Now-former Ormond Beach Police officer Jacob Cannon has been arrested after he allegedly threw a handcuffed woman to the ground. The 32-year-old Cannon had worked with the OBPD since February 2023, and has reportedly resigned in the wake of his arrest. He’s been charged with felony battery, and was arrested on Friday. He posted his $25,000 bond on Saturday.
The suspect whom Cannon is accused of abusing has been identified as Shanna McRee, who was booked and released at the Volusia County Branch Jail on December 7th, 2024. McRee was charged with driving under the influence, disorderly intoxication, refusal to submit to testing, and obstructing an officer without violence. In McRee’s mugshot a large gash is visible on her forehead near her left eyebrow.
According to reports about the incident, McRee was driving her Nissan SUV when she collided with a motorcycle. After being arrested and taken to the OBPD station, she reportedly registered triple the legal limit of blood alcohol content. A dispute is said to have arisen when McRee asked to use the restroom while Cannon was trying to get her to finish her breathalyzer test. She was said in a record of the event to have become belligerent with Cannon.
A later investigation of the incident by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) concluded that McRee never made a physical motion toward Cannon or anyone else, but that Cannon still grabbed her and threw her to the ground. Cannon reportedly claimed that McRee slipped, an explanation which the FDLE disputes. McRee was treated at a nearby hospital and given seven stitches in her head.
The public trust weights solely on the moral judgement of our law enforcement agents, no longer can we blame the training these men and women receive as inadequate. The rigorous training through the police academy will never be able to substitute moral judgement. Moral judgement must be the guiding force behind these agencies. Especially, the leadership of these agencies that should never tolerate violence on the persons who trust and depend on these services. I seriously, question the departments ethical behaviors towards those they are sworn to serve and protect. Ormond beach has longed been associated with violence on persons of color and the weak. The article shares a need to place this department under close monitoring and to further evaluate its leadership and police culture.