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I'm involved in the documentary Alien Boy, and we've interviewed several eyewitnesses to the interaction between police and James Chasse on Sept. 17, 2006. The eyewitnesses accounts are horrific, describing "haymakers", "kicks to the head" and Mr. Chasse being handled like a "shot deer" and "thrown into the back of a police car". Also, the eyewitnesses uniformly articulated that Mr. Chasse was obviously mentally ill and should have been approached with care, but that the officers escalated the situation. Can you, as police chief, respond to what every eyewitness we interviewed described as an excessive use of force by the officers involved?

posted 2 years, 3 months ago
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