Alanta Police abuse caught on video tape Original Article Officer Caught On Tape Forcing Woman To Ground Eyewitnesses Say Woman Was Yelling An incident involving a police officer forcing a woman to the ground is caught on tape, ABC reported. It all began when a police officer confronted a woman at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the worlds busiest airport. Many were wondering if the officer used excessive force, but in court on Monday, the district attorney and the judge agreed to drop the charges after reviewing the videotape and deciding that the force was necessary because the vehicle's driver, Dietrich-Barnes, did not obey a direct command from the officer. Images: Charges Dropped In Court What Happened? On Nov. 2, Dietrich-Barnes was waiting to pick up her mother, ABC reported. After circling the airport several times, she stopped to check her mother's itinerary. A few moments later, Officer Terence Alexander told her to move, ABC reported. As she backed up her sport utility vehicle her side mirror bumped the officer. He quickly reacted by opening the car door, taking Dietrich-Barnes out of the car and forcing her to the ground, where she was handcuffed, ABC reported. Seven police officers came to the aid of Alexander before Dietrich-Barnes was arrested. She publicly complained that Alexander was too rough with her, a charge his lawyer disputes. His attorney, Lecora Bowen, released the following statement: Dietrich-Barnes began to back up her SUV and struck Officer Alexander with enough force to injure his body and destroy his radio and then refused to get out of the car after more than four commands. Eyewitnesses report that Dietrich-Barnes was confrontational with the officer. One witness said she backed into the officer. Another witness said, "I heard the woman screaming at the officer with the driver's door open. He was talking to her calmly, but I couldn't hear him over her yelling." Copyright 2004 ABCNEWS Internet Ventures. http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/1204/04airport.html Group accuses mayor of bias in airport probe By TY TAGAMI The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 12/03/04 A small group of Cobb County activists is claiming that Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin displayed a racial bias after a recent incident involving a black officer accused of excessive force against a white patron of Atlanta's airport. Three members of the Marietta-based human-rights group New Order traveled to City Hall on Friday after hearing about Franklin's request for a review of all police brutality incidents reported at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport during her three years in office. The three men, who are black, wanted to know why she hadn't asked for a citywide review earlier. They noted that Franklin was responding to a well-publicized incident on Nov. 2, when a black officer named Terence Alexander pulled Diana Dietrich-Barnes of Stockbridge from a sport utility vehicle and threw her to the pavement. The scene was caught on airport security cameras. Gerald Rose, the founder and chief executive of the group, which has a dozen members, said there had been numerous accusations of white officers manhandling blacks in Atlanta since Franklin took office. Franklin's office did not respond to the group's claim Friday. Reported By: Jennifer Leslie Web Editor: Manav Tanneeru Last Modified: 12/2/2004 6:23:45 PM Three more people are coming forward to claim an Atlanta police officer was overly aggressive when he arrested them at the airport. Officer Terence Alexander is currently the focus of two internal affairs investigation. One involves a controversial arrest in early November at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. [See Related Story] In that arrest, Diana Dietrich Barnes accused Officer Alexander of using unnecessary force when he arrested her near the baggage claim area outside Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Dietrich-Barnes claims Officer Alexander slammed her to the ground after asking her to move her SUV from a no parking area. Last week, 11Alive News showed the first airing of surveillance videotape of the Nov. 2 arrest. After watching the video, Alexander's supervisors allowed Dietrich-Barnes to go free without pressing charges. The other investigation involves a case dating back three years. Attorney Steve Zaloudek says he had a run-in with Officer Alexander three years ago when his sister-in-law dropped off him and his wife at the Atlanta airport. "I went around to the back of the car to pull a bag out of the trunk. While I was doing that, I heard this officer, who I later found out was Officer Alexander, yelling and screaming at our car from the median area. And I don't remember exactly what he was saying but it was something to the effect of you need to move the car, Zaloudek said. "I simply said to the officer, The sign says drop-off zone. He responded to me and said, What did you say to me? He was very aggressive and I said the sign says it's a drop-off zone, he added. Zaloudek says he began walking to the terminal and away from the officer, who continued yelling at him. "Right before I got to the curb I felt someone grab my arms and put them behind my back and tell me to drop my bags and he applied handcuffs to me, he said. Then he says the officer turned to his wifeJanu Sivanesan -- who is also an attorney. I said, Oh my God, this is crazy, you can't do this, And he came back and that's when he grabbed my arms behind my back, Sivanesan said in a telephone interview. Then he twisted them up over my head and iIstarted crying involuntarily because the pain was so bad." "This is when it became brutal and abusive, Zaloudek said. Sivanesan was handcuffed, as well, along with her sister who ran up to see what was happening. Police then took all three to a holding cell at the airport where they were eventually released with a copy of the charges. "My wife and sister had three charges and I had two. The additional charge they had was the officer claimed they put him in fear for his safety, Zaloudek said. In a police incident report, Officer Alexander wrote that Zaloudek's wife was yelling and cursing before she approached him aggressively and bumped his chest with her body. He also wrote that her sister struck him in the chest - claims that both women deny. "The charges against us were laughable to say the least, Zaloudek said. In five years with the department, Alexander has been suspended five times. Officer alexander's attorney Lecora Bowen had no comment on the new claims, but she did question why it took so long for a complaint to be filed. Zaloudek said he waited until June of this year to file the complaint because he thought disorderly conduct charges against him, his wife and his sister-in-law were dismissed. Zaloudek says the city solicitor assured him all the charges were dropped, but those charges have not been taken out of the court computer system.. Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin has asked the police chief and airport general manager to review any police brutality allegations during her three years in office. http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/nation/10323146.htm?1c Posted on Thu, Dec. 02, 2004 Police brutality probe launched in Atlanta Associated Press ATLANTA - Mayor Shirley Franklin ordered an inquiry into claims of police brutality at Atlanta's main airport, following broadcast of a video showing an officer shoving a woman to the ground. Any brutality claims made during Franklin's three years in office will be reviewed by the police chief and the general manager of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Franklin said. Inquiry results will be made public, she said. The order came after news reports of the Nov. 2 confrontation outside an airport terminal. Officer Terence Alexander was trying to arrest Diana Dietrich-Barnes on a traffic violation as she dropped off her mother at the airport. A security video shows him pushing her to the ground. "As the mayor of a big city, I am always concerned about allegations of police brutality," Franklin said. He charged Dietrich-Barnes with illegal parking, battery and obstruction, but the charges were dropped after his supervisors reviewed the videotape. The officer, who said the woman injured him, then tried to get felony charges filed against her in Clayton County, where the airport is located, but a magistrate refused Monday to hear the case. Alexander is on medical leave, and an internal investigation is being conducted by police. The officer has been reprimanded or suspended without pay 13 times since 2001 for violating departmental rules, police said. Airport General Manager Ben DeCosta said confrontations between police and the public are rare, considering how many people move through the busy airport. On the Web: Mayor: http://www.atlantaga.gov/Mayor Police: http://www.atlantapd.org Airport: http://www.atlanta-airport.com