Philadelphia Police Officers Suspended After Beating Suspects (VIDEO)

MSNBC reports that several Philadelphia police officers were suspended after a video tape emerged showing them brutally beating suspects after pulling them from a car (scroll down for video):

A police sergeant and five officers were pulled from street duty Wednesday as city officials investigated television footage showing a group of officers kicking and punching three shooting suspects.

More than a dozen officers were involved, but Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said investigators were having the videotape enhanced to help determine how many of them were actually striking the suspects.

Any information police find will be sent to prosecutors, who will determine whether charges are warranted.

"We certainly are concerned about what we saw on the tape," Ramsey said at a news conference. "The behavior that at least was exhibited on the tape is unacceptable."

***Earlier*** 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."

Keep reading here.

Watch footage of the confrontation below (video from MSNBC):

Comments

[landmine]

I have spoken to a number of very old Germans and asked how they could have let the things in Germany happen like they did.
They said it was very gradual. Said they had no recourse because protests fell on deaf ears. Said they were afraid. They said their society had become very polarized.
The right wing had no honor and intimidated everyone. They called people unpatriotic. They corrupted the elections. They kept lists. The standards to become a policeman were lowered. Police beat people in the streets. People disappeared. People were imprisoned, beaten and executed summarily or in show trials.
They went after the fringes and non-mainstream parts of society and the minorities first.

[Wanjiru]

...bottomline...over-zealous cops need to start doing prison times for their CRIMES...read: Sean Bell et al.


to protect and to serve?...


...yeah right...

[wndrwrthg]

Man, when a cop says he wants your donuts, give them to him.