You're probably a good person. If you saw a woman dragged out of a hotel by a man in street clothes, watched him punch her repeatedly, it might occur to you to call the police. That's what Andrew Mossburg did on June 26, 2013. But he didn't stop there. He also shouted out to the man that the police were on their way, in the hopes that the beating would stop. Unfortunately for Mossburg, the police were already there.
The man who was beating the woman was Det. Philippe Archer. He rushed over to Mossburg and proceeded to beat him too, kicking him twice in the head. Archer then proceeded to arrest Mossburg, along with the woman, Megan Adamescu. Newly released surveillance footage shows that after their arrest, Archer punched the handcuffed Adamescu in the head at the police station, in full view of other officers.
Det. Archer claimed in his police report that he identified himself as a police officer and showed his badge to Adamescu and Mossburg but that they proceeded to attack him regardless. But video footage from another bystander contradicted that, and two months later, the various charges against Adamescu and Mossburg would be dropped.
Nearly two years later, the Miami Beach Internal Affairs division finally concluded their investigation into the incident. Their conclusion: "Officer Archer was found to have violated several Department and City rule violations, including excessive use of force, mistreatment of a prisoner, conduct unbecoming an employee of the city, and negligence and inefficiency in the performance of his duties." His punishment? Det. Archer will be suspended from the force. For 160 hours.
This wasn't the first piece of good news that Det. Archer has received so far this year regarding a years-old investigation into his conduct as a police officer. In March, after nearly four years of investigating, the Miami-Dade State's Attorney decided not to charge Archer and 11 other police officers in the 2011 slaying of Raymond Herisse. At the end of a chase, Archer and the other officers fired over 100 shots into Herisse's non-moving vehicle. Four bystanders were wounded in the barrage.
This was the fifth fatal police-involved shooting where Miami-Dade prosecutors cleared the officers of wrongdoing in 2015. Nearly two years ago, a Federal Department of Justice inquiry found that the Miami Police Department engaged in an unconstitutional pattern or practice of excessive use of force. No officer has been charged with a crime for an on-duty shooting since 1989 (the officer in that case was acquitted).
However, residents and visitors to Miami don't need to worry for their safety. Miami Beach Police Chief Daniel Oates assures us that "everyone, including the officer involved, has learned from this event." Problem solved.