No charges filed against police in beatings
Friday, August 7th, 2009
By: Tom MacDonald
tmacdonald@whyy.org
No criminal charges will be lodged against the Philadelphia police officers videotaped beating three suspects during an arrest.
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The three suspects took police on a two and a half mile car chase before being stopped. District Attorney Lynne Abraham says after taking a year to review the case the grand jury decided the use of force didn't warrant criminal charges.
District Attorney Lynne Abraham
Abraham: The evidence presented to this grand jury made clear that these strikes were not random nor were they aimed at parts of the body which could cause serious damage such as the head the chest and so forth, the jurors concluded that the police used only the amount of force necessary under the circumstances which was reasonable to accomplish the arrest and nothing more.
The grand jury DID recommend new training procedures for high risk car stops. Four officers were fired and four others disciplined from the incident. Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey says he is standing by his discipline and will await the results of an appeal by the officers.