Turn in police shooting case sparks outrage

State Senator Hardy Williams (D-Phila.) is mobilizing community leaders in an effort to set up a way of monitoring police activity and investigating charges of racism within the police force. The West Philadelphia legislator's actions come in the wake of public outrage surrounding a number of recent controversial incidents. The incidents include a grand jury's recommendation that a city police officer be charged with manslaughter rather than murder for shooting a prone suspect several times, as well as alleged harassment of City Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell by SEPTA officers. "Regardless of whether it's University of Pennsylvania police, state police or city police, the policy of violence and disrespect must end," Williams said. The decision by a Philadelphia grand jury to recommend manslaughter charges for Sgt. Anthony Brasten has fueled much of the public anger because some feel he should have been charged with murder. Charles Matthews was shot several times last summer at his home on 56th Street near Montrose after police responded to complaints of noise disturbance in the area. Although accounts of what took place differ substantially, when it was over Matthews lay dead. Brasten, a 23-year police force veteran who left the force last week, was charged after an investigation revealed he had fired 11 bullets into Matthews' back as the suspect lay motionless on his stomach. Jean Thomas, who works in Williams' office and lives in the area, said she believes the incident was "a racist thing." Not everyone shares that view, however. John Shaw, president of the Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police, called Brasten "heroic" for pulling a fellow policeman out of the line of fire during the incident. "As far as I'm concerned he's a hero," he said. "We're going to stand behind him one hundred percent." And last Wednesday, dozens of Brasten's supporters attended a rally for the former officer outside the FOP headquarters on Spring Garden Street. Brasten has been dismissed from the police force and is currently undergoing psychiatric treatment for severe depression following the incident, according to an article earlier this month in the Daily News. Because of that incident and others, Williams proposes setting up some kind of independent panel that would review cases of alleged police harassment and ensure that citizens' rights are not violated. Alan Fassman, an aide in Williams' office, said the measures were prompted by the "history of abuse of African-Americans by police officers in this city."