A Mesa police officer accused of beating an unarmed man in May should not face criminal charges, according to an outside investigation completed by the Scottsdale Police Department earlier this week.
Video released after the incident sparked controversy for the Mesa Police Department, it showed five police officers punching and pulling 33-year-old African-American man Robert Johnson to the ground. In the end, he was nearly unconscious.
Mesa Chief Ramon Batista is the one who called for this investigation in the first place.
The Show reached out to Mesa police to request an interview with Chief Batista about this, but a spokesperson told us that the chief can’t comment because there is still an ongoing internal investigation into this case.
But, this case raised a lot of questions about police conduct and excessive use of force, especially when it comes to minorities.
To address some of those questions, The Show reached out to Michael Scott, director of the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing at Arizona State University.
