FDLE Investigating Fort Lauderdale Police Officer Steven Pohorence's Previous Uses Of Force
FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – New investigations have been launched against the Fort Lauderdale police officer caught on camera a few weeks ago shoving a protester.
Chief Rick Maglione said the investigations are concerning Officer Steven Pohorence's previous uses of force.
On Tuesday, Fort Lauderdale police released what they're calling newly discovered video. It shows two instances involving Pohorence, which happened within the last eight months or so.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating to see if Pohorence violated any policies.
Initially, though, Pohorence was cleared in these two cases.
In both these videos, the concern is to his behavior during the arrest.
The videos were discovered Tuesday after someone put in a public records request.
When police reviewed the video, the department decided that it needed more investigation and let FDLE know.
Chief Maglione and Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis held a press conference to discuss the new investigations.
"What was of concern to me was the manner in which Officer Pohorence interacted with individuals verbally, and the manner in which he interacted with them physically," Maglione said. "Again, I'm not forming a conclusion, but I did come to the conclusion that it needs an additional look."
"When there's somebody out there within our ranks, who fails to measure up to that level of service, I'm happy to see that our department is prepared to engage other officers' independent operations, the Florida Department of law enforcement, somebody who can objectively participate in the process of investigation," Trantalis said. "Should there be wrongdoing, hopefully will be a swift response by this department and by the city. And hopefully we'll be able to return to a level of normalcy in this world as people are looking more and more at the police department for justice and for equality."
If it's determined that Pohorence did not follow policy, the police department said they will then take appropriate action.
As a result of these new video findings, there has been a change in policy at the department.
Going forward, when there's an investigation or a concern of use of force, internal affairs is now required to look at any and all video that may be involved in addition to looking at the documents and talking to witnesses.
