Jury: Police Had Right To Beat Suspects

PHILADELPHIA - MyFoxPhilly has learned that a grand jury says Philadelphia police officers who beat three suspects “used reasonable force” in accord with “training guidelines.”

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No officers will face criminal charges in the case from May 2008.

An advance release says the three suspects, because they eluded police, fell under the guidelines that justified the actions of the 20 officers who beat the three men on camera in a 14-minute video shot by Fox 29.

"After a careful thorough and exhaustive year long invest we the jurors have independently concluded that criminal action is not warranted against any of the officers. We found that the police on the scene used only the amount of force -- and no more than that amount -- that they reasonably believed was necessary to bring under control and into custody three suspects in a shooting who had tried to elude capture, who were resisting arrest and who were creating a potentially significant danger to police."

"We found that the design of the force applied by the police was helpful rather than hurtful; the kicks and blows in other words were aimed not to inflict injury but to facilitate quick and safe arrests. We found that the kind of force administered was completely consistent with police training and guidelines and the laws of the commonwealth."

The three men beaten by Philadelphia police after a triple shooting were acquitted in June of all charges in the shootings that led to the beating incident.

"I'm really upset because justice still wasn't served so the cops can just go out and do the same thing to anybody randomly, like they want to," says former suspect Brian Hall.

Four of the 18 police officers who were at the scene were fired. Eight others were disciplined or demoted in the wake of the highly publicized beating, which Mayor Michael Nutter called "67 seconds of seeming chaos out on the streets of Philadelphia."

"These grand jurors did acknowledge that their first reaction was the same as most people's reaction," said District Attorney Lynne Abraham.

"I have 40 years of law enforcement experience. I kinda know what I'm looking at. In my opinion, all the actions were not justified," said Commissioner Charles Ramsey.

Rev. Al Sharpton issued a statement Thursday, saying “I consider the findings of the local Philadelphia grand jury outrageous and we are calling for a federal grand jury to review the case...The fact that the Police Commissioner fired four of the police officers for their actions indicates a federal grand jury should review the case for possible civil rights violations."

MyFoxPhilly.com broke the story of Philadelphia police officers who executed the violent arrest of three people in a car seen fleeing a shooting scene.

At that time, police patrols were heavily increased as officers searched for one of Sgt. Steven Liczbinski's suspected killers. The sergeant had been slain days earlier in Port Richmond while chasing bank robbers.

The images were captured by SkyFox late on May 5. 2008 and published on MyFoxPhilly at 1:30 a.m. on May 6.

The men seen on SkyFox footage being pulled from a car one year ago had nothing to do with Liczbinski's death. They were charged in connection with the unrelated shooting that occurred the same evening as their arrest.

An investigation into their arrest set off fireworks that included Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey firing four of the officers involved.

Those officers could be reinstated through an arbitration process if they are not charged after the grand jury releases its findings.