Tape Captures Philly Cops Beating Suspects

(CBS/AP)  More than a dozen police officers will be taken off the street as authorities investigate a video showing three suspects being kicked, punched and beaten after they were pulled out of a car during a traffic stop, the mayor's office said.

"At a glance it does appear to be a bit beyond the pale," said Doug Oliver, a spokesman for Mayor Michael Nutter. "Officers are not allowed to operate outside of the law."

The police involved in the beating are being put on desk duty during the department's investigation, reports CBS News reporter Tara Mergener.

The police department believes about 15 officers were involved in Monday night's arrests in the city's Hunting Park section, where police had been investigating a triple shooting, Oliver said. Some have already been taken off the street, while others still need to be identified, he said.

The three suspects were charged with criminal conspiracy, aggravated assault, simple assault and reckless endangerment, according to court officials.

The video, shot by a WTXF-TV helicopter, shows three police cars stopping a car on the side of a road. About a dozen officers gather around the vehicle and pull three men out. About a half-dozen officers hold two of the men on the ground on the driver's side. Both are kicked repeatedly, while one is seen being punched; one also appears to be struck with a baton.

On the other side of the car, another group of officers can be seen kicking a third man who ends up on the ground.

Oliver said that, while the use of force appeared excessive, the public should withhold judgment until all the facts are known.

"We are not going to prejudge the situation based on the video," he said. "We all saw the video, but none of us was there."

Oliver initially said 15 officers had been taken off the street Wednesday. He later said about 15 officers were at the scene, but that the exact number identified and already off the street was unclear.

"One way or the other, everyone associated with this will be taken off the street," Oliver said. "The officers involved in this incident will be reassigned."

A message left with Lt. Frank Vanore, a police spokesman, was not immediately returned Wednesday morning.

The confrontation occurred just two days after Philadelphia Police Sergeant Stephen Liczbinski was killed, reports CBS News Correspondent Randall Pinkston. The suspect, Eric Floyd, got away.

Liczbinski was shot with an assault rifle after a robbery in the city's Port Richmond section on Saturday. One man was fatally shot by police after the shooting, another was arrested Sunday and a third remains on the lam.

Police are not saying the three men were connected to the police officer's murder, but the killing, the third in two years, weighs heavily on the minds of every Philadelphia cop, Pinkston reports.

"There's no excuse for not concucting ourselves properly," Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey told CBS News. "There's a lot of stress, a lot of tension."

Defense attorney Scott Perrine is a former prosecutor who represents the three suspects in the car.

"There is a big disconnect between saying an officer was murdered and therefore we're going to proffer this explanation and the justification of a stressed out police, a police force that's emotional," Perrine told CBS News.

[keithle1]

People who cooperate & listen to the police don''t get beaten.

[closethippy1]

I have yet to see police officers behave like these towards rich folks or in a rich neighborhood.
It''''s true, it''''s not a matter of race but it is a matter of class.
The police across the US have always shown restraint when they patrol rich neighborhood, but that''''s not the case in poor neighborhoods.
It''''s always the poor that are looked upon as dispensable. Even during the nastiest wars rich neighborhoods for some reason are spared much of the destruction which only happens in poor and destitute areas.
We as a society need to mature beyond this point and stop devaluing people because of the little money they have.

[soupskin1]

TY mjlewis6, and cammie13 good comment.

[cammie13-2009]

I think that cops all across the country need some type mental screening its should be done with every physical. Theres know telling how many walking time bombs are wearing a badge. Remember they are to protect and serve not to beat and kill. Look at what happens in New York almost every ten years someone is shot multiple times by the NYPD.

[soupskin1]

Hope you all have ur ID card suckers

[soupskin1]

Look at what America has become today, any supporters?

[mona9906]

thats bull that the cops were placed on desk duty they should have been place on suspendion or they should lose there job so i guess in this case we has peolpe need to watch out for stressed out cops cause its ok for them to rip u out of ur car and beat the daylights out of u cause there stressed

[soupskin1]

long live Amerkastan''s. Man I would hate to be a American cop. They got it comin to them. Join the republic.

[soupskin1]

send them police to my place I would like to have a word with them. Ill silence them fast

[mona9906]

first of all its not right to just take a person or persons and beat them and what people need to realize is what if that was ur kid getting beat by those cops does it make it right then for those boys to be treated in that way just because there so called stressed thats the job they choose so if they cant handle then they should look for a diffrent job