Detective says chief ordered mass arrests

A police detective alleges that former Washington Police Chief Charles Ramsey, despite past denials, ordered mass arrests of hundreds of demonstrators who were protesting annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in 2002. Ramsey, now the commissioner of the Philadelphia Police Department, has given inconsistent statements over the years on the arrests, saying repeatedly, including twice in sworn statements, that he did not order them. He said an assistant chief of police did so. Lawyers for some of the former protesters say in court papers filed Wednesday that the city has improperly withheld some documents and may have destroyed other evidence that would explain who ordered the arrests of over 400 people on Sept. 27, 2002.