Black chief calls the incident an outrage – the police union disagrees.
Police in West Palm Beach, Fla., have released a videotape of officers kicking and beating a Hispanic suspect that is so shocking that the chief of police, in a public rebuke of her officers’ actions, is at odds with the police union over the amount of force used. “To see this actually happens, obviously I’m not pleased with it at all. We are held at a much higher standard than anyone else,” said Police Chief Delsa Bush, an African American. On the video, which is only the latest in a string of police beatings caught live in recent years, Louis Schwartz and Kurt Graham can be seen kicking a handcuffed suspect on the ground outside of a drugstore. A few seconds later, the suspect, Pablo Venezuela, still cuffed but now standing, is repeatedly punched in the face by another policeman, Jason Zangara. All three officers are White. Lawrence Fagan, a police union attorney representing the three officers, says, “It is our position that the force they used was proper. They feel they used that force necessary to diffuse the situation and only the force that was legal and proper. Period.” Venezuela, who is suing the West Palm Beach Police Department, received cuts over his eye and needed several stitches, according to the arrest report. Early on in the videotape, a man who appears to be Venezuela is seen using pepper spray as a weapon to rob oxycodone Graham resigned last month, while Schwartz and Zangara are on paid administrative leave. Bush has not yet announced any discipline for the officers.


Ummm, so I'm going to start a Fuck the police category...