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Officer Suspended After Video Shows Him Strike Seated, Handcuffed Man

Tuesday, July 21, 2015 14:10

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(Before It's News)

It only took four and a half years for the Buffalo Police Department to take disciplinary action against Officer Anthony L. Porzio.

Porzio was captured on video striking a handcuffed man seated on the front hood of a police car in a December 11, 2010 incident that was uploaded to YouTube in 2012.

Now, following a disciplinary review, internal arbitrators have suspended Porzio for 30 days without pay.

The footage shows two female officers approach a male suspect with guns drawn before searching the man and handcuffing him behind his back. With the suspect seated on the hood of a patrol car, the officers continue to question him before Porzio is seen arriving on the scene.

The officer exists his police car, struts a bit, speaks to one of the officers and then approaches the detained suspect.

Porzio is seen on the footage briefly speaking to the man before, without warning, he strikes him in the face with his right forearm. The officer then commences to pointing his finger at the man in an apparent attempt to lecture him.

Watch the raw footage:

Officials say that the decision to discipline Porzio was delayed because the incident did not come to light until it was posted on social media three years ago.

They also contend that a backlog of other departmental disciplinary cases added to the postponement.

“Ninety-nine percent of our police officers do the right thing for the residents of this community,” Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said. “In those incidents where the right thing is not done our department has taken swift action. The person was suspended [and] the appropriate steps were taken by the department.”

Civil rights attorneys however, have called the punishment “insufficient.”

“The question is how do we keep these things from happening without just a slap on the wrist?” attorney Nan L. Haynes said. “If we are serious about putting an end to this kind of misconduct with police officers and sheriff’s deputies, the penalties have to be severe.”

Porzio will return to active duty next month.