Police Officer charged with beating Iraq War Vet

Walter Harvin ended up beaten while trying to get into his own apartment building. He ended up homeless after this and already had PTSD. When will police officers ever understand what PTSD is?

Officer Charged With Assault of Man He Arrested
New York Times - United States

By JOHN ELIGON
Published: February 11, 2009
Last July, Police Officer David London arrested a man in the Upper West Side building where he lived with his mother, charging him with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

But the building’s surveillance video told a different story, District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau said Wednesday.

It showed Officer London pulling the man out of an elevator Mr. Morgenthau said, and beating him 18 to 20 times with a baton. The beating continued even after the man, Walter Harvin, fell to the ground, Mr. Morgenthau said. And even after Mr. Harvin was in handcuffs, Officer London delivered another eight to 10 blows, some with his feet, Mr. Morgenthau said.

Officer London, 43, has been indicted on charges of assault and filing false records and pleaded not guilty Wednesday in State Supreme Court in Manhattan. He was released without bail. If convicted he faces up to seven years in prison.

The confrontation took place on July 28, 2008, when Mr. Harvin, 29, an Iraq war veteran, was trying to get into his apartment building, a public housing project, at 93rd Street and Amsterdam Avenue, Mr. Morgenthau said. Officer London stopped him and asked for his identification. Mr. Harvin did not have any, nor did he have his key to the building, Mr. Morgenthau said, and he got into a shoving match with Officer London.