Police give lessons in how they use force
Criticism of arrest on video prompts demonstration
Leroy Streat (left) and Jose Alfonso, patrol tactics instructors, took down defensive tactics instructor Michael Aziz during a demonstration at the Boston Police Academy on Thursday. (Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff)
By Maria Cramer
Globe Staff / January 23, 2011
Boston police, reeling from a YouTube video last fall that showed several officers forcefully subduing a 16-year-old boy, are reaching out to community leaders, elected officials, and the news media in an effort to persuade the public that officers have received careful training and are taught strict guidelines on when to use force.
“I think it’s time we remove the mystery around police use of force,’’ Commissioner Edward F. Davis said Thursday night at the Boston Police Academy in Hyde Park, where officials invited several reporters, religious figures, and leaders of the Boston branch of the NAACP to meet with police instructors.
