Original Article Brutal Truth Organizers look to highlight police violence by Megan Dobransky March 10, 2005 With highly publicized incidents of police brutality recently, local residents and activists are planning a local rally to coordinate with the Ninth Annual International Day Against Police Brutality. "Police brutality is a serious issue that plagues communities across the globe and the Phoenix area is no exception," said Bobby Dempsey, co-organizer of the rally. He highlights the gravity of the issue by pointing to last November when three people were shot by Mesa Police in the same week, the death of 15-year-old Mario Madrigal Jr., who was shot by Mesa Police two years ago and a string of various uses of excessive force by police departments all over the country that have received significant media attention. "We feel that public exposure to police violence is one of many methods of addressing the serious problem of police brutality," Dempsey said. "March 15 is a day in which individuals express their concern by publicly demonstrating and demanding that this violence end." Sergeant Randy Force, of the Phoenix Police Department, agrees that no citizen should stand for police brutality. "It's not a huge problem in that it happens very often," he said. "But any abuse is too much." Force said that Phoenix Police has very harsh consequences for any officer that uses excessive force. There is an internal board of three police officers and three civilians from the community. The board decides whether the officer did, in fact, use excessive force and passes its decision to the police chief. It's entirely up to the chief as to the final punishment for the officer, but the board influences the decision. Paralleled to the internal investigation, a criminal investigation is conducted by the Maricopa County Attorney's office. If a decision is made to prosecute, then the officer could face not only internal punishment through the police department, but also criminal charges as well. "It's really hard to get a police officer convicted of a crime," Force said. He credits this to the feeling of admiration for police officers that surged through the country after September 11. Still, an officer can be punished internally and not be convicted of any criminal charges. Sergeant Force also said that most police departments make it very easy for people to make a complaint against any officer and that is the first step in solving the problem. Another hotly debated issue that the International Day Against Police Brutality will confront is the use of Tasers. Most of the police departments in the Phoenix area do have and use Tasers. "Yes, people get hurt as a consequence of being Tased," Force said. "But it is preferable to getting shot." He said that the Phoenix Police Department has had no serious injuries or deaths and that overall they have had a good experience with the devices, which deliver an electric shock to people. Still, people are skeptical about the use of Tasers and how quickly officers seem to use them. "Although they are a less-than-lethal weapon and shootings have gone down, they are used at a startlingly higher rate than the use of lethal weapons, even though Tasers have been known to not only severely injure, but also kill," Dempsey said. It is because of concerns like this that people have organized the rally on March 15. "We intended to make this protest a form of not only exposure, but also education," Dempsey said, "We seek to inform the public of escalating police violence and promote methods of reversing the problem." Police brutality will no doubt remain a controversial issue. On one side, residents demand that the people who are selected to protect them do just that and not forget the ethics and standards that guide any police force. And on the other side, there are ordinary men and women, who put their lives on the line every day. "Excessive force happens because as carefully as we chose police officers, we are limited to members of the human race," Force said. DETAILS: Ninth Annual International Day Against Police Brutality Patriot's Square Park Central and Washington, Phoenix Tuesday, March 15, 4 p.m. Free