http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/05/19/police.beating/index.html
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- Four Philadelphia police officers will
be fired, three others
will be disciplined and a supervising sergeant will be demoted because of
the violent beating of
three suspects caught after a shooting, the city's mayor and police
commissioner said Monday.
Aerial footage from WTXF-TV shows police officers beating suspects in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1 of 2 On May 5, a television news helicopter captured footage of more
than
a dozen predominantly
white police officers pulling three African-American men out of a car
after
a pursuit.
The video footage shows the officers kicking, punching and striking the
suspects with batons
while the men lie restrained on the ground.
Two of the men were struck at least 20 times each. Watch the officers
pummel the men »
"The video kind of speaks for itself," Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey
told WTXF-TV's "Good
Day Philadelphia" on May 6.
Ramsey and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter have said the beatings were
inexcusable but had
nothing to do with race. See the community reaction to the case »
Police identified the three suspects as Dwayne Dyches, 24; Brian Hall, 23;
and Pete Hopkins, 19.
They have been charged with criminal conspiracy, aggravated and simple
assault and reckless
endangerment.
The suspects were believed to have been involved in a triple shooting at a
streetcorner, Ramsey
said. Of the 19 officers on the scene when the suspects were apprehended,
eight had physical
contact with the suspects, and a police review found only one of them to
have acted within
appropriate limits, he said.
Thirty-fifth District officers Vincent Strain, Patrick Gallagher, Patrick
Whalen and Robert
Donnelly are being dismissed for indiscriminate use of force, he said.
Narcotics Strike Force
officer Sean Bascom, 25th District officer Jonathon Cza**** and 35th
District
officer Demetrios
Pittaoulis are being suspended for from five to 15 days.
Although the supervising sergeant on the scene, Joseph ****avone, did not
have physical contact
with the suspects, he is being demoted for his failure to intervene or
subdue his subordinates.
Officials: Race had no role in police beatings
Video shows police beating restrained suspects
Suspect charged in Philadelphia police killing
Philadelphia police: Robbery suspect kills officer
The district attorney's office and the FBI will continue their
investigations of the incident,
Ramsey said. He also said an outside group, the Police Executive Research
Forum, has been
contracted to further review the department's policies and procedures.
Lemoia Dyches, the mother of one of the suspects, said she was unable to
see
her son after his
arrest. "They wouldn't even permit his attorney to see him," she said. "It
strikes me as
strange."
The police commissioner initially said officers had seen the suspects fire
shots, injuring three
people on a streetcorner. Three suspects fled the scene in a vehicle, and
a
fourth -- the shooter
-- escaped on foot, Ramsey originally said.
However, media re****ts this weekend indicate police have changed their
account; they now allege
Hopkins was the shooter.
Deputy Commissioner Richard Ross, in charge of field operations, told The
Philadelphia Inquirer
there was confusion during the investigation over whether the gunman fled
or
returned to the
vehicle.
"We certainly believe based on police witness accounts that four people
drive up," Ross told the
newspaper. "Then three people get back in the car and drive off."
The gunman got back in the car, Ross said. Police told the Inquirer they
are
still seeking a
fourth suspect.
Ramsey said the police force has been under stress since Sgt. Stephen
Liczbinski was shot and
killed with an assault rifle May 3 while responding to a bank robbery. One
suspect in that
shooting was killed by police in the confrontation, and another has been
apprehended. A third
suspect is at large.
Authorities want to know whether the officers' emotions over Liczbinski's
death -- and their
desire to apprehend the suspect who remains at large -- had a role in
their
actions.
Stress levels among officers on the street are "simply too high," and the
department aims to
eliminate 12-hour ****fts, Ramsey said soon after the incident.
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