At that point, the video shows Burke pepper spray him in the face.
“This person was obviously in a very deep sleep,” she said. “He was having a hard time coming out of it and was brutalized in response.” But during a subsequent interview with a watchdog agency investigator, Burke said he was concerned the man could have been armed – even though the original call describe him as unarmed.
The watchdog agency ultimately referred the case to Police Chief Bill Scott for action, concluding Burke acted with “unnecessary and excessive force.” Documents indicate that one concern raised by the Department of Police Accountability was that Burke was setting a bad example for the rookie officer, who police say has since left the department.
“I don’t think we could be as effective without transparency laws,” he added. “The result of that are records like this, that objectively and independently, anyone like yourself or the public, can log in to see what actually happened. Was there accountability? Did something happen?”
Good for himA
The video is from 2018 and punishment is from 2019. Why are you reporting on this now?
Watched the video. Not gonna lie, that's exactly how I secretly wish people using drugs on public transportation would be dealt with. But in this case, how did they know he was on drugs and not just narcoleptic or something? Should be disciplined but not fired.