By Ralph Ciprianofor BigTrial.net
There was rioting in the streets. Looters ran amok. Criminals were blowing up ATMs and setting arson fires all over town.
But while Philadelphia lay in ruins, District Attorney Larry Krasner's top priority was to indict a cop for allegedly striking a demonstrator.
The normal protocol for any officer accused of misconduct is to wait for the Police Department's Internal Affairs Bureau to complete an investigation, and then forward the results of that investigation to the D.A.'s charging unit. So the D.A. can make a decision on whether to charge the cop with a crime.
But when it came to the case of staff Inspector Joseph Bologna, accused of striking a Temple University student with his nightstick during a demonstration, Krasner dispensed with the usual protocol. It famously took Krasner's office five weeks to get around to charging all three accused killers of Corporal James O'Connor. But when it came to Inspector Bologna, Krasner immediately pounced.
A day after videos of alleged brutality hit the Inquirer and YouTube, Krasner on Friday announced his intention to charge Bologna with felony aggravated assault. This was supposedly after a quickie investigation done by Sgt. Gerald Rocks Jr., interim head of the D.A.'s detectives, who could not be reached for comment.
Bologna, 54, chief of operations for the department's patrol bureau, was taken off the street Thursday night, hours after videos of alleged police brutality hit the media. Bologna was ordered to turn himself in on Monday to face charges of aggravated assault for allegedly using his nightstick against attacking demonstrators.
While the Inquirer referred to Bologna in a headline as a "notorious Philly cop" who had a "checkered and charmed past," other cops who know him had a different take.
"A cop's cop," said one. "A real leader" said another.
One of the department's "most decorated and respected police leaders," said FOP President John McNesby. "Inspector Bologna's dedication to our city for over 30 years is unmatched."
But D.A. Larry Krasner saw a rogue cop in need of speedy justice.
"We are trying to be fair," Krasner claimed in a statement to the media. "Accountability has to be equal, and this moment demands a swift and evenhanded response to violent and criminal acts."
From an email she sent out, it sounded like Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw was blindsided by Krasner's end-around the usual protocol, and the D.A.'s decision to not wait for the Police Department's Internal Affairs Bureau to complete their investigation before the D.A. charged Bologna.
"Today, I learned from Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner that he has filed criminal charges against Staff Inspector Joseph Bologna," Outlaw wrote on Friday in an email to officers.
She stated that she had "not been made privy to the entirety of the information that led to Mr. Krasner's decision to charge" Bologna.
"An internal affairs investigation has already been initiated," Outlaw wrote, and that "irrespective of the District Attorney's prosecution, the internal affairs investigation will continue."
Cops, however, suspected Outlaw wasn't being completely straight with the troops.
Asked if Outlaw knew that Krasner was going to indict Bologna, Inspector Sekou Kinebrew declined to elaborate beyond what Outlaw had to say on Friday in her email. "We may have further comment at a later time," he added.
FOP President McNesby called Krasner's indictment of Bologna "a disgrace."
"It's a slap in the fact to every police officer in the city of Philadelphia especially under these conditions," McNesby told 6ABC. "While we're out there hustling in the community from morning to night protecting businesses, protecting the community, protecting everybody."
McNesby said that Bologna had to make a split-second decision in a chaotic situation. The FOP president condemned Krasner for rushing to judgment, especially after the D.A.'s office has been releasing from jail protesters accused of assaulting police officers, after prosecutors declined to charge them.
One of those protesters the D.A. declined to charge was Evan Gorski, 21, a Temple student accused of attacking a police officer. Krasner dropped the charges against Gorski, who is the student that Bologna is accused of striking with his nightstick. Instead, the D.A. announced plans to indict the cop.
Gorski had been accused of assaulting a police officer by pushing him off a bike, causing the officer to break a hand. Cops who watched the chaotic video involving Gorski and Bologna said that it appeared that Bologna might have been sprayed by a demonstrator. And that the inspector was trying to defend the officer who fell off the bike when he raised his nightstick to attack Gorski by hitting him in the head, before tackling him.
Gorski, according to the D.A., needed 10 staples and 10 sutures to close his head wound.
With the city under seige for the past seven days, cops have been working 12-hour shifts without days off. They've been taking all kinds of abuse. And they don't feel the leaders in charge of the city have their backs.
Plenty of cops were already upset with the police commissioner after her decision last week to demote a commanding officer for using pepper spray.
"She has lost the entire department," said one female cop. "I am finished. I tried to support her but I am done."