Police brutality at it’s best!

[alph]

RJ, please don’t take offence.  I know you were an officer for many years, and I know this video might piss you off.  I also know that there are only a few cops like these; I also know that police are human too. 

I HAVE MET MORE GOOD COPS, THEN BAD!  (I have met a few bad ones though.)

Alph.

Video Backs Maryland Students Police Brutality Claim 4-12-10	powered by Aeva

[big turkey]

Alph

This video may have gotten our little friend in the Video out of trouble.

Caution this video cantains a bit of reality and shop talk.

Chris Rock - How not to get your ass kicked by the police!	powered by Aeva

[eric in md]

dont jump in with both feet you have no idea what that guy said, or did, before that.. so many punks need a little attitude fix sometimes .. if your wrong your wrong ..

[Tonysax]

dont jump in with both feet you have no idea what that guy said, or did, before that.. so many punks need a little attitude fix sometimes .. if your wrong your wrong ..

+1

That was possibly only a snapshot of the big picture. It did appear to occur at a riot, the horses had eye protection. 

[RoadKill]

I saw 1 officer out of line...He should damn sure get a talkin to. But still, that guy should probably be thankful he pissed off the officers and not some rouge redneck like me . What ever he did or what ever position he put himself in... at least now he can think twice befor doing it again. With the overabundance of stupid people out there I am not near as forgiving as I'm sure the men in uniform,concerned about the politics involved in their job,were! If it were not for those officers vigilante justice would be rampant and I assure ALL that he was better off dealing with the "PO-PO's "! 

[fstsix]

2 weeks ago

Cops arrested in drug sting	powered by Aeva

[fstsix]

the citizens of RI have asked for the Chief to step down.

Video Shows RI Cop Beating Suspect	powered by Aeva

[sugerbear]

which part of (police on horseback officers on foot with riot gear) don't you understand?

got what he deserved in my opinion.

there right and wrong in this world and unless "you" have a mental problem, "you" know the difference.
goes to every aspect of life.


"you" not pointed at anybody in particular.

[Valker]

I virtually ALWAYS back the police (ask my kids), but watching this over and over, I saw NOTHING the kid did to deserve a physical attack like this. I really couldn't care less what he SAID, he DID nothing. The cops charged that he assaulted them. I saw NO evidence of him being physically aggressive. I saw NO resistance on his part. If you can't take a 5 second verbal lashing (assuming the kid actually said something inappropriate), you shouldn't be in law enforcement. I am a school teacher and take longer verbal abuse from kids on a regular basis.

[RoadKill]

I virtually ALWAYS back the police (ask my kids), but watching this over and over, I saw NOTHING the kid did to deserve a physical attack like this. I really couldn't care less what he SAID, he DID nothing. The cops charged that he assaulted them. I saw NO evidence of him being physically aggressive. I saw NO resistance on his part. If you can't take a 5 second verbal lashing (assuming the kid actually said something inappropriate), you shouldn't be in law enforcement. I am a school teacher and take longer verbal abuse from kids on a regular basis.

You have my permission to knock the crap outta them kids like their parents shoulda done...sorry that it falls on you to do what is right,teachers dont get paid near enough to put up with that crap OR the politics with that job either 

[Ghillie]

I side with police 99% of the time. I have relatives and friends who are cops, they have a mostly thankless job. Part of an officer's job is to rise above the BS and not respond in a manner that escalates a situation or is excessive to the situation presented.

Perhaps he made a verbal threat of violence that the officers considered presented a legitimate risk. But at the point the kid is on the ground, either submissive or unresponsive, ( I couldn't tell which since the only motion appeared to either be him flinching as he was struck or just his limp body moving from the impact of the blows) further beating becomes excessive and unjustifiable. There was a three on one response and they could have easily subdued him at any time after initial impact without the clubbing.

[Gunslinger]

I see a crowd, I see officers in Riot gear, I see a person approaching the officers.

Tell me what person in their right mind moves towards a group of people wearing riot gear carrying shields and batons?

I wasn't there, and can see only a small snippet of the incident from one angle and know nothing about the details. The officers could very well have been in the wrong, but so could the 'victim'.

