New York City isn't the only place where stop-and-frisk practices are occasionally enter barbaric territory. The Philadelphia Police Department has some explaining to do after the emergence of a video showing two aggressive officers harassing three men in North Philadelphia.
The highlight of the video: "You don't say 'Hi' to strangers. Not in this neighborhood."
In a video dated Sep. 27, Officer Phillip Nace and another officer can be seen approaching two men who reportedly spoke to a third on the street. After Officer Nace's aforementioned advice (if you can call it that), the police pushed one of the men against their vehicle. The other man, who was recording the encounter on his phone, was ordered to put the device away. Fortunately, he kept the cameras rolling:
"Don't f---ing fight . . . we'll kick your ass, too," Nace said. He threatened the other man, saying he would "split your wig open."
The video lit a flame under the American Civil Liberties Union. "This is exactly what the city of Philadelphia says its cops don't do," state chapter senior staff attorney Mary Catherine Roper told the Philadelphia Daily News. "The only way we stop it from happening is if the Police Department acknowledges that it does happen and takes steps to root it out."
Per a police spokesperson, an internal affairs investigation is underway.
[via Philadelphia Daily News]
