Six Philly Cops Charged With Robbery, Kidnapping, Extortion

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Philadelphia County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Stories of shakedowns, brutality, kidnapping, and theft have dogged a group of the city’s Narcotics Field Unit officers for nearly a decade. But despite multiple investigations, cases against them never stuck.

Federal prosecutors set out to change that Wednesday, laying out a sprawling racketeering case against six of the unit’s former members. The charges paint them as rogue cops running roughshod over the rights of their targets, confident that few would believe anyone who dared complain.

As the years went on, the 26-count indictment suggests, Officers Thomas Liciardello, Brian Reynolds, Michael Spicer, Perry Betts, Linwood Norman, and John Speiser became only more brazen.

Between February 2006 and November 2012, it states, they stole more than $500,000 in cash, drugs, and personal property – all while using extreme force, and falsifying police reports to downplay their takes.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20140731_Sources__6_cops_arrested_in_federal_corruption_probe.html#pWDPXOjjIRGx2K3V.99

Civil-Rights Lawsuits Against Philadelphia Police Spiked In 2013

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Philadelphia County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

ON A WARM night in Overbrook, Askia Sabur spotted his cousin outside a Chinese takeout and pedaled his bicycle over to chat.

Within minutes, Sabur lay bleeding and barely conscious on the sidewalk, as a crowd of cops – several with long histories of brutality complaints – beat him, opening gashes on his head that would require six staples to close.

In West Philadelphia, Stephen Moore was watching TV alone in his bedroom when his home-security system announced his front door was open.

Moore went to investigate, only to be pumped full of lead by a cop who started firing after entering the house without saying a word.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20140529_Civil-rights_lawsuits_against_police_spiked_in_2013.html#Z2gTxwAxgpOQ9olL.9

Probe Into Suspended Philly Detective Yields Human Remains

English: Map of Philadelphia County highlighting North Philadelphia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

NORTH PHILADELPHIA Crime-scene investigators recovered human remains in a North Philadelphia ravine Friday as part of an investigation into suspended Homicide Detective Ron Dove, who is suspected of lying about three killings and a man’s disappearance, according to law enforcement sources.

Police have been digging in the area since last month, after they found information on the veteran detective’s iPad concerning Reynaldo Torres, a North Philadelphia man who has been missing for a year and a half.

Investigators believe Dove concealed information about Torres’ disappearance and the slaying of Torres’ friend Melanie Colon from other detectives.

Around 2:30 p.m., investigators found what is believed to be a human jawbone in the trash-strewn ravine near Fourth and Westmoreland Streets, the sources said. Medical examiners were trying to identify the remains Friday night.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20131116_Probe_into_suspended_detective_yields_human_remains.html#QCq7foKh6AtFLvlA.99