FBI Investigates L.A. Police Brutality (Video)

[WaTcHeR]

11.10.2006 - LOS ANGELES - Video footage posted on YouTube.com showing a police officer repeatedly striking a suspect in the face during an arrest three months ago has triggered an FBI investigation.

The video shows two officers holding down William Cardenas, 24, on a Hollywood street as one punches him several times in the face before they are able to handcuff him. The struggling suspect yells repeatedly "I can't breathe!"

The footage, shot by an area resident, came to the FBI's attention Thursday, prompting investigators to open a civil rights inquiry into the Aug. 11 incident, agency spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said.

The police department has begun its own criminal and administrative investigations into the officers' use of force, said police spokesman Lt. Paul Vernon.

The officers were identified as Alexander Schlegel and Patrick Farrell. Both have been reassigned to administrative work.

"There's no denying that the video is disturbing," Chief William Bratton said at a news conference. "But as to whether the actions of the officers were appropriate in light of what they were experiencing and the totality of the circumstances is what the investigation will determine."

Vernon said Cardenas is a known gang member who had been wanted on a felony warrant for receiving stolen property.

In an arrest report obtained by The Associated Press, the officers said they tried to arrest Cardenas as he and two others were drinking beer on a sidewalk.

Cardenas ran and the officers caught up to him, tripped him and swarmed over him to apply handcuffs, the report said.

The officers described repeated blows to the suspect's face in the report, as well as his efforts to resist, and their concern that he might grab one of their guns during the brawl.

"The suspect's hand covered my partner's gun holster so I yelled at my partner to watch his gun. My partner responded by capping his gun and delivering a left elbow to the suspect's face causing the suspect to let go of him," the report said.

With Cardenas still resisting, one officer used pepper spray on him, but that had "little effect," the report said. The officers were only able to handcuff him after two of his friends arrived and told him to stop fighting, according to the report.

Cardenas suffered cuts and bruises on his arms, leg and face, and received stitches on an eyelid. His attorney, B. Kwaku Duren, accused the officers of violating his client's civil rights and claimed department investigators were stalling.

"I think the LAPD is being caught covering up an obvious excessive use of force," he said.

Cardenas, who was held without bail, faces charges of resisting arrest.

Authorities learned of the video footage when the defense made it public Sept. 14 during Cardenas' preliminary hearing, police said. The district attorney's office will decide whether to continue with the case, which is scheduled for trial Nov. 20, said spokeswoman Jane Robison.

See the video:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVW5_PJHzR4


news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061110/ap_on_re_us/videotaped_arrest

[WaTcHeR]

11.16.2006 - About a half-dozen retired police officers picketed Wednesday outside the Daily News over the newspaper's recent coverage of videos showing Los Angeles police officers punching and using pepper spray on suspects.

Carrying signs reading "Warriors Have Courage," "Support the LAPD, Not Gangs," and "Twisted Journalism," the officers said they specifically objected to a headline last Friday that read "LAPD Violence: Same Old Story?" and linked the recent incidents to the 1991 beating of motorist Rodney King by four cops.

The protest came less than a week after an 18-second video surfaced on YouTube.com showing an LAPD officer repeatedly punching a suspect in the face in an Aug. 11 scuffle in Hollywood. On Monday, a video emerged showing an officer pepper-spraying a handcuffed suspect in a patrol car in February 2005.

Both of the videos appear to have been taped by bystanders.

Protest organizer Chris Biller, a retired 29-year veteran of the West Valley Division, said media reports about the videos could make officers so sensitive to what onlookers might be recording that it jeopardizes their safety.

"These people in blue are our children. They do the right thing and are our only line of defense,"

Biller said while picketing on the sidewalk in front of the newspaper's Woodland Hills office.
He said the group intends to picket the Los Angeles Times next week.

Retired LAPD Officer Pat Connelly said he wanted to show his support for the thousands of officers who are willing to put themselves in harm's way to make the city safer.

"Time and time again it seems we try to convict them before (all the facts) come in," he said.

The retired officers said they don't condone police brutality, but also believe the public needs to understand how tough the job is.

They also said tactics that might look improper to the public - including punches known as "distraction" strikes - are authorized by the department.

"We're warriors and we're proud of it," Biller said.

Daily News Editor Ron Kaye said he respects the retired officers' point of view and the progress made by the LAPD in carrying out department reforms.

"The recent disclosure of videotaped incidents involving LAPD officers and suspects has revived concerns about excessive force," Kaye said. "It's our job to report what happened and raise questions of public importance.

"I think we fulfilled our public obligations in these stories properly without overstepping the boundaries."

dailynews.com/news/ci_4667324