This is Not Helpful
The Philadelphia Police Department has a long and disgraceful record of brutality, especially toward black people. And although Police Commissioner Ramsey has done a better job of disciplining bad cops than his predecessor, more work needs to be done:
ADIMA DAVIS is barely a toddler and already she knows what it feels like to get maced in the face.
“Mommy, it burn,” Adima, 1 1/2, said yesterday as her mom, Dionne Whitaker, recounted a violent encounter with Philadelphia police over the weekend.
Whitaker, 28, said she and her daughter had been at an outdoor baby shower in North Philadelphia when a narcotics officer rushed into the yard, igniting a police “riot” that injured at least six people, including two little kids and women who were maced, struck with batons and pushed to the ground, according to witnesses.
[snip]
Two officers on the scene - Thomas Schaffling and Sean Bascom - were linked to the May 5 police beating of three shooting suspects. That incident was captured by a Fox 29 news helicopter and broadcast around the world.In the Fox video, Schaffling, a member of the elite Narcotics Strike Force, is seen pulling driver Brian Hall out of a car. Schaffling acknowledged afterward that he had “utilized foot strikes” on Hall in an attempt to subdue him, police documents show.
Bascom struck a suspect in the head, face and collarbone during the May incident, an Internal Affairs investigation concluded.
At the time, Schaffling and Bascom were partners assigned to Squad B of the Strike Force.
Schaffling was not disciplined in connection with the videotaped beating. Bascom, one of eight officers disciplined, was suspended for five days by Commissioner Charles Ramsey.
These guys need to be fired. And John Mcnesby, who comes off like a poorly-spoken baboon, needs to stop making excuses. Both need to happen immediately:
Police have said that the officers were chasing a drug suspect who ran through the yard where the baby shower was being held, but those at the celebration said that the suspect had not cut through the yard and that police had mistakenly arrested a relative who had just arrived at the shower with a gift in hand.
Schaffling, Bascom and Devlin could not be reached for comment. Capt. Verdell Johnson of the Strike Force declined comment last night.
John McNesby, president of Lodge 5 of the Fraternal Order of Police, said that he was unfamiliar with the baby-shower incident but that Schaffling and the other Strike Force members are hard-working officers who are the best of the best.
“I know all them guys to be good cops,” McNesby said.
“The Strike Force is the go-to unit,” he added. “They get the guns off the street, they get the drugs off the street, they are out there aggressively fighting crime and you’re going to have complaints . . . Police officers have a right to use force. You’re dealing with people who don’t want to be arrested.”
McNesby cautioned that complaints filed by citizens against officers are mere accusations.
But William Johnson, executive director of the Police Advisory Commission, a city-funded watchdog agency, said the accusations in the baby-shower case were troubling. Johnson said “quite a number of people” at the shower came to the commission’s Center City headquarters to file complaints.
Does this sound like a family full of criminals to you?
What went on, citizens allege, was that a bunch of rogue narcotics cops unleashed a fury on some working-class folks enjoying what should have been a happy occasion.
Joseph Williams, the uncle of the baby’s father, said he watched the incident unfold in horror and called 9-1-1 for help.
Williams is the block captain of the 2400 block of West Master Street, a block that sits as an oasis in crime-ridden North Philadelphia. On the afternoon of the shower, the Rev. Albertis Ford, of the Faith Tabernacle Church of God, had the block closed off for his annual “Feed My Sheep” event, in which his family serves free food to community members. As he dished out potato salad and slices of ham, people began to gather across the street at the home of Matthew and Lorna Peterson for the shower.
The Peterson home is an inviting place. A Winnie the Pooh flag that reads “Welcome” is posted above the front door. The once- trash-strewn, abandoned lot next to their home has been turned into a garden with rows of flowers and vegetables. The fenced-in grassy lot, with its swing set and miniature basketball hoop, has always been a place for neighborhood kids to play. It seemed the perfect spot for a baby shower - or so the Petersons thought.
Lorna Peterson’s daughter Lacrecia Tindley, 30, who is nine months pregnant, was just about to open her gifts when Schaffling allegedly ran into the yard, grabbed Tindley’s brother, Jamar Stroman, 24, pressed a baton across his neck and dragged him out of the yard. Relatives said they had followed Schaffling to ask why Stroman was being arrested.
Witnesses said Schaffling then took out his gun and screamed obscenities as he told everyone to get back. He called for back-up officers and placed Stroman in a squad car. Then Schaffling took out a metal baton and began to swing it into the crowd, striking several people, witnesses said.
The Mayor and the Commissioner keep talking about how important it is to repair relations between Philadelphia’s African American community and the Police Department. Schalling’s behavior is not helpful, nor are McNesby’s excuses. Furthermore, Ramsey should fire Mr. Schalling TODAY. The man is doing damage to the police force, to the department’s reputation, and to the efforts to reconcile the cops and the community every day he remains on the payroll.
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September 5th, 2008 at 10:42 am
[...] has done a better job of disciplining bad cops than his predecessor, more work needs to be done: Ahttp://brendancalling.com/2008/08/13/this-is-not-helpful/Beverly Public Library plans special programs - Morgan County HeraldFrom August 21-29, there will be [...]