Board: Officer didn’t violate use-of-force rules

Keith Paul

Thursday, April 26, 2001 | 10:53 a.m.

A SWAT officer acted within department policy when he returned fire at a man during a standoff in February, the Metro Police use-of-force board ruled Wednesday night.

The seven-member board unanimously cleared Officer Charles Collingwood, 51, of any wrongdoing when he fired 10 shots at Steven J. Burson, 42, on Feb. 5 during a standoff on Ronald Lane, near Charleston and Lamb boulevards, Deputy Chief Ray Flynn said.

Burson was seen with a gun in a back yard near a trailer where he lived. When officers arrived they heard gunshots and saw Burson run into the trailer. SWAT officers were called out during the standoff, police said.

Burson is accused of firing about 190 shots during the three-hour standoff and at some point aiming and firing at SWAT officers. Collingwood returned fire during the standoff. No one was injured, Flynn said.

Many residents were evacuated from their homes during the standoff as SWAT and other officers surrounded the trailer. Police negotiators talked with Burson through a loudspeaker. Burson later surrendered.

Burson was charged with three counts of attempted murder of a police officer and is in a state mental health hospital for a psychiatric evaluation.

Metro's use-of-force board, made up of four citizens and three officers, reviews officers' actions when someone is killed or seriously hurt by an officer or whenever an officer fires a gun at a person. The board determines if the officers acted within department guidelines.

The board has reviewed five cases this year and has cleared the officers in each instance. Last year the board ruled in several cases that officers violated the department's guidelines for use of force, prompting Sheriff Jerry Keller to order all officers to take a training course.