I researched more on the demographics found in the NYC 67th precinct, other police brutality related incidents taking place around the same time, and I looked at other New York Daily News articles related to police brutality to get a better understanding of the paper's bias.
The players featured in this article were the following:
The emotionally disturbed patient who was punched multiple times in the face by the cops from the NYPD and ESU
The NYPD 67th precinct: New York Police Department Brooklyn Precinct, four members, including members from the elite Emergency Service Unit, were accused of roughing a combative patient.
FDNY and FDNY EMS: Fire Department, City of New York and their respective EMS branch. The report was filed by members of FDNY EMS who were treating the patient when they were roughed by PD.
The main point of this article is to report on an altercation between a patient and members of the NYPD ESU. This article came out at a time when the topic of police brutality was hot, and based on the context i believe this article was designed to attract readership because of that.
information for this article was obtained from an incident report submitted by the ambulance crew to FDNY administrators
"The violence broke out when the patient spit at the Emergency Service Unit officers and swore at them. The officers responded by hitting him in the face, hauling him off the stretcher to the ground and then tossing him back on the stretcher, "
"After the first round of punches, the patient was "taken off the stretcher to the ground and restrained again, pt. was thrown by ESU again on to my stretcher," the EMT wrote. "Pt. sustained injuries to face and head," the report said."