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| NEWS > 13 January 2010 |
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 Article sourced from
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Boston Globe
13 January 2010
This article appeared in the above title/site.
To view it in its entirity click this link.
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Springfield Police Department,
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FBI enters probe of police bea
SPRINGFIELD, Mass.—The FBI has launched a preliminary investigation into allegations that a white police officer beat a black suspect with a flashlight during a traffic stop, leaving the man partially blind in one eye.
Mayor Domenic Sarno and Police Commissioner William Fitchet said Wednesday that the city had received notification from the FBI about the probe.
"The City and the Springfield Police Department will cooperate fully with any and all investigations regarding this incident," Sarno said in a statement.
Police are also conducting criminal and internal investigations into the Nov. 27 arrest. The FBI planned to defer any action until after the local investigations were completed, according to the city's statement.
Patrolman Jeffrey Asher was seen on video shot by a bystander repeatedly hitting Melvin Jones with the flashlight during the incident. Three other police officers were on the scene.
An arrest report stated that Asher struck Jones after he grabbed another officer's gun during a struggle with police.
Jones was charged with drug possession and resisting arrest. His family has stated that the beating left him with a partially blind eye, fractured bones in his face and a broken finger.
Asher, a 16-year veteran of the force, was suspended for six months without pay in 1997 when another video showed him kicking a black suspect who had already been subdued by two other officers.
The Springfield police union has defended Asher, saying he was justified in using force and that racism had nothing to do with the incident.
"Force was used during Mr. Jones' arrest because he resisted, not because he is black," said Joe Gentile, president of Local 364 of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, in a statement.
People who resist arrest are sometimes "desperate enough to kill," and that the amount of force required by police is a "subjective matter," Gentile said.
He also said the cell phone video was of poor quality and did not reveal what was said during the altercation, what dangers the officers believed they faced, or on what part of the body Jones was struck by the flashlight.
In the aftermath of the incident, the mayor and police commissioner announced that a civilian review would be formed to investigate future citizen complaints of police misconduct.
The Springfield branch of the NAACP said the incident has raised troubling questions and that the group expected to have access to the investigations and findings.
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