Daytona Beach P.D. defends T-Shirt, arrests

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - A complaint filed this week against the Daytona Beach Police Department says officers used excessive force during a 2008 arrest. It also says a controversial T-shirt sold by the department sends the wrong message to officers.

The shirt says S.E.T. Member on the front and shows a cartoon of Chief Mike Chitwood dunking a criminal head first into a toilet on the back. It also reads Scumbag Eradication Team and Not in Our Town.

Chitwood defends the shirt that uses one of his favorite words: scumbag. "It is a word I use and I got hired here, crime was a huge issue in the city of Daytona Beach. The shirts have been for sale for almost two years to raise money for the Explorers program."

But Attorney Sam Masters thinks the shirt sends the wrong message to police officers and sends the wrong image of Daytona Beach. Master says his client Glarry Williams was struck in the face and kicked in the ribs during an arrest. A mug shot of Williams following the arrest shows him with a swollen shut left eye.

Masters says, "I'm done debating the Chief of Police. He wants to deal with the issue in court. The excessive force complaint seeks up to $100,000 from the city. Chief Chitwood welcomes a possible lawsuit. My suggestion to legal was you offer him one dollar and when he refuses, lets go to trial."

The city now has six months to reply to the complaint before the case can move to court.