By Joseph A. Slobodzian and Joseph A. Gambardello - The Philadelphia Inquirer
Issue date: 5/8/08 Section: MCT News
PHILADELPHIA _ Seven more Philadelphia police officers were removed from active duty Thursday in the probe of the news video that shows police beating and kicking three shooting suspects after a car chase Monday night.
A review of an enhanced copy of the 11-minute video enabled police investigators to identify the seven, said Lt. Frank Vanore, a police spokesman. They bring to 13 _ one sergeant and 12 officers _ the number of police taken off street duty pending the probe's outcome.
Mayor Michael Nutter and Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey appeared on national television Thursday morning on CNN and ABC, reiterating points they have made since Philadelphia's Fox29 first aired the video Tuesday: The police conduct it shows is inexcusable and will be investigated and dealt with.
"The conduct was unacceptable," Nutter said on CNN. "It did not live up to the standards we have set for the Police Department."
The video shows as many as 15 officers, all of them white, rushing the vehicle of the three black suspects, yanking them from the car, and kicking and beating them after they were prone.
The racial element was raised Thursday by the Rev. Al Sharpton. The civil-rights activist interviewed the mother of one of the suspects on his radio show and said: "I've not seen anything like that since Rodney King, and it's worse than Rodney King."
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 response, 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. There's no excuse for it, but fanning flames, and making accusations from afar, is not in anybody's best interest."
A review of an enhanced copy of the 11-minute video enabled police investigators to identify the seven, said Lt. Frank Vanore, a police spokesman. They bring to 13 _ one sergeant and 12 officers _ the number of police taken off street duty pending the probe's outcome.
Mayor Michael Nutter and Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey appeared on national television Thursday morning on CNN and ABC, reiterating points they have made since Philadelphia's Fox29 first aired the video Tuesday: The police conduct it shows is inexcusable and will be investigated and dealt with.
"The conduct was unacceptable," Nutter said on CNN. "It did not live up to the standards we have set for the Police Department."
The video shows as many as 15 officers, all of them white, rushing the vehicle of the three black suspects, yanking them from the car, and kicking and beating them after they were prone.
The racial element was raised Thursday by the Rev. Al Sharpton. The civil-rights activist interviewed the mother of one of the suspects on his radio show and said: "I've not seen anything like that since Rodney King, and it's worse than Rodney King."
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 response, 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. There's no excuse for it, but fanning flames, and making accusations from afar, is not in anybody's best interest."
Be the first to comment on this story