Article from App by Andrew Ford.
Taxpayers spent $250,000 in a settlement with a Philadelphia man who suffered “significant injuries” to his neck and spine during a police arrest, according to his attorney, and an officer admitted in testimony that he never officially reported that he hit the man with a metal flashlight.
Elizabeth settled Jerome Wright’s lawsuit in October. The suit claimed officers used excessive force – including chemical spray, kicks, punches – then “fabricated” a police report in an effort to “cover up” their actions.
Elizabeth Police Officer Rui Xavier admitted in court testimony he left facts out of his arrest report: Jerome Wright’s hands were up in the air, Xavier struck Wright with a flashlight and kicked him.
Officer Xavier said he “oversaw” facts left out of his report when he was questioned in court and shown a bystander’s video. A version of the video edited to make the police interaction clearer is at the top of this story, an unedited version is below.
Read the entire article at App.
Image Credit: liftarn [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Police_brutality.svg)], via Wikimedia Commons
wpDiscuz
I’ve been pushed around by crowd control officers almost as much. This incident began with a scofflaw refusing to follow orders of a sworn law officer. Apparently, this very large scofflaw was too stupid to know handcuffs are applied to protect arresting officers. Of course it ended badly. I wonder if Elizabeth, Newark, et al., are having as much trouble recruiting officers as Dallas is. If we don’t start throwing the book at scofflaws and stop throwing it at the cops, we’re all gonna’ need bigger, faster firearms.
The offending officer, if charges are fact based as appears to be the case, should be fired and criminally charged. Monies paid to the injur d party are covered by insurance however there is likely a “deductible amount”, which should be charged to the guilty party, the offending officer. Also, perjury is a felony isn’t it?