Philadelphia Police Chase-"Beating"

[Hockey9019]

From what I heard, there is a few different videos of this

PHILADELPHIA — A half-dozen police officers kicked and beat three suspects pulled from a car during a traffic stop as a TV helicopter taped the confrontation, and the city's police commissioner said "it certainly does not look good."

The video, shot by WTXF-TV, shows three police cars stopping a car on a city street on Monday, two days after a city officer responding to a bank robbery was fatally shot.

The tape shows about a dozen officers gathering around the vehicle and pulling three men out. 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.

Ramsey said Philadelphia officers have been on edge since Saturday, when Officer Stephen Liczbinski was fatally shot with an assault rifle after a robbery in the city's Port Richmond section. One of the robbery suspects was fatally shot by police, another was arrested Sunday and a third remains on the lam.

"We want to look at the video. And I think it's important to remember that these individuals had been observed involved at a triple shooting at the time," Ramsey said. "There is also a lot of heightened emotions since Sgt. Liczbinski was murdered on the streets just Saturday."

Liczbinski was the third officer slain on duty in the city in the last two years.

D. Scott Perrine, a lawyer representing the three suspects, 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.

Perrine said one of his clients, Dwayne Dyches, suffered a welt on his head the size of a baseball and that one of his legs was seriously injured. He said police would not allow him to meet with Dyches alone in the hospital Monday night. Perrine said he now also represents the other two men in the car, Brian Hall and Pete Hopkins, but he did not know the extent of their injuries.

The attorney said he did not know what preceded the traffic stop in the city's Hunting Park neighborhood, but that the video shows an unjustified police beating.

"It clearly shows a lack of any reasonable investigation before these police yank these individuals out of the car and take turns delivering blows," Perrine said. "This is a time for a thorough investigation to see what it is that happened here. The question is 'Did they have probable cause?"'

Perrine said that if the police account of events was correct, his clients would have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder. Instead, he said police told him that all three would be charged with aggravated assault, a charge he said was intended to justify the officers' acts.

"Look at that video and try to determine if these guys even had a chance," Perrine said.

Lt. Frank Vanore, a police spokesman, did not immediately return a call for comment from The Associated Press.

Click here for more from MyFOXPhilly.com.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,354308,00.html

http://www.myfoxphilly.com/myfox/pag...Y&pageId=1.1.1


Idiot Sharpton calls it worse then Rodney King :rolleyes::rolleyes:

Sharpton: Philly Police Beating 'Worse Than Rodney King'
Last Edited: Thursday, 08 May 2008, 6:42 PM EDT
Created: Thursday, 08 May 2008, 4:18 PM EDT

PHILADELPHIA -- The Rev. Al Sharpton called a videotaped police beating of three shooting suspects in Philadelphia "worse than Rodney King," prompting the city's police commissioner to chide anyone "fanning flames ... from afar."

The civil rights activist made the comments Thursday as he interviewed the mother of one of the suspects on his syndicated radio show.

Six officers have been taken off street duty as police investigate video first aired on MxFoxPhilly.com and Fox 29 News, which shows officers kicking, punching and beating the three black men during a traffic stop Monday.

"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."

Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said he does not believe the confrontation was racially motivated, but instead thinks that tensions in the wake of the weekend slaying of a fellow officer played a part.

The beating occurred at the same time as police were conducting an intense manhunt for a suspect in the slaying of Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski, 39, who was killed responding to a bank robbery Saturday. He was the second city officer killed on the job in seven months.

At a news conference Thursday morning, Ramsey called the confrontation a "black eye" for the force and "an embarrassment to the entire department."

In an interview later in the day with The Associated Press, Ramsey said: "I know everybody's trying to make this into a racial thing. I don't believe it is."

"We just had a policeman murdered on Saturday ... and emotions are running high," he said.

"There's no excuse for it, but fanning flames, and making accusations from afar, is not in anybody's best interest," said Ramsey, who was named to the post just four months ago after serving in the same role in Washington, D.C.

King, who is black, was videotaped being beaten by white Los Angeles police officers after he was stopped for speeding in 1991.

Four officers were acquitted of most criminal charges in 1992, triggering rioting in Los Angeles and neighboring cities that left 55 people dead and caused $1 billion in property damage.

In the Philadelphia case, officers who stopped the car Monday night believed its occupants had been involved in a triple shooting a few blocks away. They included members of a narcotics unit working the area and patrol officers called in response to the shooting.

The three suspects -- Dwayne Dyches, Brian Hall and Pete Hopkins, all of Philadelphia -- were each charged with attempted murder and related counts in connection with the shooting, according to court records.

Leomia Dyches complained to Sharpton on Thursday that she could not see her son when he was in the hospital.

Ramsey noted to the AP that he was in custody at the time, charged with attempted murder. All three suspects were treated at a hospital soon after the confrontation, Ramsey said, and they were being held Thursday on bail of $100,000 or more.

The commissioner pledged to send the department's preliminary investigation to the District Attorney's Office by next week. If prosecutors decline to file charges, he will deal with the officers involved internally, he said.

Ramsey said he did not know the race of all the officers on the scene -- there were about 15 -- but said that at least one sergeant involved is African-American.

The Internal Affairs unit is still working to enhance the tape and identify all of the officers in the footage, a department spokesman said.

Sharpton's remarks came a day after he was arrested along with hundreds of other demonstrators as he blocked traffic to protest the acquittal of three New York detectives who fatally shot an unarmed black man in on his wedding day.

