From [HERE] As the sun beat down on the Saturday afternoon of July 7, a group of about 90 marchers made their way down Church Avenue in East Flatbush toward the 67th Precinct headquarters. “No justice, no peace,” they loudly chanted. “No racist police.”

The men, women and children wore T-shirts decorated with photos of Shantel Davis, a young woman shot and killed by a 67th Precinct officer less than a month earlier, on June 14. Due to the intense heat, many marchers fanned themselves with the small picket signs they carried. “WANTED FOR RACIST MURDER,” the signs read, accompanied by the images of three men — George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watchman accused in Trayvon Martin’s death; New York Police Department officer Richard Haste, who is at the center of a controversial shooting of a Bronx suspect; and Narcotics Detective Phillip Atkins, who was involved in the Davis incident.

Atkins, known around the neighborhood as “Bad Boy,” was the officer who shot Davis. During his career, he has often faced allegations of having used excessive force. That history, combined with the fact that the N.Y.P.D. has not yet met with East Flatbush’s community leaders to discuss improving police-community relations, has led to a series of weekly protest marches every Saturday since June 16.

Records show that Atkins has been a defendant in six federal lawsuits. A law-enforcement official said he also is the subject of a number of misconduct complaints lodged with the Civilian Complaint Review Board. An agency spokeswoman said the records aren't public, and the disposition of the complaints couldn't be determined.

• In the case that prompted the largest known settlement, Vincent Burgess said he was waiting in a Brooklyn lobby in March 2003 when Detective Atkins hit him with a walkie-talkie and arrested him without cause. Charges of obstruction of justice, resisting arrest and possession of marijuana were later dropped. The city settled the case for $50,000 in June 2005. "I think he's a bully," said Mr. Burgess, now 29.
• The city settled another false-arrest lawsuit in March for $20,000, although the complaint doesn't spell out Detective Atkins's alleged role in that case.
• The owner of a Brooklyn business received a $15,000 settlement in 2008 after claiming Detective Atkins and others illegally searched his business and car, records show. 
• Margaret Ferguson, then 39, lost her job after Detective Atkins arrested her in July 2007 for possession of marijuana, said her attorney. The charges were later dropped, and the case was settled for an unspecified amount. The two other lawsuits are pending, records show.  [MORE]