Body cam, 911 tapes in Walter Wallace killing to be released
A demonstrator raises a fist near Philadelphia police in Philadelphia, late Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020. Hundreds of demonstrators marched in West Philadelphia over the death of Walter Wallace Jr., a Black man who was killed by police in Philadelphia on Monday. Police shot and killed the 27-year-old on a Philadelphia street after yelling at him to drop his knife.[AP Photo/Matt Slocum]
The police commissioner in Philadelphia said at a briefing Wednesday that her department will release 911 tapes and footage from police body cameras “in the near future” in the shooting death of Walter Wallace Jr.
Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said officials will do so after talking with Wallace’s family members to prepare them.
She also said the police department should move “as soon as possible” to integrate with mental health services.
Mayor Jim Kenney said looting prevention and assistance to the police are the reasons the city asked for the National Guard to be deployed after two nights of unrest after the police killing of Wallace.
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Kenney, a Democrat, said that 23 officers were treated and released for injuries, often bruises, after objects were thrown at them.
The first troops are expected Friday and Saturday, Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel said.
Outlaw said the police department was caught off guard by looting in the city’s Port Richmond neighborhood, far from the protests near the shooting scene in west Philadelphia.
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She said she has learned the department needs to have more resources at the ready, even beyond those deployed to the demonstrations at hand.
Kenney says restaurants, grocery stores and pharmacies can elect to do deliveries after a 9 p.m. curfew that was announced earlier.