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LAPD back at it again
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| Dopey |
i duno if someone has posted this already. televised from helicopter ...how can anyone be this dumb?
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Top Stories - Los Angeles Times
Beating by LAPD Officer Airs on TV
Thu Jun 24, 7:55 AM ET Add Top Stories - Los Angeles Times to My Yahoo!
By Richard Winton, Jill Leovy and Andrew Blankstein Times Staff Writers
The televised beating of a suspected car thief Wednesday by a flashlight-wielding Los Angeles Police Department officer was described by a top department official as "Rodney King-esque," drawing comparisons with the 1991 beating of an African American man by LAPD (news - web sites) officers that led to catastrophic riots a year later.
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Television news crews in helicopters recorded the early morning car chase that ended in Compton shortly before 6 a.m. when about half a dozen LAPD officers ran after an African American man who bolted from a stolen Toyota Camry.
On the videotape, the unarmed man appears to surrender after sprinting a short distance along the concrete-lined Compton Creek channel, raising his arms and starting to crouch.
As two officers are restraining the suspected thief on the ground, a third officer is seen delivering a quick kick to the suspect and then striking him 11 times in the upper body with a flashlight. A short time after the man is handcuffed and in custody, three officers can be seen exchanging handshakes.
The LAPD and FBI (news - web sites) have opened investigations.
The case is seen as a key test for LAPD Chief William J. Bratton, who has spent the last two years trying to improve relations with South L.A. communities, particularly African Americans, with the aim of trying to temper lingering anger and resentment over past police brutality. He and Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn promised a quick and thorough investigation.
"If, after that investigation, officers of the Los Angeles Police Department are found to have violated the law, those officers ought to be terminated. They ought to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," Hahn said at a late afternoon news conference. "The community is watching. They'll hold us accountable. This is the test."
DeMaria Perry, an elected member of the Watts neighborhood council, called the beating outrageous. "I don't think I am safe with the LAPD," said the 16-year-old African American boy. "That's why people run. We don't know what to expect."
Police identified the man in the video as Stanley Miller, 36, of Compton. LAPD officers first spotted him driving north on the Harbor Freeway at Alondra Boulevard about 5:25 a.m. and chased him for about 30 minutes, mostly on surface streets.
After his arrest, Miller was treated at a hospital for what police described as scrapes. Late Wednesday, LAPD South Bureau Deputy Chief Earl Paysinger reported that Miller had said at the hospital that he had been struck in the head.
Miller has since been booked on suspicion of grand theft auto and is being held in lieu of $30,000 bail at Parker Center. He is listed on the booking report as 200 pounds and 6 feet tall, and appears to have past convictions, including for burglary and car theft.
Bratton, who was in Hartford, Conn., said the department immediately launched criminal and internal investigations.
"There is no denying that it looks very bad from what is seen on the video," he said by telephone Wednesday morning. "But there should be no rush to judgment before the investigations are completed."
In a departure from past incidents, the LAPD would not release the names of the officers involved, citing legal advice by the city attorney's office. Paysinger said several officers had been assigned to their homes and would be put on administrative leave.
The three officers seen as most aggressive on the videotape are white, Paysinger said, and none are rookies.
Department policy allows officers to use any force that is "reasonable and necessary" to make an arrest or to protect the public," said LAPD Cmdr. Eric Lillo.
Los Angeles police are allowed to use metal flashlights to strike suspects. They are supposed to use only as much force as needed to overcome resistance.
The proper use of force is determined case by case, and can take into account, for example, the level of danger posed by the suspect and whether he may be armed.
Such determinations "are very subjective, and you have to evaluate it through the cop's eyes," said Connie Rice, a civil rights attorney and chairwoman of an LAPD task force investigating the Rampart scandal.
Rice criticized the department for past rulings by its investigators that gave officers the widest margin possible. The LAPD would "rule that everything was in policy no matter how absurd it appeared to rational people," she said.
Today the department should be measured, not by whether it finds these officers guilty of wrongdoing, but by whether "they are doing a rational and by-the-book investigation," she said.
LAPD officials defended their decision to keep secret the names of the officers involved, saying legal constraints of personnel and penal codes are now more strict.
But Alonzo Wickers, an attorney specializing in 1st Amendment law, disagreed. When police use force, he said, the public has a right to know who they are. "The city has misread the law in this case," Wickers said.
Paysinger, whose bureau includes the Southeast Division, where the officers in the incident are based, termed the video "troubling."
He called for the public's patience to allow the department time to investigate.
"We have built a strong relationship with the public…. We are asking the public to believe in us," he said.
The videotape, which was broadcast throughout the day on local TV stations, looked "Rodney King-esque," Paysinger said. But such comparisons, he said, do not take into account changes in the LAPD's leadership and in public attitudes in the years since motorist King was beaten in 1991.
That videotaped beating was one of the most notorious cases of police brutality in American history and sparked the Los Angeles riots of 1992 after the officers involved were acquitted.
