Naacp Chief Seeks Fresh Probe Dismissed Police Brutality Claim Needs Outside Review, Leader Says

The head of the NAACP’s Spokane chapter is calling for an outside investigation into an African-American man’s claim that he was a victim of police brutality.

The Rev. Percy “Happy” Watkins said he will ask the U.S. Justice Department to look into the Feb. 9 arrest of Stanley Tensley.

Watkins said he also wants Mayor Jack Geraghty, City Manager Bill Pupo and the Citizens Review Board to review the incident.

At a special NAACP meeting Tuesday, Watkins blasted an internal Police Department investigation that concluded officers didn’t use excessive force against Tensley when he approached a crime scene on Feb. 9.

“Once again, we have been unfairly thwarted in our desire to get equal justice under the (police) chief’s investigatory powers,” Watkins said.

Police Chief Terry Mangan said later he expected the NAACP to ask for an outside investigation.

Tensley, 41, said he was walking to his brother-in-law’s house at Fourth and Pittsburg after his 17-year-old son, Lamont Brooks, called to tell him about police gathered outside the house.

As Tensley approached officers, they told him to remove his hands from his coat and not move any closer. Tensley admitted putting his hands back in his pockets and continuing to advance.

“I was just doing what any concerned parent would do,” Tensley said.

He claims two officers attacked him while others arrested a suspected car prowler. He said he suffered an injured shoulder while being handcuffed.

Tensley filed a police brutality complaint on April 3, but it was dismissed as unfounded in a report released Monday by the department’s Office of Professional Standards.

That investigation also found that Tensley has a history of interfering with police at crime scenes, according to Mangan.

“This is a person who routinely interjects himself into police affairs. That is a problem person for us,” Mangan said.

In a June 13 letter to Tensley, Mangan wrote: “These incidents included one in which you had a loaded revolver and refused to give it up to police or put it down during a rather tense situation.”

Mangan said Tensley’s history wasn’t known to the officers when they arrested him Feb. 9 for obstructing and resisting arrest.

Tensley, who attended Tuesday’s meeting, refused to discuss the incidents cited by Mangan.

“They had nothing to do with that particular situation that night (on Feb. 9),” Tensley said.

A deacon at Mount Olive Baptist Church since 1991, Tensley said he’s lived in Spokane for 10 years.

, DataTimes