PHILLY.COM: Preparing for a federal review of police use of deadly force, the Philadelphia police department’s command staff met this week with Department of Justice officials in Washington D.C. The meeting came a day after a similar DOJ review in Miami found a “pattern or practice” of excessive force that led to a high number of shootings by police. As a result of the two year investigation, a federal judge was appointed this week to enforce sweeping institutional changes within the Miami police department. In an interview Thursday, Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey provided some insight about the breadth of the upcoming federal review: A city police officer will be assigned full-time to handle the paperwork generated. The Miami review was prompted by 33 police shootings that occurred from 2008 through 2011 – a span of three years. In Philadelphia, 52 suspects were shot by police in 2012 alone, a 50 percent increase over the previous year when police shot 35 people. Following a Philly.com report published in May, Ramsey said he invited the DOJ to review his department’s policies and protocols. Said Ramsey at the time: “When you have as many as we’ve had, it gets people wondering if they were all justified.” MORE
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