Daryl Gates, who was chief at the time, is often remembered for a defiant attitude toward community criticism, and some activists made reference to him Wednesday.
John Mack of the Los Angeles Urban League recalled that Gates "was quick to defend officers. He almost implied that Rodney King deserved it."
Gates' initial reaction to the King beating, however, echoed some of Bratton's comments Wednesday. Gates called the earlier incident "shocking," then said he would withhold judgment until an investigation had been conducted.
The King incident, which was followed by such other high-profile controversies as a furor over corruption and brutality in the LAPD's Rampart Division, also triggered a decade of examination and reform.
The city agreed to a federal consent decree that mandated changes in officer training and systems to track officer conduct.
Paysinger, the highest-ranking African American officer in the LAPD and Bratton's voice in South Los Angeles, has worked for two years to improve relations with former critics, particularly among African Americans.
"Chief Bratton, to his credit, has been aggressive in reaching out," said Mack of the Urban League. "Back during Rodney King, it was all-out war; it was very antagonistic. But there has been general improvement."
Changes in police attitudes have been matched by changes in community attitudes, said Khalid Shah of Stop the Violence/Increase the Peace.
People in South L.A. "were tired of the polarization that existed between law enforcement and the community," he said.
But Mack, Shah and many others said Wednesday's incident could severely test those new bonds.
Some activists were scathing in their criticism.
The incident shows that relations between blacks and the LAPD have gotten worse, not better, said Tony Muhammad, Western regional minister with the Nation of Islam. "The Gates mentality is back with Bratton," he said.
Shah, Mack and Muhammad were among dozens of community leaders whom Paysinger assembled for a meeting at the 77th Street station to explain the department's response.
The mayor and other city officials also attended, but the media were shut out. Many activists lingered afterward to urge calm and demand that the LAPD thoroughly investigate.
Hahn called on the department to conduct an inquiry that would "give confidence to the community that no one is above the law in Los Angeles."
By contrast, Councilman Bernard C. Parks, former police chief and now a challenger to Hahn in next year's mayoral race, sharply criticized the officers' actions. He said there was an appearance of poor tactics and possible excessive force on the video.
The third officer's kick "appears not to be appropriate," Parks said. "And you certainly can't justify the striking with a baton or flashlight."
Other police officials disagreed, saying officers must do whatever the situation demands when they arrest a suspect.
The Southeast Division is one of the most dangerous in the city.
Fleeing suspects there are nearly twice as likely to be armed as in the city as a whole, according to LAPD data. About one in seven fleeing suspects there was found to be armed in 2003.
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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...officerairsontv |
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| enferno |
It's L.A. what do you expect?
all cops try to 'hollywoodize' their careers |
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| nialsjd |
| the policeman should NEVER have beat up the suspect so immediately. we all know the real owner of the car gets first dibs. |
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| Boomer187 |
Yeah those criminals can never catch a break can they....
how about you stop stealing ing cars and running.
on the other hand....why don't those cops go through therapy regularly...they become psychotic if they experience a lot of crap and don't deal with it properly...
theres my two sides. |
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| ASOT100 |
| im sure some ppl become cops in LA just so they can do this kinda stuff |
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| Shizane2002 |
Imagine this...
Imagine dealing with people who absolutely HATE you and want to hurt/kill you EVERY day. Interacting with people that absolutely despise you just because you are a cop. Imagine going home after work with the death threats from the people you arrested on your mind...especially the threats aimed at your family (if you have one). The fear of people always wanting to kill you and stalk your offduty life would be hard to deal with EVERY day.
Imagine dealing with people who are so ed up that they cant ing follow the basic laws of life...Im not talking about traffic violations...but the people who abuse their families. Theft, murder, people ed up on narcotics. Imagine taking your life as it is and dealing with THAT every day.
I have all respect in the world for cops...because of what they ing go through. Which is a million times worse than whatever YOUR jobs are. I respect the police because they have it way harder than I do. And I will spend next year in IRAQ...but still thats nothing...because cops deal with fools every damn day all year every year.
Cops are there to keep the ed up losers from stealing YOUR car. Raping YOUR daughter, wife, gf, SON. Cops are there to arrest the murderers so they wont KILL other people again. And cops arrest drunk drivers who always up and think they can manage the drive home and end up always killing a car full of people LIKE YOU who dont expect or deserve it.
If I saw a cop beating the out of someone...I usually think its safe to assume that the violator deserved it. Well I mean since NONE OF YOU WERE THERE....to witness the whole thing. And since the media is has so much credibility. Its sad that some of you are weakminded enough to actually believe what you hear on tv.
If you all stopped the childish stereotyping...and actually stopped and THOUGHT before you judged...then maybe you would find it really easy to understand. Cops have it way harder than you...walk a day in their uniform...and see if YOU can handle the hateful stares and mean attitudes from just about everyone. You probably couldnt handle it...which is why I respect cops for dealing with the absolute TRASH of the nation. |
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| Rodrico |
| quote: | Originally posted by Shizane2002
Imagine this...
