News out of Philly

[Five-0]

TV video shows Philly officers kicking, hitting 3 suspectsEmail this StoryMay 7, 6:23 AM (ET)

By PATRICK WALTERS


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PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A half-dozen police officers kicked and beat three men pulled from a car during a traffic stop as a TV helicopter taped the confrontation.
The video, shot by WTXF-TV, shows three police cars stopping a car Monday, two days after a city officer was shot to death responding to a bank robbery.
The tape shows about a dozen officers gathering around the vehicle. About a half-dozen officers hold two of the men on the ground. Both are kicked repeatedly, while one is seen being punched; one also appears to be struck with a baton.
The third man is also kicked and ends up on the ground.
"On the surface it certainly does not look good in terms of the amount of force that was used," Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said. "But we don't want to rush to judgment."
The officers were responding to a report of a shooting nearby, police said. It was not immediately clear what preceded the confrontation.
Ramsey said Philadelphia officers have been on edge since Saturday, when Officer Stephen Liczbinski was fatally shot with an assault rifle after a robbery.
Police fatally shot one of the robbery suspects; another was arrested Sunday and a third man is still being sought.
"There is also a lot of heightened emotions since Sgt. Liczbinski was murdered on the streets just Saturday," Ramsey said.
Liczbinski was the third officer slain on duty in the city in the last two years.
Attorney D. Scott Perrine, who represents the three men seen in the video, said that as terrible as the officer's death was, it does not excuse such actions by police.
"We don't take into consideration the emotions of police officers when it comes to the discharge of their duties. ... Your emotional state, being tired, doesn't justify what's on that video," Perrine said.
He said one of his clients suffered a welt on his head the size of a baseball and one of his legs was seriously injured; he didn't know the extent of any injuries on the other two men.
Perrine also said he did not know what preceded the traffic stop but called the actions seen on the tape unjustified.
"It clearly shows a lack of any reasonable investigation before these police yank these individuals out of the car and take turns delivering blows," he said. "This is a time for a thorough investigation to see what it is that happened here."
A court official said late Tuesday that the men had been charged with criminal conspiracy, aggravated assault, simple assault and reckless endangering. Bail was set for two of the men, while the third was awaiting arraignment. Lt. Frank Vanore, a police spokesman, did not immediately return a call for comment from The Associated Press.

[Five-0]

Philly officers taken off street after videotaped beating
By PATRICK WALTERS, Associated Press Writer2 hours, 9 minutes ago


More than a dozen police officers will be taken off the street as authorities investigate a video showing three suspects being kicked, punched and beaten after they were pulled out of a car during a traffic stop, the mayor's office said.
"At a glance it does appear to be a bit beyond the pale," said Doug Oliver, a spokesman for Mayor Michael Nutter. "Officers are not allowed to operate outside of the law."
The police department believes about 15 officers were involved in Monday night's arrests in the city's Hunting Park section, where police had been investigating a triple shooting, Oliver said. Some have already been taken off the street, while others still need to be identified, he said.
The three suspects were charged with criminal conspiracy, aggravated assault, simple assault and reckless endangerment, according to court officials.
The video, shot by a WTXF-TV helicopter, shows three police cars stopping a car on the side of a road. About a dozen officers gather around the vehicle and pull three men out. About a half-dozen officers hold two of the men on the ground on the driver's side. Both are kicked repeatedly, while one is seen being punched; one also appears to be struck with a baton.
On the other side of the car, another group of officers can be seen kicking a third man who ends up on the ground.
Oliver said that, while the use of force appeared excessive, the public should withhold judgment until all the facts are known.
"We are not going to prejudge the situation based on the video," he said. "We all saw the video, but none of us was there."
Oliver initially said 15 officers had been taken off the street Wednesday. He later said about 15 officers were at the scene, but that the exact number identified and already off the street was unclear.
"One way or the other, everyone associated with this will be taken off the street," Oliver said. "The officers involved in this incident will be reassigned."
A message left with Lt. Frank Vanore, a police spokesman, was not immediately returned Wednesday morning.
The beating happened two days after the fatal shooting of a Philadelphia policeman, the third city officer slain on duty in two years.
Officer Stephen Liczbinski was shot with an assault rifle after a robbery in the city's Port Richmond section on Saturday. One man was fatally shot by police after the shooting, another was arrested Sunday and a third remains on the lam.
(This version CORRECTS Corrects that some of the officers are still being identified and have not been taken off the street, per new information from mayor's spokesman that contradicts his previous information. AP Video.)

