PHILADELPHIA POLICE BEATING OF RESTRAINED SUSPECTS VIDEO CAUGHT ON TAPE

Philly policemen were videotaped stomping, kicking and beating three men suspected to be involved in a nearby shooting. An attorney representing the men called it a brutal attack by cops. He also said one of the men had a baseball-sized welt on his forehead, multiple scrapes and bruises, and was barely conscious. Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey who saw the video, said, "On the surface it certainly does not look good, regarding the amount of force that was used. But a full investigation is underway."  A public outcry arose about the excessive use of police force after aerial news footage taken in 2000 of Philadelphia police officers kicking and beating a black car-jacking suspect as he lay on the ground. Click here to learn more about the incident and watch the video.

Mayor Michael Nutter said he was "tremendously disappointed" by the officers' behavior and vowed to deal with the matter.

"The conduct was unacceptable," he said. "It did not live up to the professional standards we have set for the police department." "This is about proper police conduct, regardless of the race or ethnicity of the individuals involved," Nutter said. "We are not satisfied with the activity; it does not matter what the race of any particular defendant is."

"I don't believe it is stress," said Lemoia Dyches, the mother of Dawayne Dyches. "You see 14 white police officers beating three black males. In my area where I live at I can see it constantly."

Dyches' attorney said police, and not his client, should be facing criminal charges.

"They should be dismissed from the police force and charged as criminals because that was criminal behavior that was not police work," Scott Perrine said. source

 

The video shows police cars chasing a gold sedan to a stop in the 3700 block of North Second Street. Other police cars keep arriving. About six to eight officers, with guns drawn, swarm over the sedan, pulling open the driver's door. As more officers race up to the car, one beats the passenger's side with a baton. All four doors are pulled open, and as each of the three men is pulled from the car, he is tossed to the street and surrounded by three to five officers. A group of about three or four officers begin trying to handcuff the driver and can be seen delivering at least 13 kicks to the suspect's head and sides as well as several punches. The passenger pulled from the rear seat is also kicked by a group of four officers as well as being struck four or five times by an officer who appears to be wielding a baton. A canine officer stands nearby restraining an excited police dog. The beating of the two suspects takes up a minute of the video. The remaining 10 minutes show officers rolling the suspects as they search their pockets, search the vehicle, and, ultimately, take them away in separate patrol vehicles. Watch the uncut video footage from the Philadelphia police beating. Check out the 1991 footage of the Rodney King's police beating. The police were cleared of wrong doing in that case and the aquittal led to the L.A. Riots.

Philadelphia city officials said Wednesday the beatings of three suspects, captured on video by a television news crew, were "unacceptable," and added officers' emotions are running high after the slaying of a sergeant last week.

We certainly are concerned about what we saw on the tape," Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey told reporters Wednesday afternoon. "The matter is being taken very seriously, even though emotions run very high in our department right now, because we just had our third officer killed in the last two years ... obviously, that puts a lot of stress and pressure on the officers.

"But having said that, we do expect them to maintain a standard of conduct on the street that is above reproach," he said.

Ramsey earlier said an internal investigation was underway into the incident caught on video Monday by WXTF-TV. He said police officers saw the suspects fire shots, injuring three people standing on a street corner before fleeing in a vehicle.

The video shows at least a dozen police officers pulling the suspects out of a car after a vehicle chase Monday night.

At least eight officers are seen either kicking, punching or striking the suspects with batons while the men lie restrained on the ground. Two men are struck at least 20 times each.

Ramsey said a sergeant and five officers have been removed from street duty in connection with the incident so far. He said he has been in contact with the district attorney's office, which will receive a copy of the tape and decide whether to file criminal charges.

Authorities are still in the process of identifying the officers on the tape, he said, and have sent the video to be enhanced. "We're going to continue our investigation," he said.

"We'll identify everybody who was there at the scene to the best of our ability. All six were there. The extent of their involvement, I don't personally know. The sergeant should have taken some kind of supervisory action to intervene," Ramsey said.

Mr. Ramsey said at a news conference that the police were under great “stress and pressure” after Sergeant Liczbinski’s death. He is the third Philadelphia officer to be killed in the line of duty in the last two years.

But, Mr. Ramsey added, there was no excuse for the behavior on the videotape.

The video is being examined to try to identify more officers involved in the beatings. Mr. Ramsey said he expected more officers to be reassigned to administrative duties as a result.

District Attorney Lynne Abraham will decide on filing criminal charges against the officers, Mr. Ramsey said.

The new mayor, Michael A. Nutter, has emphasized reducing the violence that has given Philadelphia one of the highest murder rates in the nation.

Mr. Nutter and Mr. Ramsey are trying to overcome decades of distrust between the mostly black residents of areas like North Philadelphia and a largely white police force.

The beating victims, all from North Philadelphia, have all been charged with assault, conspiracy and recklessly endangering another person. D. Scott Perrine, a lawyer for the three, called the incident a blatant example of police brutality.

“We have not seen stuff like this since the 1960s and the 1970s in Philadelphia,” Mr. Perrine said. “These officers are criminals, and they should be prosecuted.”

He denied that his clients had any connection with the shooting of Sergeant Liczbinski, and he said the Police Department was seeking to explain the “zealousness” of the officers in the incident by saying the force as a whole was distressed and exhausted by the sergeant’s death.

The three men are being held on bail, awaiting a preliminary hearing on May 16.

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Comments

[Ryan]

Holy Cow. Those police need seriously disciplined. They could also use some training on how to aprehend suspects. I'm not a cop and I've never played one on t.v., but that's just my opinion.