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https://news.yahoo.com/san-diego-police-investigating-officers-010232588.html
San Diego police investigating after officers seen repeatedly punching Black man during arrest
San Diego police said they have launched an internal investigation after two of their officers were recorded on video repeatedly punching a man during an arrest this week.
The witness who recorded the incident Wednesday said she recognized the man being hit in the head and legs as a "harmless" neighborhood vagrant. She said she couldn't believe what happened after officers investigated the man, whom they accused of urinating in public.
"I see him around all the time. He's harmless. He's just homeless," the woman, Nicole Bansal, 34, of La Jolla, said Thursday. "He's very easy to recognize, because he always has a big orange life vest on."
A police spokesman, Lt. Shawn Takeuchi, said Thursday that the Internal Affairs Unit is investigating and reviewing body camera video of the incident, which began about 9 a.m. when officers on patrol "witnessed a man urinating in public." They then tried to speak to the man. Police declined to name the man or say whether he is homeless.
"The man would not stop to speak with officers therefore an officer held the man to detain him," Takeuchi said in a statement. "Despite the officers repeatedly telling the man to 'stop resisting,' the man would not comply. One of the officers struck the man several times."
The man was taken into custody and taken to a hospital, police said. Once he was released from the hospital, he was booked on charges of resisting arrest and battery of a police officer.
The officers have not been publicly identified.
Bansal said she saw two officers get out of a police cruiser and approach the man, who is Black. She said she grew uneasy, took out her cellphone and recorded the encounter for more than 4 minutes from her driver's seat.
"They did not try to de-escalate. ... If they had just approached the situation calmly and tried to de-escalate, we wouldn't be here," she said. "That man didn't go out to take those guys down. The cops went there with that intention to take him down ... and the resulting fight is what ensued."
In Bansal's video, an officer in front of the man appears to be holding a stun gun, while a second officer grabs the man's arm from behind. The man, who has a vest around his neck, appears to flinch at the officer he is facing, while the officer almost simultaneously holsters a weapon.
That officer then lunges at the man, and a struggle ensues.
The video shows an officer punch the man in the face and head at least three times. The same officer also strikes him with his forearm. A second officer punches the man in his legs about a half-dozen times. Officers are heard repeatedly yelling "stop resisting" and "put your hands behind your back."
The man appears to punch an officer in the face and attempts a second punch but misses. He also yanks an item off the officer's belt and tosses it.
The struggle among the three men lasted about 2 minutes and 45 seconds before two more officers arrived to help with the arrest, the video shows.
A San Diego police de-escalation policy instituted last June requires officers to "try to establish an effective line of communication" while taking into account factors like age, medical or physical conditions and "known or perceived disabilities, including mental illness."
Bansal said what she witnessed shook her and amounted to criminalizing homelessness. When she stopped recording, she called her husband for support.
"These people are meant to serve and protect the community. They have a right to also serve and protect that man. He's a member of this community," Bansal said. "I've lost a lot of faith ... in the police as I see these videos on social media. But I still never thought I would be on the receiving end of witnessing something like this."
McCarthy, House GOP Signal Support for Police in Midst of Defunding Calls
Crime rates surge in cities that have cut police budgets
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) took aim at the "defund the police" movement Thursday, playing up GOP support for police officers after a year of unrest and rising rates of violent crime.
"Now more than ever, Congress must show our gratitude for the sacrifice and service of our fallen heroes," McCarthy said. "We should not talk about the defunding of the police. We should talk about providing what they need to protect us."
McCarthy addressed a small crowd gathered at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C., Thursday morning. He delivered the remarks shortly after arriving with a group of Capitol Police officers on a bike ride through the city to mark National Police Week. He said supporters of defunding the police are politicizing public safety and pledged to push back at efforts to cut police budgets.
"We know the issue before us, and we are ready and willing to act to support law enforcement, not just today but every day, and just as we have in the past," McCarthy said.
McCarthy told the Washington Free Beacon that law enforcement policy is not just a local issue, but carries national implications. He blamed Democrats in Congress for fanning the flames of defunding the police while stifling bipartisan attempts at criminal justice reform.
"National Police Week is an important time to honor the service and sacrifices of our men and women in uniform. Typically, the majority in Congress makes it a priority by inducing legislation that supports our law enforcement officers," McCarthy said. "This majority, however, decided to ignore it for obvious reasons."
Calls to "defund the police" have encountered resistance from policing advocates who point to rising crime rates in cities across the country. Oakland lawmakers announced plans to cut its annual police budget in half, but now face a more than 300 percent increase in homicides while firearm violence has doubled. Other cities including Austin, Minneapolis, and New York City have encountered similar spikes in crime in the face of efforts to reduce police budgets.
The rise in crime rates has caused some in the Democratic Party, including President Joe Biden, to advocate for increased funding for community policing. And after a weaker-than-expected showing in the House elections in 2020, moderate Democrats such as Rep. Abigail Spanberger (Va.) told other members of her party that they need to avoid using the phrase "defund the police."
McCarthy's comments come in the midst of political conflict over police reform on Capitol Hill. Sens. Tim Scott (R., S.C.) and Cory Booker (D., N.J.) appeared to be making progress toward a bipartisan policing reform bill but reportedly ran into a roadblock over the issue of ending qualified immunity. Rep. Karen Bass (D., Calif.) is insisting that the legislation include the elimination of the legal protection for police officers, which Scott said he adamantly opposes. Scott introduced police reform legislation last summer after the death of George Floyd, but the legislation was filibustered by Senate Democrats.
"Law enforcement and their families are American heroes. They deserve our appreciation and proud support," McCarthy told the Free Beacon. "That is what Republicans showed this week, and what Democrats were silent about."
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