After initially calling the shooting "appropriate and lawful," the Police Department issued a statement late Saturday saying that "the investigation showed that the subsequent shooting of Mr. Ferrell was excessive" and that Officer Kerrick "did not have a lawful right to discharge his weapon during this encounter".
Stories of excessive force complaints, officer related shootings, and general police dickery are becoming more and more commonplace in the United States.
The city has had 18 fatal shootings involving officers since 2010 and has been plagued by accusations of excessive force by officers.
Heather and Julio still want to see Chief Esposito and the other arresting officers in court, though, for an explanation of the officers' excessive force and unlawful arrest of the two.
Working in high poverty areas doesn't excuse officers who use excessive force, but police officers are dealt an unfair hand: communities with inadequate and unaffordable housing, few jobs and weak schools need more help than even the best-trained police service.
Attorney General John Ashcroft announced a new effort by the Department of Justice and Washington police to improve law enforcement and prevent the use of excessive force by officers.
The government, which has vowed not to meddle in the inquiry, said it welcomed the investigation but called the decision to arrest the officers excessive.
At the time, some of those held complained about excessive violence, saying officers punched some squatters and carried Taser guns even though no resistance was offered.
By elevating form over substance and ignoring the real-life circumstances of the police interrogation, the majority gave police officers excessive leverage and badly undermined the Fifth Amendment's protection.
Explosively, the IPCC revealed for the first time that South Yorkshire police, when contemplating the civil claims, recognised there had been some excessive violence by officers and perjury in the trial that followed, but covered it up.
