowers, behind Ellerman and to his left, backs into a space between the bed and the dresser, according to the report.
Bowers can then be seen firing his gun into Grenon as Grenon crosses the threshold from the bathroom into the bedroom. The state’s attorney’s report says Grenon was 4 to 5 feet from Bowers when shot. The video ends when Grenon is hit.
Bowers fired a total of six shots in two seconds, according to the report. Four bullets struck Grenon. The medical examiner’s report says he died within minutes from gunshot wounds to the torso and extremities. From the time Trieb pushes back the curtain to when Bowers fires is about 12 seconds on video, as police have said.
Calls arise for statewide policy on force, better training
“It’s another tragic and unnecessary killing of a very sick person, and I’m left asking, ‘Will this time be any different?’” said Diaz, of the Vermont ACLU.
Grenon’s death is the third time since 2013 that police in Vermont have killed a mentally ill person they were called to help.
ACLU attorney Jay Diaz speaks to lawmakers Thursday. Photo by Elizabeth Hewitt/VTDigger
“Police were deliberate and took their time, but I’m not sure I’d call what I saw, what they did, de-escalation,” Diaz said Wednesday, though he acknowledged he’s not an expert in police tactics.
Diaz said Grenon’s death highlights the need for a uniform statewide police use-of-force policy drafted with input from experts and stakeholders from law enforcement, mental health and others. The Vermont ACLU has worked for years to promote a statewide force policy in the Legislature, but such a measure has failed to gain traction.
Del Pozo said Tuesday his department would invest in further training to help officers navigate confrontations with the seriously mentally ill. Diaz said a uniform policy and better training statewide make sense, because these confrontations can happen anywhere.
There also needs to be more effective collaboration between police and mental health experts during a crisis, to help police respond appropriately in the moment, Diaz said.
Workers from the Howard Center remained on the scene throughout the interaction with Grenon, but the situation was deemed too dangerous for their direct involvement.
Del Pozo has expressed frustration that Grenon’s treating psychiatrist was reportedly out of the country, or at least unreachable, during the episode.
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