The fact that so many in this society will immediately assume that the officers were out of control and this 'victim' was innocent without knowing any of the facts or details explains much about our current problems. I will reserve my judgment on this until I have some facts and knowledge of what happened, preferably in the eyes of the officers AND the victim.

BUT! My first impression is that when someone gets smacked around by a trained and educated law enforcement officer is that there is generally a reason.

[Ice]

Boys and Girls,

I will take offense to anyone that judges the Police Officers in this video without knowing the full extent of what happend. Now I will give you that there is an appearance of excess force but thats all. I was a Police Officer for 18 years and the fact that somone videotapes a piece of the facts and posts it does not give you or anyone else the right to judge. We, the armchair quarterbacks cannot say what transpired in this small piece of the video, nor what he said or did, if the kid getting his ass whipped threatend the Police or the Horse, with tensions running high in that kind of situation he got his ass whipped for being stupid. Cops want to go home at the end of their day just like any other Schmuck does.
I made a promise to my wife and kids while I was on the Job, and that was that I will come home every night at the end of my shift, not always unscathed, but I did always come home and my attitude was always them or me, so it was them before me.
Take that anyway you want, but I get very upset that people can judge a Police Officer from a one minute video and say "oh he was dead wrong" but the regular Joe out here he's always the victim.

Sorry for the rant, but I will support ervery Officer out here until he is proven wrong, this may be a case where the officer(s) may have been wrong but until the facts are all know do not be so quick to judge.

Nuff ranting, Yuri

[Willow]

A few observations:

I agree that it's a very short clip and I'm somewhat amazed at the conclusions drawn by both sides of this discussion by such a short video piece.  That said, I have a problem envisioning anything that could have been said that would justify the unrestrained clubbing of someone helplessly lying on the sidewalk.

I'm somewhat puzzled by folks who want the "government" to be held accountable for every act (and they should), but assume until overwhelming evidence proves otherwise that the police are always right (Aren't they naive?). 

My experience has been that there are some very good, very dedicated men and women in law enforcement.  My experience, and my personal opinion, is that there are also some who are primarily in the profession of law enforcement out of lust for power and believe themselves to be above the law.  Honestly, the ratio of good people to bad people seems to be about the same in uniform as in the population at large.

Incidentally, it's been reported that the charges originally preferred against the beaten young man have been dropped.  Take what message you will from that news.

[Psycho]

We called it an attitude ajustment.

[POPS 57]

I have a friend that is a county sheriff. He has a saying that goes something like this. Treat everyone with courtesy and professionalism. But have a plan to kill them. He has little kids that want him home also.

[DaveC]

Naw, not the best. Not even close.
Lemme think a minute...........a dude sees POLICE in RIOT GEAR, some mounted on horseback, & decides to approach them :uglystupid2:for whatever reason.
THEN gets tuned up?
Watta shocker
the hobo

[3fan4life]

The video is short.... but it clearly show the excessive use of force on the part of the police. 

Yes the young man was stupid and most likely drunk........ how many of us haven't been drunk and stupid at least once in their life??

But, he was clearly subdued and possibly even unconscious after the first blow..... the first blow may or may not have been warranted............ however the additional beating that he was given was not.

I greatly suspect that all of you who are quick to praise the actions of these officers wouldn't be doing so if that were your college aged son or daughter that they were beating.

In my opinion this is the result of the over militarization of the police in this country since Sep 11th, 2001.  The police are training and equipping themselves as a military force in alarming numbers around the country.  The problem is that any military needs an enemy and when the police look for an enemy they find us citizens.

Whatever happened to, "Serve and Protect" ?

[Michael K (Az.)]

The video is short.... but it clearly show the excessive use of force on the part of the police. 

Yes the young man was stupid and most likely drunk........ how many of us haven't been drunk and stupid at least once in their life??

But, he was clearly subdued and possibly even unconscious after the first blow..... the first blow may or may not have been warranted............ however the additional beating that he was given was not.

I greatly suspect that all of you who are quick to praise the actions of these officers wouldn't be doing so if that were your college aged son or daughter that they were beating.

