May 21, 2009
Tape of Beating Leads to Firing of 5 Officers
By ROBBIE BROWN
Five police officers in Birmingham, Ala., were fired Wednesday after a video became public that shows them beating and kicking an apparently unconscious man in 2008 after a highway chase.

Chief A. C. Roper of the Birmingham Police Department called the actions “shameful,” and the state Bureau of Investigation is considering charges.

The video, filmed on Jan. 23, 2008, by a patrol car camera, showed officers chasing a suspect, Anthony Warren, who lost control of his van and was ejected from a window in the crash.

After the officers raced toward Mr. Warren, motionless on the roadside, they could be seen punching, kicking and beating him with a billy club.

The video was released by the city on Wednesday. Prosecutors for the district attorney of Jefferson County, Brandon Falls, found the tape in March while preparing their case against Mr. Warren, who received a 20-year sentence for first-degree assault for hitting an officer with his van in the chase.

Mr. Warren filed a claim against the city for more than $100,000, saying the beating left him with a severe concussion, a skull fracture, and other injuries, said his lawyer, Wendy Crew.

“He was not a threat to anyone,” Ms. Crew said. “There was no reason for the excessive force.”

She also accused the police department of tampering with the video.

Chief Roper did not identify the officers, but said they were veterans.

“We’ve terminated over 50 years of combined service due to 10 seconds of injustice,” he said. “In addition to these terminations, we’re also reviewing our supervisor’s actions, reporting mechanisms and policies.”

Many officers and supervisors in the police department viewed the video in the past year but did not report it, the authorities said.

Mayor Larry P. Langford likened the beating to the police violence that occurred in the city during the civil rights movement.

“Dr. King wrote from the Birmingham Jail that ‘injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,’ ” Mayor Langford said. “More than 40 years later, we must send the message that all citizens deserve equal and fair treatment under the law.”

The officers can appeal their terminations.

To watch video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fc57ZJ8nVpg

Patriot’s thoughts:
This sickens me, and all Law Enforcement Officer’s who still keep their oaths to the American people. They not only betrayed the people they serve, but also betrayed their oaths as Law Enforcement Officers. The Officers involved should also be faceing criminal charges for assaulting a person that was unconscious at the time of the assault. The person they were chasing had a criminal record, and did commit aggravated assault of a public servant with his vehicle so I don’t feel sorry for him, but the Officers did not have the right to take the law in their own hands and beat an unconscious suspect. They should have known better, and let the courts do their job in convicting the suspect. The Ends Still Don't Justify the Means.