5 Videotapes Played at Police Abuse Trial

Jurors in the trial of two Long Beach officers accused of police abuse spent Tuesday watching videos of the nationally publicized confrontation involving black activist Don Jackson, who is expected to testify today.

Jurors watched five videos of the Jan. 14, 1989, confrontation in which Officer Mark Dickey appears to push Jackson into a glass window, shattering it. Jackson, a former Hawthorne police sergeant, arrived in Long Beach that night to conduct a “sting” on the city’s Police Department. An NBC camera crew went along.

During his opening remarks Monday, Deputy Dist. Atty. Herbert Lapin said he does not intend to show that Dickey purposely pushed Jackson into a glass window, but that the officer used excessive force in handling Jackson and lied about the incident in his report. Dickey is charged with assault and both he and his partner, Officer Mark Ramsey, are charged with falsifying a police report.