In my opinion this is the result of the over militarization of the police in this country since Sep 11th, 2001.  The police are training and equipping themselves as a military force in alarming numbers around the country.  The problem is that any military needs an enemy and when the police look for an enemy they find us citizens.

Whatever happened to, "Serve and Protect" ?

Latest news on this is, on scene officers admit lying on sworn statements, Chief"disappointed" in officers, yada, yada.

[stormrider]

Try this one out. Open carry is leagal in the State of Alabama. My son was stopped several weeks ago by a local sheriff's deputy. Our local chief arrives a few moments later.  A few moments into the confrontation he goes beserk. He's the guy that has been known to go to the bars, get drunk and want to fight everybody there. He supposedly has gone straight, but has lost any respect I could have given him. The audio is not good quality. James has a holster on his side with his Glock in it while in the car, which is perfectly legal in Alabama. Open carry outside the car is perfectly legal in Alabama. He is stopped for not displaying a tag, which he had been working on getting the title cleared up. The chief arrives and asks James to exit the car at which time he takes the Glock out of the holster and lays on the seat. The chief sees the holster and assumes he is carrying, which is perfectly leagal in Alabama and several years ago told me this himself. He asks James what the he-- is he doing going around like Wyatt Earp. He then proceeds to cuss him and threaten to take him to the asphalt. He comes unglued. James remains calm during the whole ordeal and Connie, his girlfriend is recording the audio. He even threatens to take his gun and badge off and whoop his a--. Well, I've had severral weeks to think about it and I'm still outraged that he is still wearing a badge. He hasn't made any effort to speak to me which if James or Chris every blink wrong he has told me about it. James has never caused any problems which he referred to in the audio. Now his little brother has been a bit rambuncious, but not James. Ya'll are right about you don't always know what goes on before the camera or recorders start rolling. I know James very well and he has no reason to lie to me. Now Keith on the other hand does. He has a job to protect. James has been waiting for an apology but that hasn't happened. It's a shame the chief can make up the law as he goes. I recently asked the Sheriff of Coffee County and he reiterated what I already know, open carry is legal in Alabama.

Cop Audio	powered by Aeva

Link to James' post after the incident.

http://opencarry.mywowbb.com/forum59/40886-1.html

[stormrider]

BTW, I went and got a permit today. I'm gonna see if he wants to whoop my a--. 

Not. 

In the audio he talks about being targeted by bad buys for carrying, I don't think there is a case anywhere were a bad guy came up to someone carrying for him to see and pops a cap. I guess he was trying to justify his lunatic remarks. And they let him carry a gun. He has "jokingly" put his hand on his tazer and said, "hey Betsill, let me taze you". Now I wonder if he was just poking fun. And if it is a weapon, I wonder how he would like it if I put my hand on my gun and say, "hey Whitehead, let me pop one in you".   

[Gunslinger]

A few observations:

I agree that it's a very short clip and I'm somewhat amazed at the conclusions drawn by both sides of this discussion by such a short video piece.  That said, I have a problem envisioning anything that could have been said that would justify the unrestrained clubbing of someone helplessly lying on the sidewalk.

I'm somewhat puzzled by folks who want the "government" to be held accountable for every act (and they should), but assume until overwhelming evidence proves otherwise that the police are always right (Aren't they naive?).  

My experience has been that there are some very good, very dedicated men and women in law enforcement.  My experience, and my personal opinion, is that there are also some who are primarily in the profession of law enforcement out of lust for power and believe themselves to be above the law.  Honestly, the ratio of good people to bad people seems to be about the same in uniform as in the population at large.

Incidentally, it's been reported that the charges originally preferred against the beaten young man have been dropped.  Take what message you will from that news.

I assume by your post that parts of it were directed at my comment. Let me respond...

My point was not that I assume that the officers were in the right, and obviously I do not assume the victim was in the right. My point was (and is) that there is not enough  information provided in this clip to understand the entirety of the situation. I was brought up to hear both sides of a story before jumping to conclusions. I did not ( and do not) throw any support to the police or the recipient of their violence. The point I was trying to get across was that with 1 minute and 4 seconds of information, from a bad angle and with no other information, there is not enough information for me to form a solid opinion.

