On the force for less than 3 years, the two Philadelphia officers charged with assaulting Najee Rivera each had a sustained complaint for violating use of force policy.
—
I found out yesterday that both Philadelphia police officers charged with assaulting Mr. Najee Rivera on May 29th, 2013, had seven complaints filed against them, including one sustained complaint for violating the use of force policy.
In an exclusive interview with Techbook Online, Mr. Kelyvn Anderson, Executive Director, Philadelphia Police Advisory Commission, tells me that Officer Sean McKnight, who worked in the 25th District, joined the force in 2007 and racked up seven complaints from 2010-2012, but only two of the seven were sustained. Also working in the 25th District, Officer Kevin Robinson joined the force in 2008, and his first complaint came in 2010, in an incident that also involved Officer McKnight.
“Both these officers came onto the force and within 2-3 years already had a sustained complaint for violating use of force policy. They had enough complaints that I would’ve been paying attention to them,” said Mr. Anderson, who informed me that the numbers don’t reflect internal complaints and actions taken by supervisors.
Don’t like ads? Become a supporter and enjoy The Good Men Project ad free
Mr. Anderson, who’ll be among the panelists lined up for the Philly After Ferguson town hall next Wednesday in University City, says the district attorney and the police commissioner played this case right by the books and the public should be reassured that the system is working, though, admittedly, there are still some maladies and ambiguities, like the officer-involved shooting death of Mr. Brandon Tate-Brown and the Department of Justice’s silence on the Collaborative Reform Review of the Philadelphia Police Department, which was supposed to be made public to Philadelphians in late December.
And despite even his own critiques of Commissioner Ramsey—particularly his lack of willingness to release certain information and data sets around officer-involved shootings—Mr. Anderson believes Commissioner Ramsey and District Attorney Seth Williams are being fair in prosecuting police misconduct and ridding the department of corrupt individuals.
“When I go to the DA’s website, I see quite a number of things he’s done. In the extreme circumstance when an officer needs to be removed, they’ve (Seth Williams and Charles Ramsey) done a good job,” Mr. Anderson said.
Mr. Anderson wants to be clear that no one in City government—from him to the Police Commissioner—tolerates or condones the misconduct of police officers and that every incident like the one involving Officers Robinson and McKnight informs the department’s hiring practices, though the standards already in place are pretty high, suggested Mr. Anderson.
Thanks for reading. Until next time, I’m Flood the Drummer® & I’m Drumming for JUSTICE!™
—
Photo: AP/File
I’m looking for a news feed but know first hand of a situation in Westmont, a western suburb of Chicago where a guy just won a police brutality case against the police. I know firsthand because I know him and work with his mom. White suburb, white victim.
Quick follow up is I don’t understand why I’m having a hard time finding news coverage. I do know area FOX did interview him.