Was Baltimore County Police use-of-force in Samuel ‘Big Sam’ Brown’s death justified?

It’s been more than a month since Samuel “Big Sam” Brown‘s deadly encounter with a Baltimore County Police officer that left him hospitalized with permanent brain damage.

And it’s been three weeks since Brown’s family made the gut-wrenching decision to take their beloved father, brother and friend off life support.

In the aftermath of the 56-year-old’s death, many family and community members are calling for Officer Derek Hadel — a nine-year veteran of the force — to be held responsible for Brown’s death.

The incident calls attention to how Baltimore County police handle calls to check on an individual’s safety and well-being. Hadel approached Brown at a Woodlawn intersection around 3:20 a.m. after someone called the police to report a person sitting in their car for a long time. Brown’s death also raises questions about the history of Hadel , who was investigated after a 2024 police pursuit ended in a fatality and whose wife once accused him of domestic violence.

The Banner spoke with three use-of-force experts, who viewed the police body camera video of the incident and were split over whether Brown posed a threat to Hadel — and whether Hadel’s actions were justified. All three agreed the situation could have been deescalated.

Body camera footage shows Brown step outside his vehicle and hit Hadel’s arm once, then swat it again a moment later. The officer responded by rapidly punching Brown twice across the face, causing him to fall and crack his skull against the pavement.

“Officers don’t get to use force just because someone hit them,” University of South Carolina law professor Seth Stoughton said. “Officers get to use force when there is an imminent threat.”

The Maryland Office of the Attorney General is investigating the incident. The state’s medical examiner ruled Brown’s death a homicide on Tuesday.

Doug Jess, president of the county’s Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 4, has asked the public to withhold judgment until the investigation is complete.

Meanwhile, family and friends held a protest last Friday outside the department’s headquarters, demanding the officer’s dismissal and arrest.

What makes an imminent threat?

Felipe Rodriguez, an adjunct professor with the City University of New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice, does not believe Hadel used excessive force against Brown.

“If I had a person that was that big coming towards me, I’m definitely going to push him back,” the former NYPD detective said. “Because the moment that he comes into my personal space, now guess what? I have less control and I can easily become unbalanced and get pushed back.”

Brown, who was over 6 feet tall and 200-plus pounds, is seen in the body camera footage smacking the officer’s arm for a second time after Hadel pushes Brown back with his hand in an effort to create distance between them.

Hadel immediately punches Brown twice — a response Rodriguez said falls within the parameters of nonlethal use of force.

The 31-year law enforcement veteran said that Brown’s intoxication — family attorney Billy Murphy said Brown had a blood alcohol content of 0.26 — created a situation in which Hadel’s blows could send Brown backwards onto the pavement.

“That was basically, you know, a once-in-a-lifetime punch,” Rodriguez said. “Due to [Brown’s] level of extreme, it looked like intoxication because he wasn’t complying, he helped contribute, unfortunately, to the cause of his own death.”

Both Stoughton and Neill Franklin, a former Maryland State Police major, said Hadel’s actions flew in the face of training standards and basic de-escalation practices

According to a copy of the department’s field manual, Baltimore County Police officers must use de-escalation techniques to reduce or eliminate the use of force.

“Force is not necessary unless there is no reasonable alternative to using force that, under the totality of the circumstance, would safely and effectively achieve the same legitimate ends,” the policy reads.

“If you have time, when situation allows it, you deescalate,” Franklin said. “Use your voice, talk to somebody [or] wait for backup to get there.”

Stoughton said it is Hadel’s responsibility to consider exactly what he was trying to accomplish by punching Brown after Brown struck his arm.

“Now that’s not nothing, but it’s also not, like, an aggressive attack on Mr. Brown’s part, right?” Stoughton said. “He’s acting like a drunk guy, and officers are definitely used to, or we should be used to, dealing with drunks who are of the, ‘Don’t touch me,’ kind of approach.”

The law professor also wants to know what kind of threat Hadel thought he was responding to and whether the officer considered how effective physical violence would be.

“Punching someone in the face is not a good way to get them to calm down,” he added.

Officer Derek Hadel’s history

Baltimore County police spokesperson Joy Lepola-Stewart previously told The Banner that Hadel was reassigned to administrative duties.

It is unknown whether Hadel has any history of misconduct. The Banner submitted a records request to the department for copies of any of Hadel’s administrative and criminal misconduct, including complaints.

Hadel was investigated previously by the attorney general’s office along with four other officers in an April 2024 pursuit and crash on Interstate 695 that killed Dimeka Thornton.

All of the officers were cleared of wrongdoing, but in their efforts to chase a stolen Infiniti driven by 25-year-old DeMarco Davis, the police topped speeds of 90 mph before Davis went the wrong way on the highway and struck Thornton.

A few years prior, Hadel’s wife, Anna, filed a petition for a protective order against her husband after an explosive argument in 2021.

“Derek Hadel got irate ... and began smashing furniture, screaming at me in front of our kids, and broke a door,” his wife wrote in the petition. “He threatened to break everything if I didn’t come upstairs with him.”

An hour and a half later, the fight escalated.

“He backed me into a corner and headbutt my forehead, which caused me to fall backwards, trip on a toy truck, and break my right 3rd toe,” Hadel’s wife wrote.

Anna asked the court for temporary custody of the couple’s three children, but the case was dismissed after she skipped a scheduled court hearing three days after filing the petition.

Stoughton argues that Hadel’s documented problems at home matter as much as any workplace misconduct.

“We should definitely be paying attention to an officer’s emotional regulation,” he said. “Their ability to control their temper, among other things.”

‘Cops can always do better’

The Independent Investigations Division — the unit of the attorney general’s office charged with reviewing police-related fatalities in Maryland — will decide whether Hadel should be prosecuted.

Brown’s family and friends gathered March 13 outside the Baltimore County Police headquarters to demand the department fire Hadel immediately.

Friend and musical collaborator Roberto “DJ Quicksilva” Silva spoke to the crowd assembled in Towson last week and dispelled any notion that Brown bore responsibility for his death because he was aggressive and disobedient.

“Now, that’s the narrative that they want us to have amongst each other,” Silva said. “Because that narrative furthers their narrative that if he wasn’t aggressive — another aggressive Black man — he would be alive.”

Lepola-Stewart said the department is cooperating with the state investigation but declined to comment further, citing the ongoing investigation.

While Rodriguez does not believe Hadel intended to escalate the conflict or intentionally brutalize Brown, he acknowledged the end result could have been avoided.

“Could it be done better?” he said. “We can always do better. Cops can always do better. We don’t want anyone dying in our custody.”

Stoughton emphasized that officers cannot use force as a reaction to their own irritation, aggravation or anger.

“Your goal is to control the scene and to control the suspect,” he said. “You can’t do that if you can’t control yourself.”

Banner photojournalist Kaitlin Newman contributed to this story.