BUFFALO,
N.Y. -- Three Buffalo police officers have been charged with using excessive
force and conspiring to use excessive force while acting as a law officer.
"I would say that these officers have a lot to think about. These are
serious charges. They all have decent lawyers. They're presumed to be innocent
unless proven guilty," said John Elmore.A grand jury returned a five-count
indictment last week against Greg Kwiatkowski, Raymond Krug, and Joseph Wendel.
The indictment stems from an incident that took place on May 31, 2009,
involving four teens. "The allegations here are these 17-year-old
teenagers were arrested. At least one of the police officers used a BB gun and
shot one of the youths in the leg. And while the youths were in the police car,
they were punched and then taken to the police station, where they were subject
to further physical abuse," said Elmore.Elmore is no stranger to police
brutality cases. He once served on a panel created by the state attorney general
to hear claims of excessive force and police misconduct in Niagara Falls. He
says for the grand jury to return an indictment means there's strong evidence
to support the allegations. But getting a conviction could still be a
challenge."One of the difficulties in prosecuting a police officer is
what's known as the ‘blue wall of silence.’ There's an unwritten rule among
police officers in many police departments that a police officer will not
testify against another police officer accused of wrongdoing or
misconduct," said Elmore.Elmore says the one thing that has broken that
wall is technology. A cell phone recording of a Buffalo police officer hitting
and kicking a suspect resulted in several officers being suspended and one
officer resigning earlier this spring. Elmore says these officers are the
exception, not the rule."Ninety-nine percent of our police officers are
good, hard-working police officers that do their job to protect and to serve
the public, and those that don't do that and those that harm the public violate
peoples' civil rights. They deserve and should be prosecuted," said
Elmore.The three officers are scheduled to be arraigned Monday
