Evening star., 1925-01-05
the case has been given wide pub
licity in the local newspapers

the case. has been given wide pub
licity in the local newspapers.
Davis Victim of Revenge.
"We heard a long list of witnesses
In this case and were convinced that
the complainant, Davis, was the vic
tim of a vicious and unlawful assault
by officers on duty at that precinct
the night of his arrest The evidence
showed that this assault lad nothing
whatever to do with any effort to
obtain a statement or confession from
the prisoner in. connection with any
charges against him, but that, as a
matter of fact, the assault was an
act of revenge for the assault made
by Davis on a police officer a little
earlier in the evening. Davis refers
to himself as a boy" for purposes of
gaining sympathy. AS a matter of
fact, he is an ex-pugilist. probably
the equal in physical strength of any
officer on the force. He is pugnacious
by instinct and has been the subject
of many complaints to the police.
There is no doubt in our minds but
that he made a cowardly and brutal
attack on an officer, possibly to i'm
press the police that he was a good
one to let alone, or possibly to dis
tinguish himself further in the eyes
of the gang which hung out at the
scene of the assault made by Davis.
1t appears he struck the officer down
from behind, without warning. and
continued to assault the officer long
after he had been rendered practi-
cally unconscious.
Prisoner Also Scored.
However vicious and unpardon-
able the assault of Davis may have
been, it was no lawful justification
for what followed upon his arrest
later that evening. When he was
taken a prisoner to No. he was
entitled to the protection of the Off
GERS on duty just as much as any
other prisoner. That they failed of
this duty there is no doubt in our
minds. From the evidence we be-
lieve Davis was taken to the No Z
station house that night shortly be.
fore IL o'clock, a well conditioned
man. and that he remained there in
keeping of the police until about $3.50
in the morning, when he was re-
moved to the hospital in a condition
approaching physical collapse We
believe that in the interval Of time
indicated he was assaulted by Off
GERS at No. with rubber hose,
blackjacks and possibly other blunt
instruments. The condition of his
body the following morning and for
days afterward exhibited the marks
Of such a beating. We have felt it
our duty, in view of all the evidence
before us in this case, to present in
dictmentS against two of the officers
believing the evidence against them
sufficient for court action We be-
lieve other officers were involved in
this matter, either as actual partici-
pants or having guilty knowledge of
the assault, but we do not feel their
identification from the evidence be-
fore us was sufficiently positive to
warrant their Indictment
Tried to Widen Probe.
ITO summarize, this investigation,
which has been carried on concur
rently with our regular duties as
members of the grand jury, has been
as broad and thorough as time has
permitted. We have inquired into
all the complaints which were
brought to our attention, numbering
ii in all. This number was later re-
duced to IL, when three individuals
declined to make statements to u.s.
! OF the IL, six alleged mistreatment
| for the purpose of obtaining confess
sions or statements of an incriminat-
| ing character from prisoners and the
remaining five alleged mistreatment,
| but not hird-degree methods with
respect to confessions or statements.
I'VE did not find any evidence to
| substantiate any charge or sus-
picion that third degree methods are
resorted to by the police of this city
! for the purpose of obtaining confess
| sions or discriminating statements,
| but we did find that prisoners had
been mistreated for other reasons
while in custody of the police, al
| though there is no evidence that
such misconduct is general, and the
number of officers thus affected is
relatively small, being about l per
cent of the total number"