Complaint Review: Frank Tepperr

Officer Frank Tepper will never be able to again hurt another innocent person. Tepper's 18-year reign of terror as a Philadelphia police officer is finally over. On February 23, 2012, the oft complained-about police nutcase was convicted of first degree murder in the killing of William "Billy" Panas, 21. Tepper's jury could neither be corrupted by the perjuring cop thugs nor by the blatant prosecutorial and judicial misconduct. Tepper's trial judge, a friend of the police union, made several counterintuitive rulings which favored Tepper. Tepper fatally shot Panas, 21, during a fight that started inside the officer's Port Richmond home and spilled into the street.

The officer, who was off-duty at the time, claimed that he was trying to break up the fight, was jumped, and his gun went off by accident (as always happens, a police thug illogically rationalizes -- and outright lies about -- his felonies.) Witnesses said that Tepper's son was fighting with Panas and that Tepper pulled out his revolver and shot Panas in the chest. Those same witnesses claimed that Tepper never identified himself as an officer and was not jumped. Tepper, 45, is the recipient of a staggering 35 prior formal and informal complaints, all of which were criminally covered up by Philadelphia's corrupt joke of a police department. 

Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said that Tepper was finally fired for violating several department policies in the Panas murder, including unauthorized use of a firearm, failing to call for help, and refusing to cooperate with the investigation. Ironically, Tepper was a civil affairs officer who was responsible for diffusing community tensions, not escalating them to the point of a fatal shooting! The crooked police union (which in 2011 endorsed a convicted felon -- Milton Street -- for mayor) and its thousands of thug cop members hired powerful attorney Fortunato Perri to defend Tepper, a blatant attempt to get Tepper acquitted and allow him to get away with a cold-blooded murder.

Tepper had previously tried to murder at least four people in three different incidents. He also sprayed tear gas into the eyes of eight-year-olds and was known in his neighborhood for assaulting young teenagers. Ironically, Panas's fatal shooting occurred within about three blocks from where two other complained-about Philadelphia cops, Stephen Liczbinski and Timothy Simpson, were killed in separate on-the-job incidents. According to a recent suggestion by Amnesty International, Philadelphia is home to the country's most criminal police department. That is not hard to believe, considering that cops like Frank Tepper are allowed to perpetrate 35 felonies each before they are finally fired!