Lawyers representing some Delaware County residents are asking Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro to look into a pattern of racial discrimination by Chester Township’s police department.
The move comes after the release of a second video involving the arrest of a black man for loitering in front of his house and resisting arrest.
The latest video shows Brandon Alvin being arrested in front of his home on the evening of Sept. 21, while his wife and family members call out that he lives there.
Alvin lives in the same public housing complex where, two weeks ago, four members of the Briggs family were arrested for loitering in front of their home and resisting arrest.
Attorney Thomas Fitzpatrick, who represents both Alvin and the members of the Briggs family, said at a press conference Wednesday that discriminatory policing has gone on in that particular housing complex for years.
“This is an ongoing pattern and practice and, indeed, a policy by Chester Township, the body politic, and the Delaware County at large concerning the over-policing of African Americans in this community and how they are treated in general,” Fitzpatrick said.
The Briggs family has filed a lawsuit against the police department.
The department referred questions to the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office, which is investigating. Repeated attempts were made to contact the DA’s Office Wednesday, but no one was available for comment.
A representative from Shapiro’s office said Wednesday evening that it had not yet received the request that it look into the Chester Township matter.
About 80% of Chester Township’s 4,600 residents are black. The officers involved in the cases in question are white.
The same officer, Pasquale Storace III, can be seen in both videos making the arrests.
“Knowing what we know now, we’re calling for the immediate removal of Officer Pasquale Storace from the Chester Township Police Department,” Fitzpatrick said. “In addition to that, we’re calling for an investigation by the Attorney General’s Office into the developments in Chester Township and what’s been going on with these arrests.”
According to an affidavit signed by Officer Storace, the incident began outside about 8:45 p.m. Sept. 21, when Storace noticed Alvin leaning against the window of a red GMC truck that Alvin’s lawyers say belonged to Alvin’s cousin.
Storace told Alvin he was loitering and ordered him to put his hands behind his head, interlocking his fingers, so that he could be patted down and searched, the affidavit says. When Alvin refused, Storace attempted to take him into custody. When Alvin attempted to pull away, Storace tried to put handcuffs on him, and when Alvin resisted, he was sprayed with pepper spray, twice, while the other officers attempted to put on handcuffs and take him into custody.