[lewisipso]

Yikes.

[CTR man]

Perhaps the guys that were stopped should have watched this video clip. Chris Rock video clip. How not to get your ass kicked by the Police. NSFW language.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj0mtxXEGE8

[LawnMM]

I wasn't there, I'm not gonna judge. Innocent until proven guilty, unless you wear a badge, in which case you're guilty until you prove yourself innocent.

[Norm357]

Lesson of day, don't go around shooting folks and the Cops won't kick your ass.

I think more beatings should be handed out....

Child molesters
Car thieves
Burglars
Rapists
Any dickhead who decides it is a good idea to run from the law and put the public in danger.

I could go on and on and on and on.......

Lots of folks deserve the night stick shampoo.

[dadyswat]

Sounds like Rodney King again, the police loose respect no matter if they were right or wrong.

[10-42Adam]

My only question is about 10 to 15 seconds into the video that one Officer who comes running up from behind, did he kick the car?!

Philly PD has been on edge after having lost another one of their brother Officer's to another scumbag. I'm not going to judge one way or the other.

[Five-0]

Oh well thank God that Al Sharpton has added his two cents to the incident. Wasn't he arrested in New York lately?


#article { width: 665px; }7 more cops pulled from Philly streets over taped beatingEmail this StoryMay 8, 9:01 PM (ET)

By MARYCLAIRE DALE

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PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Seven more police officers were taken off street duty Thursday as investigators look into the videotaped police beating of three shooting suspects during a traffic stop.
Thirteen of the estimated 15 officers on hand during the Monday incident have been taken off the streets as investigators pore over the television news footage, Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey told a news conference Thursday.
The video shows officers kicking, punching and beating the men, who are all black. On his syndicated radio show Thursday, the Rev. Al Sharpton, compared it with the videotaped 1991 beating of black motorist Rodney King by a group of white Los Angeles police officers.
"I've not seen anything like that since Rodney King, and it's worse than Rodney King, and we cannot allow our community to be under siege," Sharpton said. "We've got to stop this nonsense in our community, acting like you got to be a certain level black to be treated within the law."
But Ramsey denied the beating was racially motivated, saying at least one officer involved, a sergeant, is black.
"I know everybody's trying to make this into a racial thing. I don't believe it is," Ramsey told The Associated Press later Thursday. "We just had a policeman murdered on Saturday ... and emotions are running high," he said about Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski, 39, who was shot while responding to a bank robbery.
On Monday, police stopped the suspects' car while investigating a triple shooting in the area. No weapons were found in the car or on the suspects, but officers said they had seen an occupant of the car shoot three people on a drug corner moments earlier, Ramsey has said.
The three suspects - Dwayne Dyches, Brian Hall and Pete Hopkins - each were charged with attempted murder and related counts in connection with the shooting, according to court records. Each was treated at a hospital and was being held Thursday in lieu of bail of $100,000 or more, Ramsey said.
An attorney for the three, D. Scott Perrine, has said his clients had nothing to do with the triple shooting and that the beating was totally unjustified.
The commissioner pledged to send the department's preliminary investigation to prosecutors by next week. If prosecutors decline to file charges, he will deal with the officers involved internally, he said.
The Internal Affairs unit is still working to enhance the tape and identify all of the officers in the footage, a department spokesman said.
Following the slaying of Liczbinski, who was shot at least five times by a high-powered rifle, city and state officials called on Congress Thursday to reinstate a ban on assault weapons. --- Associated Press writer Kathy Matheson contributed to this report.


Here is a link to the some more Sharpton BS on the subject.

http://wcbstv.com/local/al.sharpton.....2.719317.html

[keith720]

I try not to judge, and will always take the cop side of a situation, but from what I saw on the video, it was pretty blatant. I hope there were unseen circumstances which makes everything justifiable.