Peekskill police officers union defends officer who was recorded making violent arrest
The video shows an officer tasing and kicking Fields several times while Fields is on the ground, yelling at Fields to lay face down.
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The Peekskill police union said the officer who made a violent arrest Dec. 3 that was captured on camera has the union's "unequivocal support," as the Westchester District Attorney's office begins an investigation into the incident.
In a statement emailed Monday by its attorney, the Peekskill Police Benevolent Association said that just before someone started recording an incident involving a city officer and a man on the ground, the man had his pants down, was making irrational statements, and was resisting arrest.
Police said concerned citizens directed a patrol officer to Riverfront Green Park due to "frightening behavior," by the man, who has since been identified by family and friends as Damar Fields, 42, a father of two of Peekskill.
The video shows an officer tasing and kicking Fields several times while Fields is on the ground, yelling at Fields to lay face down.
"Get on your f—-ing face," the officer said several times.
"The officer used only the force necessary to effect the arrest," the PBA's statement read. "Indeed the male [on the ground] was only fully restrained when several other officers arrived and assisted in the arrest."
Field's mother, Barbara Simpson, told News 12 her son has serious emotional and mental issues that police did not consider even though they had dealt with Field several times prior.
"This has taken a real toll on me to watch my son being assaulted like that," Simpson said in an interview on Facetime. "To treat another human being like this, his job needs to be taken."
Fields's family plans to take legal action.
The officer who initially responded has been placed on administrative leave while the DA's office investigates.
"We're ready to march," local civil rights activist Darrell Davis said Monday in a Zoom interview, "to picket."
Davis is organizing Fields's family and friends from the local adult shelter where he often stays to keep a light on the incident and to tell the community about Fields's previous encounters with Peekskill police.
"The police know him. They call him by name," Davis said. "They've had interactions with him. They know he has mental health challenges. At any point, they could have just backed up."
The first protest Davis is organizing happens at 1 p.m. Saturday at the park's gazebo.
Davis says Fields was released from the hospital, and is recovering.
Police have not yet disclosed what charges Fields might be facing as a result of the incident.
The Peekskill City court clerk said late Monday, she still had not received any charging documents from the police department.
