Police thought the man had been involved in a drug deal, but later determined they had the wrong guy.
Six Brooklyn North narcotics detectives, along with a captain and a lieutenant, were transferred to other precincts in Brooklyn and Queens after cellphone video showed two detectives brutally beating a man who turned out to be the wrong suspect.
The two detectives seen in the video were immediately placed on modified duty and stripped of their guns and badges.
The sergeant who was the immediate supervisor of the two detectives at the time of the arrest is now also on modified duty and stripped of his gun, badge, and all supervisory duties.
Witness-recorded cellphone video shows the detectives punching, kicking and shoving the man for several minutes, continuing even after he was handcuffed.
Witnesses said the officers never identified themselves or gave the man a chance to put his hands up, and that as soon as they entered a liquor store in Cobble Hill, they immediately started pummeling him.
The Chief of Department is now leading a 90-day review of the narcotics unit focusing in part on ensuring body-worn cameras are activated during apprehensions. The two detectives were not wearing theirs even though it is already department policy.
Activists who met with the police commissioner at NYPD headquarters on Monday morning are demanding more. They also want officers with more than 15 complaints to be subject to an independent audit.
"We need these officers to stand accountable, we need transparency and we need when they are found wrong to go to jail as one of us would if we abused another citizen as they abused the citizens of New York," said Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner.
An NYPD spokesperson says the commissioner met with one of the activists as part of an ongoing conversation with community members.
She calls the incident deeply disturbing.
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