Birmingham police beating video

A group of Birmingham police officers beat an already-unconscious suspect with fists, feet and a billy club, a battering caught on videotape until a police officer turned off the patrol car camera.

Authorities believe the video, taken in January 2008 after a chase by several area law enforcement agencies ended when the fleeing suspect's van flipped, has been seen by numerous Birmingham officers and as many as a half-dozen supervisors over the past year.

But top city and police officials weren't made aware of the taped beating until they were contacted by the district attorney's office three months ago.

In fact, investigators say, the suspect, Anthony Warren, didn't even know he'd been beaten until the tape surfaced in March. Warren was ejected from the vehicle and knocked unconscious, and thought all of his injuries were sustained in the wreck.

Police Chief A.C. Roper called the video "shameful." Mayor Larry Langford said it was "disgusting."

After an internal investigation into the five officers shown in the video ended Monday, Langford and Roper are scheduled to announce disciplinary action this morning against those officers.

"Police brutality changed Birmingham," Langford said in an interview. "We are not going back."

Langford noted that Warren was "knocked out cold before they even got there. ... We are not going to tolerate that."

Roper said the video shamed the Police Department and the citizens served by the department.

"It was also troubling because these are seasoned, veteran officers," Roper said.

Roper said Tuesday there will be additional disciplinary action against supervisors who failed to report the incident to higher-ups. He has demanded the Internal Affairs Division track down every supervisor who saw the videotape, including those who have since retired.

The chief has also called in the Alabama Bureau of Investigation to probe possible criminal charges against the officers involved in the incident.

Four of the five officers worked in the department's Vice and Narcotics Unit. The other was a North Precinct patrolman.

The 22-minute chase on Jan. 23, 2008, involved nine police cars, and included officers from Birmingham, Hoover and the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department.

It began near the downtown Police Department, when a North Precinct officer tried to question Warren about suspicious behavior.

The video, taken from inside a Birmingham Police patrol car, follows the chase from downtown Birmingham on Interstate 59 to Trussville, down I-459 to Hoover and around the Riverchase Galleria, where on U.S. 31 the Ford van driven by Warren struck and injured a Hoover police officer on foot.

Throughout the chase, the video shows Warren weaving through heavy traffic, cutting off motorists and crossing multiple lanes at speeds Langford said exceeded 100 mph.

The chase ended on a ramp back onto I-459 when a police cruiser nudged the van, causing it to flip.

Warren, 38, was thrown out of the driver's side window, landing face down and apparently unconscious.

Officers converged on him, beating him even though he never moved. On the video, Warren makes no defensive moves as he is beaten with billy clubs, punched and kicked.

The beating on the video lasted 12 seconds before officers stepped back and the camera was turned off.

At the time of his arrest and beating, Warren, of Vestavia Hills, had a string of felony arrests and convictions dating back to 1989 for crimes including theft, receiving stolen property and escape.

UAB Hospital officials said Warren was released from the hospital five days after the incident.

He was booked into the Jefferson County Jail on Jan. 28, with his bond set at $1 million.

Warren was charged with attempted murder as a result of the chase but pleaded guilty in March 2009 to first-degree assault. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Top police officials became aware that the tape showed Warren being beaten the day Warren's trial was to begin. Because he pleaded guilty there was no trial. Prosecutors notified top police officials of the tape.

"No doubt this guy was a menace to society, but he didn't deserve what happened to him, bottom line," Roper said. "I fully support our officers and fully believe in officer safety, but this video speaks for itself."

Roper, who took office just a few months before the beating and since has made major changes in his command staff, emphasized that the incident is not reflective of the majority of Birmingham officers.

"We handle over 7,000 calls per week and receive very few use of force complaints because the vast majority are extremely professional in carrying out their duties," he said. "This tape shows a problem, and it's our job to fix it."

Langford said he intends to put video cameras in more police cars.

"We put cameras in the cars for their protection," he said of the officers. "These idiots were too stupid to know they would film them doing something wrong, too."

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