Buffalo police say they are “investigating” an incident caught on video showing officers beating a handcuffed man as he pleads for mercy and apologizes for committing the traffic infraction that led to the beating.
But considering they are not releasing any other information, including the names of the officers involved, it’s pretty obvious they are resorting to the usual damage control and coverup that results in little, if any, disciplinary action.
Instead, Buffalo Police Commissioner Daniel Derenda told the media that “it’s going to take a little bit of time” to find out whether the cops were out of line.
But all it really takes is 80 seconds, the length of the video, which was first posted on Cop Block last week. The video unexplainably cuts off as soon as the beating gets even more vicious.
According to WGRZ:
The incident happened April 19 near Philadelphia and Ontario Street around 10:30pm. Derenda says the suspect was stopped by police for a vehicle and traffic infraction. He says about five-six officers responded to the scene.
An attorney who is representing the man has identified him as John Willet.
Derenda would not discuss specifics of the incident, nor would he comment on if the department had identified any of the officers, or their current status with the department. “It is going to take a little bit of time … investigators have been making progress since Friday.”
Multiple viewers posted links to this YouTube video on the WGRZ Facebook page over the weekend. The video shows uniformed police officers arresting a man. After the suspect is on the ground and apparently handcuffed, one of the police officers can be seen kicking the man and striking him with his hand. (Warning: some raw language is audible in the video.)
Derenda says he has spoken to the FBI, Erie County District Attorney Frank Sedita and US Attorney Bill Hochul regrading the incident “99.9% of our officers do the right thing,” Derenda says. “Bad actions by a few should not tarnish their (officers) badges.”
Bullshit. If that were the case, it wouldn’t have taken public outrage and media pressure to get Derenda to even acknowledge the incident.
Call Buffalo police at 716-851-4444.
