Outrage Grows After Philly Cop Lies About Suspect
There is public outrage over a white Philadelphia police officer who allegedly lied about a black shooting suspect. The officer will not face charges after a plea deal.
Officer Robert Ralston, a 21 year veteran of the force, said he was shot by an African American suspect on April 5th. He was apparently upset about being sent to another police district.
Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey has fired Ralston and it appears that Ralston will not get his pension. He will not face criminal charges because he made a deal if he revealed the details of what happened.
Dr. Charles Williams teaches at Drexel University and is an expert in race and mental health issues.
Williams said what Ralston did is unforgivable.
“We have a history of racial violence,” Williams said. “We have made progress from the days of Jim Crow.”
"I think it is unconscionable that a sergeant would use his badge and that power to perpetrate injustice rather than serve justice."
“How many cases like this have not been investigated” Williams asked. “It paints a really bad picture of the police department.”
Ramsey said that Ralston will be served 30 days notice and fired. His badge will never be used again.
Last month, Ralston also lied to Fox 29 on camera.
Fox 29 Reporter Julie Kim went to Ralston’s home a few days after he was shot. At the time, Fox 29 sources told us that there was something “not right” with his story. Ralston, Kim reports, stuck to his story.
Ralston claimed he was confronted by two males on train tracks near the intersection of 56th Street and Lancaster Avenue in West Philadelphia. He said one of the suspects pointed a gun at his head but he slapped it away, and the shot that went off struck him in the shoulder.
Ralston told investigators he fired back and believed he'd hit one of the two men. The Fraternal Order of Police even offered a $10,000 reward for information that might lead to an arrest in the shooting.
Ramsey says the incident was completely fabricated. And one of the most troubling aspects was who Ralston blamed.
"The fact that he stated that two African-Americans were involved in this, again, just I think inflames tensions in our community, something that we certainly do not need," Ramsey said. "He was asked specifically why he did that. He said he did it because the 19th District is a predominantly an African-American district, and that's why he said it was two African-Americans. Fortunately, none of our officers stopped anyone or arrested anyone, I should say, as a result of this, but it could have led to a tragedy."
Ralston, who became a sergeant in November 2007, has been investigated by the police department's Internal Affairs Bureau four other times and received prior suspensions ranging in length from one to five days, Fox 29's Dave Schratwieser reported.
Investigators believe Ralston's transfer to a new district was at least a part of the motive for his latest actions.
Ralston will not be criminally prosecuted, Ramsey said: "During the course of the investigation last night, in order for him to talk to us and tell us the truth, he was given a proffer, which pretty much granted him immunity from criminal prosecution but does not keep him from being charged administratively, which is what we're going to do."
The commissioner said he did talk to Mayor Michael Nutter and agreed that they will total up the cost of the investigation -- from the crime scene unit to detectives to overtime -- and go after Ralston for those sums either administratively or civilly.