Police misconduct increasing

Federal prosecutors are targeting a rising number of law enforcement officers for alleged brutality, Justice Department statistics show. The heightened prosecutions come as the nation's largest police union fears that agencies are dropping standards to fill thousands of vacancies and "scrimping" on training. Cases in which police, prison guards and other law enforcement authorities have used excessive force or other tactics to violate victims' civil rights have increased 25% (281 vs. 224) from fiscal years 2001 to 2007 over the previous seven years, the department says. During the same period, the department says it won 53% more convictions (391 vs. 256). Some cases result in multiple convictions.

Federal records show the vast majority of police brutality cases referred by investigators are not prosecuted. University of Toledo law professor David Harris, who analyzes police conduct issues, says it will take time to determine whether the cases represent a sustained period of more aggressive prosecutions or the beginnings of a surge in misconduct.

The cases involve only a fraction of the estimated 800,000 police in the USA, says James Pasco, executive director of the National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), the nation's largest police union. Even so, he says, the FOP is concerned that reduced standards, training and promotion of less experienced officers into the higher police ranks could undermine more rigid supervision. "These are things we are worried about," Pasco says.

For the past few years, dozens of police departments across the country have scrambled to fill vacancies. The recruiting effort, which often features cash bonuses, has intensified since 9/11, because many police recruits have been drawn to military service.

In its post-Sept. 11 reorganization, the FBI listed police misconduct as one of its highest civil rights priorities to keep pace with an anticipated increase in police hiring through 2009. The increasing Justice numbers generally correspond to a USA TODAY analysis of federal law enforcement prosecutions using data compiled by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. Those data show 42 law enforcement prosecutions during the first 10 months of fiscal year 2007, a 66% increase from all of fiscal 2002 and a 61% rise from a decade ago.

David Burnham, the co-founder of the TRAC database, says prosecutions appear to be increasing, but "more important" are the numbers of cases prosecutors decline. Last year, 96% of cases referred for prosecution by investigative agencies were declined. In 2005, 98% were declined, a rate that has remained "extremely high" under every administration dating to President Carter, according to a TRAC report. The high refusal rates, say Burnham and law enforcement analysts, result in part from the extraordinary difficulty in prosecuting abuse cases. Juries are conditioned to believe cops, and victims' credibility is often challenged. "When police are accused of wrongdoing, the world is turned upside down," Harris says. "In some cases, it may be impossible for (juries) to make the adjustment."

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Medical school grad's suit accuses S.F. police of roughing him up

A recent graduate of UCSF Medical School has filed a $1 million federal civil rights suit accusing San Francisco police of roughing him up and injuring his shoulder as he was tinkering with a car near an auto repair shop. The confrontation forced Edward Yamoah, who is now a resident intern at a Houston-area hospital, to undergo surgery on a torn rotator cuff, said the suit filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. "This is a wonderful man who is doing everything possible to be a good citizen, and yet he gets treated in the most outrageous manner possible," Yamoah's attorney, John Burris of Oakland, said Tuesday. "He was dehumanized, and his career as a surgeon was really threatened."

A city attorney's spokesman was unavailable for comment Tuesday night. The city has not yet responded in court to the suit, which names Police Chief Heather Fong and officers Kevin Healy, 36, Jason Kristal, 28, Robert Doss, 49, and Jon Kasper, 34.

Yamoah, 33, said he had a flashlight and was putting oil into the engine of a used Acura on the night of Dec. 28, 2006, near Emerald Auto near 12th Avenue and Judah Street in the city's Inner Sunset district. The car had been towed to the shop after hours with the owner's permission, and Yamoah had hoped to use the car for spare parts to repair a second vehicle, the suit said. As Yamoah was working on the Acura, Healy and Kasper got out of a police car and told him to "shut up" after he greeted them, the suit said. It wasn't clear why the officers chose to approach Yamoah.

Yamoah told the officers that the Acura was his car and that he lived nearby, but Kasper pushed him against the vehicle and "applied a painful amount of pressure" to his elbow, the suit said. The pushing was allegedly so severe it caused an ink-stamp in Yamoah's shirt to break. Yamoah yelled that the officer was hurting him but got no response, the suit said. Without provocation, Kasper kicked Yamoah in the right leg and told him that he was "just doing my job" when Yamoah asked why he was kicked, the suit said.

Kristal arrived on scene and punched Yamoah in the chest with a closed fist, the suit said. Yamoah asked why he did this, and Kristal replied, "because I want to," the suit said. Police walked Yamoah to a nearby home that he was moving out of and let him go when a roommate told them that he recognized Yamoah, the suit said.

Doss falsely stated in his police report that Yamoah was "litigious, threatening and hysterical," the suit said. Doss wrote that Yamoah "wanted to speak with his attorney because he wanted to get paid for this incident," the suit said. Yamoah denied making such a statement.

Yamoah was not charged with a crime. The suit alleges assault, battery, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence. The suit also alleges that the officers were motivated by "racial prejudice" because Yamoah is African American.

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