From [HERE] See Video [HERE] It looks like the Dallas police force is actually willing to police itself. Chief David Brown has fired officer Quaitemes Williams after he used excessive force against a suspect.
Williams went into a rage after suspect Rodarick Dasean Lyles resisted arrest and subsequently fell on the officer's arm. After Lyles was handcuffed, Williams sprayed mace in his face and kicked him in the head.
All this happened after Dallas police officer Hiram Soler stopped Lyles because the license plates did not match the vehicle he was driving. Not long after, Williams and another officer, Edward Cruz-Done, arrived on the scene.
It was then that they tried to arrest the suspect, who chief Brown called "a big man." Soler used a stun gun on Lyles in order to subdue him and cuff him. Williams hit him with his flashlight, and Cruz-Done took it away from him. After he was cuffed, Williams saw the opportunity to mace him in the face and kick him in the head.
Other officers had arrived on the scene, one of whom was Rickey Upshaw, who saw Williams commit the excessive force. At several points, he says, officers tried to get him to calm down, to no avail. Upshaw described Williams as "extremely angry and out of control."
Officers Disciplined
Officer Soler, the first officer on the scene, received an allegation of "inaccurate, false or improper information on a police report," according to NCBDFW. He is suspended for 10 days as a result of this. He has been on the force for nearly three years.
If Williams, the red-headed rookie, is found guilty, he could spend up to one year in jail.
Dallas has had several high-profile cases in the past few years, and it looks like Chief Brown is making some changes to ensure his officers are held to a higher standard. One change mandates rookies to be paired with veterans, in an effort to help them gain better insight into how to do their jobs.
We should applaud Officer Upshaw for coming forward to report Williams' force, and Chief Brown for refusing to cover it up. This could have been a bigger scandal but because of the Chief's actions, justice might just prevail. [MORE]