After Anthony Goodrow complained that he had been brutalized by Hawthorne police officers during an arrest nearly three years ago, department officials said they "conducted an in-depth and thorough internal investigation."

Their conclusion: Officers acted appropriately and did not use excessive force.

That finding, however, appears at odds with the city's payment of $1 million in late January to settle Goodrow's lawsuit alleging excessive force.

Evidence in the case included a photograph that Goodrow's attorneys say shows an officer about to kick their client in the face; a police video of officers slapping high-fives while an injured Goodrow was booked into the city's jail; and reports from the officers acknowledging that they punched and kicked Goodrow several times during the arrest.


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