Ramsey said the beating does not reflect the behavior of the whole Philadelphia department, and cast a shadow during a time that should have been focused on the period of mourning for Liczbinski, whose funeral will be held Friday.

Mayor Michael Nutter has also criticized the officers' behavior, calling it unacceptable.

Source

[Norm357]

Rule #1: Don't shoot a bunch of people.

Rule #2: Don't run from the Cops.

Rule #3: If you break rules # 1 and 2, don't whine about getting your *** whupped.


Norm out.

[Hockey9019]

Right on. Right on Norm.


If your going to do something stupid, like REALLY stupid, why do most people think your not going to get roughed up? When they get out, and yes I say when because we know how things are, they might think twice...

[Kate]

Rule #4: Don't resist arrest (unless you like getting your *** beat!)


I've read comment after comment on the Philly site regarding this incident, so I'm not even going to get into this whole incident here, other than to say good job by the Philly PD for getting the scumbags off the street and I'm glad the officers all went home safe.

[cobravenom1]

They put rounds downrange in my community and my streets, they are receiving an *** whipping for resisting arrest.:eek:

Gotta be cognizant of the camera's people. Widen your field of perception during contact bro's and sis'.;):D

[Group9]

I think this is going to be one of the byproducts of so much tazer use- that when police have to subdue someone phyically, people are going to be so unused to seeing it, that they are going to be shocked.

Sometimes a video just doesn't tell the whole story. Someone being struck on an arm with a baton for compliance, looks the same as someone being struck in the head from 1500 feet.

All I could tell from that video was that you had a lot of resistant subjects, and a lot of officers using force to try and get them to comply.

I know it doesn't do any good, but I would like people who don't like the police striking people to tell me how exactly you get three shooting suspects who don't want to be arrested, stopped and into handcuffs in a situation like this.

[smcc360]

Finally, Crimetown, USA has learned the secret of reducing crime: Go after your cops.

Hey, it worked in New York...







PS- :rolleyes:

[patchcop]

Is this vid. real in the present time? It looks like it was made in the low 80's when police work was police work and dirtbags got what they desserved.
My 2 ct

[jkkrazy2512]

Hi All!!
Yes there are more than one video of this whole incident and of course the one we all saw is the ONE that was the most incriminating for our boys in blue. As I have just moved from Philly and I lived there for 10+ years and worked at a bar where all the cops hung at as well as had all their Christmas and retirement parties I am sure some of those involved I am friendly with. As I am also all to familiar with the characters and overall attitude of these characters I in no way blame the officers for what they did. In watching the video I did not see the suspects follow direction immediately, but like RODNEY KING, argue, disobey and even if they were not hitting any officer they were not being compliant either. Like Rodney King who did not for what 20 minutes or more put his body prone on the ground get that they should just do what they were told: Shut UP, Spread 'em, Get on the Ground, etc.? Yes, tensions were high and I can bet you that this whole chase started a long time earlier with taunting and smirks from those suspects. I cannot tell you the lack of respect in Philly from some of the kids there and hey some of the adults from the drug infested and low income areas in something I cannot even begin to explain. If you have not been there you would not understand. I have had my share of disrespect being chased down the street being told I was to pay them cause I was WHITE. Or getting ran into on the sidewalk on purpose cause they won't move and God forbid you don't apoligize. That was just a little of what happens I've had a third grader pull a gun on me in the El and say he was gonna pop a cap in me cause I was WHITE. For the officers it is worse. They think it's great when something happens to an officer. They do and for years under Mayor Street it was acceptable to think that way. Mayor Nutter is not that same type of man and will not stand for it. I respect how he is handling this and I have no doubt all will be fine for each officer. I respect them for what they did and maybe just maybe now people will be a little less apt to think they can just do as they please. As for that Sharpton character....LOL didn't he just get arrested right after this incident? Thanks for letting me chat.
JKK:eek:

[bubbers rocks]

I think this is just the present course the job is going, and it is going to get worse. No matter what, someone is going to watch any video, be a cop hater, and make a stink about it. I mean look at that dude from Florida, the "Don't tase me bro, guy." I would say 2 out of three people who are not cops think that was excessive (On the spot statistics, you gotta love those). It does not matter what we do, someone is going to see it, hate us, and then try to get money for it. People hate us because we wear the same uniform and nothing that we do is going to be correct in those people's eyes.

So I guess all I am saying is keep your heads up, we know what we do is right, and at the end of it all, that is all that really matters.

[Samuel]

Love the way one article downplays/misreports good old career criminal Rodney's actions - "King, who is black, was videotaped being beaten by white Los Angeles police officers after he was stopped for speeding in 1991." Maybe another 10 years from now, the news will say that he was yanked out of his car and beaten for nothing more than DWB... :rolleyes:

[Kate]

The residents of Philadelphia are flipping out because of this and claiming police brutality but they don't know the whole story, and that's the way it always is with the public.

The media drools over stuff like this because it brings their ratings up, but they don't show what happened before hand and they never tell the real story.

I know one of the officers involved in all this and she has been taken off the streets and is pulling desk duty. She didn't hit, kick, whatever - but she was there to back up her fellow brothers & sisters in Blue. She's worried to death that she's going to lose her job over this and it really sucks. She's a great cop and she's a great person. I'd hate to see her or anyone else involved in this jammed up for doing the right thing.

Eff the media, and eff the public who doesn't give a **** about you all except when they need you. Nobody cares that you're out there putting your life on the line to protect those same citizens who complain about you, but I swear to you, there are people who support you.

Thanks for all you do. I appreicate you more than you'll ever know.