NYPD investigates 2 officers after video shows cops hitting suspect on Brooklyn street
This is a screen grab from surveillance footage of a NYPD officer allegedly punching a suspect in Bedford-Stuyvesant in August 2014. Credit: DNAinfo New York
An NYPD spokesman Tuesday said the department was looking into the latest allegations of police brutality involving a video of a confrontation between officers and the public.
"It is being investigated internally," said the spokesman, who wasn't able to elaborate.
According to The Associated Press, the investigation was prompted by a security video that captured the arrest of a teen drug suspect on a Brooklyn sidewalk being struck by two police officers on Aug. 29.
The latest video comes against the backdrop of other taped encounters in which police are seen fighting with civilians.
On July 17, a recording showed Eric Garner being arrested by cops using a chokehold on a Staten Island street.
Other recordings have shown officers kicking and forcibly arresting people.
Last week, NYPD Commissioner William Bratton said during a speech to his top commanders and executive staff that he planned to remove cops from the department who were "brutal," corrupt, racist or incompetent.
The NYPD said Tuesday that one of the officers in the August incident has been suspended and the other put on desk duty, according to the AP.
The video shows a 16-year-old suspect running away from the officers. One catches up to the teen and hits him with a roundhouse punch. The suspect is seen raising his hands and backing away as a second officer appears to hit him again with his pistol.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday that he had not seen the video, but he had received a summary of what's in the video and that NYPD internal affairs is investigating.
"One officer's been suspended without pay, another's on modified duty. I think the commissioner has set a very clear standard and I commend him. I've said many times Commissioner Bratton is the finest police leader in America. He has the most extraordinary track record of driving crime down and keeping it low."
Bratton spoke "very powerfully last Thursday about standards he holds for the men and women of the NYPD," de Blasio said.
"When the commissioner sees something that he thinks is inappropriate, he acts very quickly and sends a message to everyone that we're holding a high standard here for how police officers interact with our communities," de Blasio said.
The video was posted Tuesday on the website DNAinfo.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