I agree, it appears excessive. If I were to pass judgment solely on the actions viewed in this video it would be overwhelmingly obvious that there was little provocation and that the force continuum was ignored.  That being said, I find it difficult to believe that any rational person would feel that there was not more to this story. I agree there are bad people in law enforcement, I also know for a fact that the vast majority of agencies work diligently to not only keep power-mongers and bullies out of law enforcement they spend large portions of their budget to instruct officers on the proper use of force to prevent misunderstanding and litigation. This is not always 100% effective.

What I'm trying to say here is that the officers should be held accountable, all information should be accessible, and judgment should be made. I simply think it is preposterous pass judgment without good information, and that it frightens me to see that many assume that is was a 'bad cop' and not look deeper. There are many bad apples in all organizations and groups, has our society truly gottent to the point that we assume by default that the majority of officers are bad evil people?  Do we not get irritated when we get lumped in with the very small percentage of "evil bikers"? We of all groups should be understanding that the sins of a few are not shared by the majority.

Willow, I recall an incident in the last year or so in your neck of the woods where an individual was subdued by police (on tape) in a very violent manner, and obviously (on tape) did nothing to provoke the attack. The final version of the story included the family he had carjacked, the lives he endangered in a high speed pursuit and officers he threatened. It came out initially with big headlines involving KCMO's brutality, then quietly died once details began to emerge.

[fstsix]

Breaking news today GUILTY

Verdict reached in Huffman rape trial	powered by Aeva

By ERIC TUCKER
The Associated Press
Thursday, April 15, 2010; 3:31 PM

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A Providence police officer was convicted Thursday of raping a woman in a police substation while on duty three years ago.

A Providence Superior Court jury found Marcus Huffman, 39, guilty of first-degree sexual assault after deliberating for about a day. He was ordered held without bail after a prosecutor argued that he was a flight risk and a danger to the public. He faces a possible life sentence.

Huffman's lawyer said he was disappointed by the verdict and planned to appeal.

The woman, now 22, let out a loud sob as the verdict was announced while Huffman remained expressionless as he was led from the courtroom in handcuffs.

The woman testified that Huffman raped her in the bathroom of a police substation in March 2007 after picking her up outside a Providence nightclub where she was turned away for being too drunk. She said she could not remember what happened inside the bathroom, but that she woke up later with her pants undone and her undergarments removed.

She then walked to her aunt's house and was taken to a hospital, where she says Huffman showed up to take her report.

Prosecutor Maureen Keough accused Huffman of taking advantage of an intoxicated and physically helpless woman.
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But lawyer Robert Caron attacked the woman's credibility, suggesting she had a consensual sexual encounter with Huffman and then lied about being raped because she didn't want to tell her girlfriend the truth. The woman identified herself at trial as a lesbian and said she hadn't had consensual sex with a man since early in high school.

The Associated Press generally does not identify victims of sex crimes.

Attorney General Patrick Lynch said outside court that Huffman had "grossly betrayed the trust that was put in him and the badge that he displayed." The woman's father said his daughter, who burst into tears repeatedly while testifying, is less trusting of police now and will continue to be haunted by the sexual assault.

Huffman, a patrolman, has been suspended without pay from the police department.

"The jury verdict today is an important step towards holding Officer Huffman fully accountable for his horrific actions," Providence Mayor David Cicilline said in a statement.

The woman said she was high on marijuana and had downed multiple drinks of vodka and rum before heading out to a nightclub on March 17, 2007. She was turned away for being too drunk, and testified that Huffman pulled up alongside her in a marked police car and offered her a ride home.

She said she got in the car because she felt she could trust an officer.

The trial began last month, just after several other Providence police officers were charged with other crimes.

One officer was indicted in February on charges that he assaulted a restrained man with a flashlight last fall, a beating recorded on surveillance video. And three others, including a narcotics detective and a former driver for Cicilline, were arrested last month in a State Police drug-dealing investigation that authorities say is continuing.

[big turkey]

What can you say they are not all bad though.

I liked the video I posted the best.

treat the officer like a human being and not the Fuzz or 5 0w and you will

probably be all right.

But then there are some that will take advantage and they should be taken out and shot.

Big Al

That's why I carry a firearm, because a Policeman is too heavy.

Al