If you saw a group of men beating another man, you'd probably call the police.
But what if the men doing the beating were police officers themselves?
In Springfield, you might run and get your video camera. That's what one unnamed bystander did on to record a Nov. 27 arrest on Rifle Street. The resulting grainy video-available for viewing at MassLive.com-captures the arrest that night of Melvin Jones III after a traffic stop. Jones, a Springfield resident, was later charged with drug possession and resisting arrest. Photos that accompany a detailed article by Patrick Johnson in today's Springfield Republican show the man with a badly swollen face. Jones' father told the Republican his son fractured facial bones, broke a finger and is now partially blind in one eye, the result of the beating he took from a police officer's flashlight.
The video also includes the voice of a bystander reporting that one of the cops, all of whom were white, called Jones, who is black, a "fucking nigger"
That officer with the flashlight was Patrolman Jeffrey Asher, who in 1997 was caught on another tape kicking a suspect named Roy Parker, after Parker had been subdued by other officers. Asher was cleared in court but was suspended for one year by the Police Commission. That suspension was later reduced to six months, and Asher received $20,000 in back pay.
Asher was also one of the officers involved in the 2004 case of Douglas Greer, a city principal who was allegedly beaten by police while suffering a diabetic seizure. The officers in that case were cleared by the Police Commission, although the city later paid a $180,000 settlement to Greer.
Patrick also reports that Asher faced another brutality complaint in 1994, which resulted in the city paying a $75,000 settlement to the man who filed that complaint.
Police Commissioner William Fitchett has ordered a criminal investigation of the latest incident. The department is also conducting an internal investigation, which District Attorney Bill Bennett has said he will review.
The incident will no doubt be on the minds of residents this evening at an open forum, held by the McKnight Neighborhood Council, on crime in the city. Fitchett and Mayor Domenic Sarno are both expected to attend the meeting, from 6-8 p.m. at the Rebecca Johnson School at 55 Catherine St.
