ER doctors suspect excessive police force

icon gravatar.comwww.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-01-06-police-force_N.htm
sent by nasrudin since 318 days 16 hours 5 minutes, published about 318 days 13 hours 11 minutes
Nearly 98% of emergency room physicians report that they believe some patients were victims of suspected excessive force by police, a national survey concludes. Yet most of the suspected incidents went unreported because no laws require physicians to alert authorities. The survey of 315 physicians, contained in the Emergency Medicine Journal's January issue and based on 2002 data, is believed to be the first doctors' account of suspected police brutality, says H. Range Hutson, the lead author and assistant professor of emergency medicine at Harvard. Justice Department statistics show federal prosecutors are pursuing more abuse cases in which law enforcement officers allegedly used excessive force. Prosecutors filed 281 such cases from 2001 to 2007, up from 224 in the previous seven years. "The fear among police is that any kind of reporting will go against them," says University of Pittsburgh law professor David Harris, who analyzes police behavior. "It's time to put that notion aside."
tags: police state impunity
3 commentscategory: Progressive Issues karma: 223

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  1. #1    I suspect that many police would really like to see both a crackdown on abuse of authority by police and improvement in training. I think there must be many very professional police who are appalled at the unprofessionalism.
    written by epppie since 318 days 15 hours 52 minutesepppie
  2. #2    There will most likely be an exponential increase in brutality and excessive force from police forces across the nation...vast numbers of servicemen and women leave the military and find welcome jobs at police forces. They may be professional, but most have been in ultra-violent circumstances and of course highly trained to hurt and kill things.
    written by Stryker_CV since 318 days 15 hours 46 minutesStryker_CV
  3. #3    Anyone who doesnt believe we live under a police state has their head in the sand and maybe the mayonaise slipped off their bread !! i am sure the gestapo
    feel terrorists can be trained too. and yet they say they are there to "protect us from terrorism".balderdash !! and a lot of police brutality goes unreported.
    the system is broken.their cameras in their cars are to protect them and not us.
    yet they say it is for security. again balderdash ! i am not anti-cop but anti-brutal-system.
    written by Texasatheist2 since 318 days 12 hours 26 minutesTexasatheist2
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