Imagine dealing with people who absolutely HATE you and want to hurt/kill you EVERY day. Interacting with people that absolutely despise you just because you are a cop. Imagine going home after work with the death threats from the people you arrested on your mind...especially the threats aimed at your family (if you have one). The fear of people always wanting to kill you and stalk your offduty life would be hard to deal with EVERY day.
Imagine dealing with people who are so ed up that they cant ing follow the basic laws of life...Im not talking about traffic violations...but the people who abuse their families. Theft, murder, people ed up on narcotics. Imagine taking your life as it is and dealing with THAT every day.
I have all respect in the world for cops...because of what they ing go through. Which is a million times worse than whatever YOUR jobs are. I respect the police because they have it way harder than I do. And I will spend next year in IRAQ...but still thats nothing...because cops deal with fools every damn day all year every year.
Cops are there to keep the ed up losers from stealing YOUR car. Raping YOUR daughter, wife, gf, SON. Cops are there to arrest the murderers so they wont KILL other people again. And cops arrest drunk drivers who always up and think they can manage the drive home and end up always killing a car full of people LIKE YOU who dont expect or deserve it.
If I saw a cop beating the out of someone...I usually think its safe to assume that the violator deserved it. Well I mean since NONE OF YOU WERE THERE....to witness the whole thing. And since the media is has so much credibility. Its sad that some of you are weakminded enough to actually believe what you hear on tv.
If you all stopped the childish stereotyping...and actually stopped and THOUGHT before you judged...then maybe you would find it really easy to understand. Cops have it way harder than you...walk a day in their uniform...and see if YOU can handle the hateful stares and mean attitudes from just about everyone. You probably couldnt handle it...which is why I respect cops for dealing with the absolute TRASH of the nation. |
Honestly, shut the fack up, this is the biggest crock of I've ever heard. News Flash! Cops can be just as corrupt and some are worse than the common criminals. You give too much credit to a group of people who are only "human". No cop has the right to beat someone just because they have gone through some traumatic life experience and its their way of releasing it. It's their choice to become an enforcer of the law and with that, they must abide by the law and human rights, even against those who are criminals. If they cant handle it? then leave the force, or become a meter maid. When a cop turns bad they should get the law handed back to them on a silver in platter, and eat it nicely. I cant even believe your even trying to justify stuff like Rodney King or the thousands of other cases across North America for obvious racial discrimination and obvious lack of care for the law these men and women have.
There is no excuse for the weak willed who are entrusted with authority and power over the common man. If they did beat this man, then they should be removed from duty and perhaps after a few years of therapy, or jail time, be allowed back to try and "serve and protect" the people.
No man has the right to take the law into his own hands, even a police officer. |
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| Boomer187 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Shizane2002
If you all stopped the childish stereotyping...and actually stopped and THOUGHT before you judged...then maybe you would find it really easy to understand. Cops have it way harder than you...walk a day in their uniform...and see if YOU can handle the hateful stares and mean attitudes from just about everyone. You probably couldnt handle it...which is why I respect cops for dealing with the absolute TRASH of the nation. |
dude, you are stereotyping cops. They are not all good. I ahve a lot more respect for cops than most, but I know there are still good ones, and bad ones.
This was caught on tape, you can watch what happens, so you are there.
I think what you said would be true if you replaced the word cops, with the words good cops. Those are the ones that deserve respect.
I just wish everyopne didn't paint entire police departments with the same brush, I wish they would look at an individual and judge them.
besides....there are not a lot of people that want to be cops, so they are short handed, which means they have to try to offer up more pay to attract people, and they have to be less strict with letting people on the force....this leads to underfunded dpeartmetns and tools on the force.
maybe you should stop and think about the whole picture. |
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| nialsjd |
| quote: | Originally posted by Rodrico
Honestly, shut the fack up, this is the biggest crock of I've ever heard. |
you mention human rights, yet you are directly telling another person to stop expressing himself (in a rather offensive way). i guess YOU are above the law, correct?
| quote: | | No cop has the right to beat someone just because they have gone through some traumatic life experience and its their way of releasing it. |
if you are so against cops beating a CRIMINAL, how do u feel about a CRIMINAL not only beating an innocent person, but killing them, raping them, and stealing from them. yet you take the side to promote your hate for cops
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It's their choice to become an enforcer of the law and with that, they must abide by the law and human rights, even against those who are criminals. |
All a cop has to do is identify himself and warn a criminal about their presense. if they decide to run, they are presenting themself as a threat to the environment. If you want to put up a fight, it is completely protocol to disable the criminal. That was the difference between the recent incident with (sp?) Diallo and Rodney King. Diallo was never a threat, thus it was murder and the cops were punished. King decided to play toughman and we all the story from there.
why do i even bother. look, if u don't with the cops, they won't with u. u got a problem with cops, then u've probably got a problem with yourself about why u keep getting caught. |
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