. -- An
investigation is underway in a case of alleged police brutality in Buffalo.
A viral video, posted online
Thursday, sparked the investigation.
In the video, a male suspect
appears face down on the sidewalk, with as many as four police officers holding
him down.
The suspect is repeatedly heard
saying, "Officer, please stop" and "I'm sorry" and yelling
in pain.
An officer is seen on the tape
slapping and kicking the victim in the head as he lay on the ground handcuffed.
13WHAM's Buffalo affiliate,
WKBW, contacted the Buffalo Police Department for comment. The department said
the Internal Affairs Division is investigating the incident.
It's unknown if the officers
involved are still on duty during the investigation.
Police have not released the
name of the victim, or the location where the incident happened
A look back at abuse of power
by police in WNY
Rich Newberg
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – Federal
investigators are now looking into the case of possible police brutality caught
on cell phone video.
They must determine if
22-year-old John Willet’s civil rights were violated. Six Buffalo Police
officers have been put on administrative leave.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for
the Western New York region has a track record in prosecuting cases involving
excessive force. Since William Hochul became U.S. Attorney in 2010, his Buffalo
office has successfully prosecuted five police officers and deputies who abused
their power.
“When it comes to violence,” he
says, “we take a zero tolerance when it comes to crossing that line.”
If uniformed Buffalo Police
officers did cross the line in the handling of Willet’s arrest on April 19,
they will be subject to federal prosecution. The U.S. Attorney says the public
expects a full investigation.
“It would completely destroy
the confidence of the public if they thought that police officers could get away
with hurting somebody, or with beating somebody, or with arresting somebody
with less than probable cause.”
Investigators from his office
and the FBI, the lead federal agency in the case, must determine whether or not
what is depicted on the video is accurate, and whether it crosses the line. The
video shows Willet being slapped and kicked while restrained in handcuffs and
on the ground. Several officers were on the scene at the time.
Willet had been chased down
after running from his car during a traffic stop. He admitted in a News 4
interview with Luke Moretti to having drugs in his possession.
Looking back at cases of police
abuse during the past few years, City of Tonawanda Police Captain James Litz
pleaded guilty to choking
a man in handcuffs while he was
sitting in back of a police car. Litz received two years probation but his wife
Cindy, who had been the police chief, resigned.
In the case of West Seneca
Police Officer Sean Kelley, he pleaded guilty to choking a man who may have
said something insulting while Kelley was dining with his wife at a restaurant.
Kelley had even called two officers to come to the restaurant.
Hochul recalls, “As soon as
they arrived Kelley got up, put the victim in a choke hold, dragged him
outside, and caused him substantial pain.”
Disgraced Niagara Falls police
officer Ryan Warme had ordered a woman out of her parked car and then
repeatedly groped her. Three years later he aided drug dealers while he was on
duty, and was sentenced to more than 13 years in prison.
There were also two cases
involving deputies at the Erie County Holding Center. Thomas Thompson deprived
the rights of an inmate by ordering him to be punched in the stomach because he
wouldn’t cooperate.
Deputy Josephine Cutolo was
convicted of approaching an inmate in handcuffs and activating a chemical spray
in his face.
After citing these cases,
Hochul reflected that “absolute power could corrupt, particularly in the hands
of somebody who is not appropriate for the job. Absolute power corrupts
absolutely.”
He says that in this most
recent case, if Buffalo Police officers crossed the line and used unnecessary