My first thought when the Omaha Police Department arrested me was “this isn’t the Omaha I know.” I was attending a peaceful protest that occurred on the streets of Omaha. I was escorted through the streets of downtown Omaha with more than 100 protesters by police until they intentionally trapped us on an overpass. I was detained and held on that overpass for two and a half hours with my hands zip tied behind my back. A month later, the charges pressed against me and 90 other people were dropped, rendering the police’s use of force on that bridge utterly pointless.

Over the summer the OPD has shown no restraint in their use of force against protesters, and the city has failed to hold the department accountable for such actions.

For example, on May 29th, the police had a helicopter and drone circling protesters on 72nd and Dodge, even when they were peaceful. When people began to march in the street and surrounded a police cruiser, police used batons, tear gas, pepper balls, and flash bangs on protesters. On May 30th, when protesters remained in a Target parking lot, police employed these same tools. Over those two nights 72 people were arrested by police. 

After those protests a curfew was enacted by the city, further enabling police to arrest protesters, in a single night 123 people were reportedly arrested for breaking curfew. To the OPD’s credit many of the charges were dropped weeks later, and they released a statement claiming partial credit for the violence that broke out in those areas. However, their actions since then have shown that they haven’t tried to change their approach to protesters.

On July 25th, officers arrested more than 120 protesters after trapping them on a bridge. The police then violated a Nebraska state law that requires officers to give out the most citations possible when mass arrests occur.

Yet almost all of the protesters were taken to the jail to get booked. Where protesters reported that they were crowded into small holding cells and some were kept in zip ties for upwards of five hours. The last people to get booked were booked more than 12 hours after they were arrested, and some people were held in the prison for over 24 hours.

To make matters worse, the Omaha Police Officers Association made a Facebook post specifically calling out citizens that organized the protest, saying that these people were inciting groups to “create dangerous conflict.”

Again, the police have tried to remedy their misdeeds, this time by working with the city on a policy about arresting protesters. This revision forces police to better document arrests. While in theory this helps narrow down the people being arrested, this doesn’t help the de-escalation of situations, like we saw at 72nd and Dodge, nor does it address the almost hostile response to people practicing their first amendment right. 

With everything that has happened over the summer, I would not be surprised if that new policy did absolutely nothing to prevent mass arrests at protests. Unfortunately the OPD that put me in zip ties for two hours is probably the one we will be seeing until they are held accountable for their actions.