Police Video

(CNN) -- Philadelphia city officials said Wednesday the beatings of three suspects, captured on video by a television news crew, were "unacceptable," and added officers' emotions are running high after the slaying of a sergeant last week.


"We certainly are concerned about what we saw on the tape," Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey told reporters Wednesday afternoon. "The matter is being taken very seriously, even though emotions run very high in our department right now, because we just had our third officer killed in the last two years ,  obviously, that puts a lot of stress and pressure on the officers.

"But having said that, we do expect them to maintain a standard of conduct on the street that is above reproach," he said.

Ramsey earlier said an internal investigation was underway into the incident caught on video Monday by WXTF-TV. He said police officers saw the suspects fire shots, injuring three people standing on a street corner before fleeing in a vehicle.

The video shows at least a dozen police officers pulling the suspects out of a car after a vehicle chase Monday night.

At least eight officers are seen either kicking, punching or striking the suspects with batons while the men lie restrained on the ground.

Two men are struck at least 20 times each.


Ramsey said a sergeant and five officers have been removed from street duty in connection with the incident so far. He said he has been in contact with the district attorney's office, which will receive a copy of the tape and decide whether to file criminal charges.

Authorities are still in the process of identifying the officers on the tape, he said, and have sent the video to be enhanced. "We're going to continue our investigation," he said.

"We'll identify everybody who was there at the scene to the best of our ability. All six were there. The extent of their involvement, I don't personally know. The sergeant should have taken some kind of supervisory action to intervene," Ramsey said.

A fourth suspect in the shooting escaped on foot, he said.

Lemoia Dyches, the mother of one of the suspects, says she's been unable to see her son, Lionel Dwayne Dyches, 24, since his arrest.

"They wouldn't even permit his attorney to see him," she said. "They're hiding him. It strikes me as strange."

However, police made mug shots of the three available to reporters later Wednesday. In the photos, at least two of the suspects have visible cuts and bruises.

"It is not acceptable, of course, to do anything less than the professional standards we expect from our police officers," Mayor Michael Nutter said. "The behavior that was at least exhibited on the tape is unacceptable."

On Saturday, police Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski was shot and killed with an assault rifle while attempting to apprehend bank robbery suspects. One suspect was killed by officers in the confrontation and another has been arrested. The third suspect remains at large.

Stress levels among officers on the street are "simply too high," and the department aims to eliminate 12-hour shifts, Ramsey said earlier Wednesday.

"This is massive because of the number of officers we've had killed in a short period of time ,  we want to make sure officers are psychologically prepared to deal with everything," he told reporters.

After seeing the videotape, the mother of one of the men arrested said, "I just burst out and cried. I was appalled by it."

Now this is evidence of real maltreatment.  But at the end of the day, we shall see what will come out of this.  Don't mess with the police anywhere in the world.  Not in Nigeria definitely.  No camera to even trace your whereabouts.

As far as this incident is concerned, not the first time and definitely will not be the last.  Stay away from the police anywhere in the world I say.

Just be quiet because you never know where you might end up.  The right to freedom can definitely cause you death.

Blame it on "stress level" within the police force.

I wonder if the suspects where black?

Like the rest of the rest, nothing will come out of it.

quite common in the US those guys are something else!

To be fair, if i was a police officer who had just lost his buddy to an armed perpetrator, i'd be pretty ticked off too.

Na wah oo, I can't see comments like "only in Nigeria", "Nigeria Police is bad" etc

The level of objectivity on this section is baffling.

Wetin bad, bad no matter where e dey happen.

Who get ear make hin take am hear.

compare it with this:

Ugochukwu Nwaokporo, believed dead by his family, released from police custody on bail after seven years without charge

http://naijanet.com/news/source/2008/may/8/1000.html



"He was tortured and shot in the leg by police in an attempt to force him to confess to armed robbery, he says."

"He treated his own wound with medical supplies brought to him by church groups who visited the police station cells where he was held.

But the first time he cleaned the wound it was with his own urine, his lawyer told the court. "



""They have not brought him to court in seven years to enter a plea. They want to keep him in prison as long as they can," his lawyer Nnaemeka Ejiofor said."


"But the robbery the police say he committed took place two months after Mr Nwaokporo says he was taken into custody."

3d_hunter:

compare it with this:

Ugochukwu Nwaokporo, believed dead by his family, released from police custody on bail after seven years without charge

http://naijanet.com/news/source/2008/may/8/1000.html



"He was tortured and shot in the leg by police in an attempt to force him to confess to armed robbery, he says."

"He treated his own wound with medical supplies brought to him by church groups who visited the police station cells where he was held.

But the first time he cleaned the wound it was with his own urine, his lawyer told the court. "



""They have not brought him to court in seven years to enter a plea. They want to keep him in prison as long as they can," his lawyer Nnaemeka Ejiofor said."


"But the robbery the police say he committed took place two months after Mr Nwaokporo says he was taken into custody."

I read with disgust, the above article.
It is typical of the nigerian police.
We all shouted foul when the british police charged a nigerian for "being violent" onboard.
But here in nigeria, we are faced with devils in black uniform.
Will there be a public outcry for this inhumanity?
No!
The black man is better maltreated by another black man else it becomes racism.
This story makes me sick.

Just saw on TV the suspects were black.  Nothing further to discuss. Case closed.   Not an issue in the US. The white man reign supreme.

Black people face the same predicaments all over the world. Not a force to be reckon with, just sporty game.

Wait a sec, is this all we get ?? No White man is Evil?? Cries that this is racism and white man oppressing people?? Is this all? The police in this case actually fatally shot one of the 3 men. Is that not oppression

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell, is this not evidence of "Police Bestiality Brutality" upon a citizen whose alienable God-given right is to phuck a goat?

What were was that long protroding "baton" or 3-foot rod the Nigerian police is holding on the right used for.  His rear?

Please remove thy log first!  We all have our crosses to bear!  As you can see, there are no white men around this picture!

Rubbish!

@Spermdrops
Please STOP right there. Not even media shills like Al Sharpton and Jesse jackson have raised any racial flags on this issue, so why bring up the hate-talk?

besides, we need to stop to wonder why it's always Black guys that are the suspects, the armed criminals etc.

If Blacks in the US aren't a force to reckon with, which race is currently propelling Obama in scooping the popular vote? Asian?

Where did the picture above come from?

The person in that picture should be identified (if still alive) and he should be made to identify the policemen that forced him to have sex with a goat.

This is totally unacceptable regardless of what the person did.

Afam:

Where did the picture above come from?

The person in that picture should be identified (if still alive) and he should be made to identify the policemen that forced him to have sex with a goat.

This is totally unacceptable regardless of what the person did.

The dude was caught having sex with the goat

"link" please