Abstract:
The Los Angeles County district attorney's office and FBI are investigating a videotaped incident in which a white Long Beach policeman, Dickey, appeared to shove a black man's (Jackson's) face into a plate glass window after a routine traffic stop. Although Dickey's attorney admitted that the officer was wrong to spice his orders to Jackson with obscenities, Jackson was booked for suspicion of using offensive language as well as challenging an officer to fight and obstructing arrest. The assistant district attorney said that their office has taken on four to six charges of police brutality a year.
Introduction:
The Los Angeles County district attorney's office and the FBI are investigating 
a videotaped incident in which a white Long Beach police officer appeared to 
shove a black man's face into a plate glass window after a routine traffic 
stop. 

The Long Beach City Council voted Tuesday to ask the district attorney's office 
to launch an independent investigation of the Saturday night incident, which 
was secretly recorded by an NBC television crew. 

But Assistant Dist. Atty. Curt Livesay said the office was already looking into 
the case at the request of the Long Beach police chief. 

"We agreed to review the matter to determine whether a criminal investigation 
is appropriate," Livesay said, adding that his office hopes to decide by Friday 
whether a full-fledged investigation is merited. If such an inquiry reveals 
that brutality was involved, either misdemeanor or felony charges could be 
filed against the officer, he said. 

The FBI has also been called in to determine whether the civil rights of the 
man who was arrested -- Don Jackson, a sergeant on administrative leave from 
the Hawthorne Police Department -- were violated during his altercation with 
two Long Beach officers on Pacific Coast Highway, spokesman Fred Reagan said. 
He refused to say who had requested the federal investigation. 

"We've had an allegation of a civil rights violation and we opened a ticket on 
it this morning," he said. 

Jackson and Jeff Hill, an off-duty federal corrections officer, donned dirty 
old clothes and drove into Long Beach in a rented 12-year-old sedan Saturday 
night as the television crew followed behind in a van. The two men said they 
wanted to demonstrate a long-standing problem of abuse of minority group 
members by Long Beach police officers. 


Full Tape Withheld 

While edited portions of the tape have been broadcast, Long Beach officials 
have said they need to see everything filmed by the NBC crew to move ahead with 
their own investigation of the incident. NBC officials have declined to release 
the full tape, saying that it would violate company policy to release unedited 
footage. 

A Long Beach assistant city attorney said his office is considering legal 
action to obtain the tapes. 

Although Long Beach Mayor Ernie Kell told NBC's "Today Show" on Tuesday morning 
that the two police officers had been suspended, Police Chief Lawrence L. 
Binkley said that the officers, Mark Dickey and Mark Ramsey, will remain on 
duty at this stage of the investigation. They have, however, been reassigned 
from patrol duty to the detective bureau, he said. 

Kell admitted later Tuesday that he was in error in his "Today Show" comments, 
but said he would favor firing the officers if it is proved that they used 
brutal tactics in dealing with Jackson. 


Called 'Unfortunate' 

At Tuesday's City Council meeting, the mayor called the incident "an 
unfortunate set of circumstances. We will not tolerate this. . . . We need to 
find out what happened here and make sure it never happens again." 

An investigation by the district attorney will add credibility to the city's 
own consideration of the brutality allegations, Kell said. 

It is not unusual for the district attorney to look into allegations of police 
brutality, Livesay said, estimating that the office takes on four to six such 
cases a year. 

In determining whether a police officer has used excessive force, prosecutors 
have to decide whether the officer acted "without lawful necessity" in 
assaulting or beating a suspect. He declined to detail what would constitute 
unnecessary force, saying that it would be a "judgement call" by prosecutors 
based on the actions and statements of the police officers and suspects, and 
the injuries suffered. 

Attorney Michael Hannon, who is representing the two officers, said Tuesday 
that he will contest any allegations of brutality. He said the officers were 
"set up" by black activists intent on creating a scene with police. 


Police Have No Comment 

In a statement released a day after the incident, Long Beach police said that 
Jackson's and Hill's sedan was pulled over for weaving across the center line 
of the highway. They denied that Jackson's head was shoved through the window, 
saying that his elbow smashed the glass. On Monday, however, department 
officials stopped releasing that statement and said they would have no comment 
pending the outcome of their internal investigation. 

A spokesman for the Police Misconduct Lawyer Referral Service, a nonprofit 
group that investigates citizen complaints against law enforcement agencies, 
said the televised tape makes it clear that Dickey pushed Jackson's head and 
right arm through the window. Spokesman David Lynn maintained that Hill, the 
driver of the car, was not violating any traffic laws when he was stopped. 

The group also complained that Dickey also used a string of obscenities in his 
conversation with Jackson, who was booked for suspicion of using offensive 
language, challenging an officer to fight and obstructing arrest. He was 
released on his own recognizance pending a Jan. 25 court appearance. 

Clarence Smith, the only black member of the Long Beach City Council, said he 
found the tape "shocking." But other city officials argued that the television 
footage was not necessarily conclusive because it showed the altercation from 
only one angle and showed Jackson and Dickey only from the waist up. 

"It's real hard to tell what's happening below the waist," said Councilman Evan 
Anderson Braude, maintaining that it is vital that NBC release the rest of its 
videotapes. 


Concedes Error by Officer 

Attorney Hannon conceded that Dickey was wrong to spice his orders to Jackson 
with obscenities, but he said the cursing was evidence of discourtesy, rather 
than racism. 

He said the two officers saw the car weave within the traffic lane and wanted 
to check the driver for drunkenness. Although the two men in the car were 
black, driving an old car and dressed in shabby clothes, they were not stopped 
for those reasons, the lawyer said, adding that they were in a section of the 
city where their appearance was not unusual. 

"Obviously, they are not telling the truth when they say they did nothing to 
bring attention to themselves," Hannon said of Jackson and Hill. 

He said the two police officers become concerned for their safety when Jackson 
suspiciously exited the car as soon as it stopped, then immediately started 
arguing when Dickey ordered him to submit to a search for weapons. 


'Proper Police Tactics' 

"The officer, using proper police tactics, pushed him up (against) the side of 
a building and unfortunately, the window broke," Hannon said. "I'm sure neither 
Mr. Jackson nor the officer wanted the window to break, because it was 
dangerous." 

He said Jackson had an eye for the camera when he screamed as Dickey moved him 
over to the police cruiser for arrest. 

He said Dickey, who has been on the police force for four years, had one 
earlier complaint about his conduct, which was investigated by the department 
and determined to be unfounded. 

