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IPRA Calls For Cop Suspensions After Deadly Tasing In Jail Cell

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Independent Police Review Authority is recommending that six Chicago police officers be suspended for their role in the 2012 Taser-related death of Philip Coleman.

As 2 Investigator Dave Savini reports, his family says the punishment is not enough.

"IPRA they ought to be ashamed of themselves. I don't know how they sleep at night," said Philip Coleman's brother, Jeffrey.

"They Tased a human being. They tortured him."

He describes what happened to his brother in the jail cell as pure torture.

The University of Chicago graduate with no criminal record was suffering a mental breakdown. Instead of getting medical treatment, he was locked up, choked, shot with a Taser gun 16 times and dragged before he died later at hospital.

Despite having access to the video, IPRA originally cleared the officers of wrongdoing.

The 2 Investigators got the police lockup video released and exposed it to the public, launching a new IPRA probe.

The Coleman family doesn't feel Wednesday's announcement was enough.

They wanted the officers fired, not simply suspended.

Jailer Keith Kirkland got a 90-day suspension.

Sgt. William Meador, who grabbed Coleman's legs and could be seen laughing, was given a 28-day suspension.

"That's not justice," said Jeffrey Coleman. "I'd rather have my brother back."

IPRA states that it would have recommended firing Sgt. Tommy Walker, who was in charge that night, but he has since retired.

In April, the city awarded the Coleman family $5 million for their wrongful death lawsuit.

"People say, 'Congratulations for justice for your brother,'" said Jeffrey Coleman. "Like I got justice, like we got justice for our brother. We didn't. My brother's dead."

IPRA has recommended a 120-day suspension for another sergeant who was at the scene when Coleman was initially arrested. The Coleman family is still hoping for a criminal investigation.

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