VIDEO: D.A. clears MA officers of excessive force charges

(NECN: Alysha Palumbo – Boston) – It was this cell phone video of police serving a warrant on the Roxbury Community College campus for a 16-year-old boy wanted for escaping a department of youth services center that prompted outrage in the community and investigations into allegations of police brutality.

The Suffolk County District Attorney announced Friday that no criminal charges would be filed against the officers involved.

“They used a level of force appropriate to the circumstances and proportionate to the subject’s resistance and aggression,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley.

Conley says because the teen would not give up his backpack, the officers had a reasonable fear that he might be armed.

“They confined their efforts to use only of their hands and knees when they and their counterparts nation-wide are trained and authorized to use implements such as baton strikes under similar circumstances,” said Conley.

Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis says he understands why civilians would mistake their training techniques for something else.

“Under the circumstances, it didn’t look good, but it was exactly what we train officers to do, and I think we have to keep that in mind when analyzing the whole incident,” said Davis.

But that argument has been a hard sell in Boston.

“The training I don’t think has ever been the issue it’s not the training, it’s how you conduct yourself in the line of duty while you’re out in the field,” said community activist Jamarhl Crawford.

“He wasn’t struggling and the struggling he was doing was to keep from getting hit, there’s nothing wrong with defending yourself,” said Archie Claytor of Roxbury.

Crawford says he’s disappointed but not surprised by the findings.

“It kind of says that even when there’s a video tape that many people have questions of that that’s not a guarantee of a slam dunk that you are going to get some sort of determination that says these officers may have overstepped their bounds,” said Crawford.