Jonathan Adams

Did Oakland Police Cover Up Another Murder?

There is “strong circumstantial evidence” that police covered up the 2000 beating of drug suspect Jerry Amaro III, who died a month after suffering broken ribs, according to confidential city documents obtained late Wednesday.

Two other people also arrested in the same drug sting and put in a police car with Amaro later told investigators Amaro was “complaining constantly that he was in pain, and wanted to see a doctor and that (he) was sweating profusely, consistent with a painful injury,” the document states. Amaro was denied immediate medical care.

The FBI is investigating Amaro’s death, and police last week suspended a senior officer, Capt. Edward Poulson, with pay as his role in the matter is probed. Poulson is suspected of kicking Amaro and then ordering subordinate officers to lie about it.

{Oakland Tribune]

Watch Ishmael Reed, Oakland poet laureate, talk about how police racially profile Black and Latino men just like Oscar Grant everyday.

Posted at 11:50 AM, Jan 30, 2009 in Police | Permalink | View Comments