Springettsbury Township Police Chief Thomas Hyers says
Tuesday that allegations of police brutality leveled against his department,
outlined in two civil rights suits filed last week and accompanied by videos
showing officers striking two citizens, would be investigated in an 'open and
transparent' manner at the department in Springettsbury Township.
The videos are disturbing, to put it mildly.
In one, Springettsbury Township Police officers arresting
Steven Landis throw him to the ground and appear to knee him in the ribs
(reportedly breaking his ribs), zap him with a stun gun and threaten to have a
police dog bite him.
In the other video, officers from that department had Debra
Williams handcuffed in the backseat of a cruiser, and an officer appears to
punch her and grab her neck.
It should be noted that the behavior of both suspects is far
less than cooperative with officers. It should also be noted that the attorney
representing those two in federal lawsuits against the department, its chief,
the county and three officers - Cpl. Gregory Hadfield, Patrolman Chad Moyer and
Patrolman William Polizzotto - said both arrestees suffered from mental
illness.
Being a police officer can be a difficult, frustrating job.
Cops' lives are in constant danger. They must deal with the worst elements of
society - often in drunken, drugged, vitriolic states. Officers deserve
citizens' gratitude and respect for keeping our community safe.
But citizens also deserve professional behavior by police,
who are granted extraordinary powers of arrest. And what you can plainly see in
those two videos is not professional behavior - regardless of what might come
of the lawsuits or a probe into the incidents launched by District Attorney Tom
Kearney. We must demand more from officers.
The officers named in the lawsuits have rightly been placed
on administrative desk duty while the matter is being investigated. But the
investigation itself really needs to be investigated - by an outside agency.
Mr. Kearney said that, in the Williams case, he viewed the
video in May and planned to refer the matter to Springettsbury Township Police
for an internal investigation. But for some reason, that referral was never
sent. Springettsbury Police Chief Thomas Hyers, who joined the department in
May, said he never got the referral and no internal investigation was
performed.
But after watching a video of a police officer apparently
punching a handcuffed woman in a police car, how could you fail to send such a
referral? And why would you rely on the department to investigate itself? The
DA has county detectives, why not put them on the case - or the state police?
Devon M. Jacob, attorney for Mr. Landis and Ms. Williams in
the lawsuits and a former police officer and deputy attorney general, has
argued the actions visible in the videos could be probable cause for arrest.
It's troubling that such a disturbing video could so easily
fall through the bureaucratic cracks.
In the Landis case, shortly after the Aug. 12 incident shown
in the video, a family member reportedly filed a complaint with the police
department.
What became of that complaint?
Was the DA's office aware of that complaint or the video?
These videos are typically used as evidence by the DA, so it
seems like a prosecutor should have been aware of the situation, should have
alerted the DA, who should have launched an inquiry - or at the very least
referred the incident to Chief Hyers, who by that time was well into his tenure
as chief.
This is not acceptable.
Neither is it acceptable to have the DA in charge of
investigating the handling of these cases.
Last week, Mr. Kearney said the state attorney general's
office had declined to investigate the cases, leaving it in his hands.
He must urge Attorney General Kathleen Kane to reconsider.
The actual investigation will be handled by state police.
That's appropriate, but the troopers looking into these matters should report
to the attorney general, not to the York County District Attorney's Office.
Mr. Kearney and Chief Hyers both have reputations as
honorable and forthright public servants, but given the missteps in these
cases, citizens must demand a completely independent probe.
If the state attorney general can't assure that, the feds
should step in and conduct their own inquiry.