Appleton Police Department patch. (PHOTO: Courtesy of Fox 11 WLUK)
APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — The Appleton Police Department said its officer acted properly in using force during an incident over the weekend.
Their statement is in response to a video that was posted to social media Thursday. The video’s caption says it depicts an incident early Sunday morning outside a downtown bar.
The video shows two Appleton officers breaking up a fight. One of the officers is seen punching one of the people she is trying to remove from the situation.
The Facebook user, who identified herself as Talon Pack, said she suffered “a concussion, acute sprain to the neck, chest pain, costochondritis, contusions of both upper extremities, injuries of the lip and pending additional medical results.”
She said in her Facebook post that another woman hit her first. APD Lt. John Ostermeier declined to release more specifics on the incident leading up to the arrest.
CAUTION: This video and its caption contain profanity and violence.
Ostermeier said it was unclear whether Pack or anyone else involved filed a complaint against officers.
Police said they reviewed the use of force, including bodycam video, and determined “the officers involved acted within the scope of their training, department policy and state law.” Ostermeier said there was no timeline for the potential release of bodycam video.
The statement said the incident was one of several that night that required multiple officers to respond. Police said the “calibrated response” was needed to protect the public, the people involved and the officers on the scene.
The statement also said officers properly followed through by ensuring the scene was stabilized and protocols, including medical evaluation and reporting, “were handled professionally and promptly.”
“When we’re using force, it’s really to try to stop whatever assault behavior is happening at that time,” said Lt. Bill Krieg with APD’s Professional Development Department. “We’re trying to get that done as quick as we can, and sometimes, our efforts to control a person can look like something the public wouldn’t initially want to see us doing, but that’s just the nature of our job, is we have to try to stop any injuries from occurring as quickly as possible.”
And in this case, focused strikes were used, which is directed strikes, but only to the point where they separated. As soon as they’re separated, we immediately stopped. Had that not occurred, the fight would have gone on longer. There’s a chance for additional injuries to occur.
Pack said she’s hiring an attorney and isn’t ready to talk about the situation quite yet.
“We hold our officers to the highest standards of professional conduct,” APD Chief Polly Olson said in a statement. “While social media clips often capture only a fraction of a complex interaction, our review confirms that the officers’ actions were a measured and necessary response to the circumstances they faced. We remain committed to transparency and maintaining the trust of the community we serve.”
Pack alleged the department treated her differently than the other woman involved, saying in her post, “Being that I’m a black woman involved in an incident with a white woman I clearly have to be the aggressor right?”
APD did not go into detail on specific accusations, but addressed racial motivation for the officers’ actions Saturday night.
“Who instigated it, who didn’t? Any racial underscores that may come from it, all we see is a fight in front of us that we want to separate,” said Krieg.
The police department released its 2025 use of force report last week. According to the report, use of force cases last year were in line with long-term averages, none resulted in hospitalization and all were determined to be within department policy.
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