Police confuse speech impediment for "disrespect" - Tasered teen

[Drago-Morph]

http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/06/29/37770.htm and http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/family-sues-city-over-sons-arrest-1198555.html
any thought you would like to share about this

We've heard the parent's story, and it holds water. Now look at it from the cop's perspective:

Man on bike. Yes, man--kid was bigger than I am, and didn't have his age tattooed on his head, now did he? Going the wrong way, then hops up on the sidewalk. Cop's thinking, "I need to let this guy know not to do that. I'm so sick of responding to injured cyclist calls because they didn't follow the rules."

He calls out to this man... who bolts. Suddenly, the cop is thinking, "What the hell? Is he carrying something? Drugs? A weapon?" Sorry, but when you run from a cop, you give him reason to chase. So the cop pursues.

Next, this guy is running into a house. I don't know if you've ever known a cop, or participated in any training, but there's one pretty universal concept that is taught: You have no idea what this man is reaching for. That's why the whole "put your hands up!" thing.

Most of the time someone is "wrongfully" tased, sprayed, or worse, shot, it's because they were reaching into a vehicle or pocket or bag when the cop was telling them to stop. Think about it from the cop's perspective. How long would it take this person to pull out a weapon and hurt someone? Shorter than it would take the cop to think about how long it would take to think about it. Then this guy turns and starts yelling at the cop, having already demonstrated his willingness to resist.

That's why he tased the guy. He was running into his house. For what? A weapon? Back-up? Then, because he couldn't get it unlocked fast enough, he turns on the cop in a non-peaceful manner. So he attempted to use one of his non-lethals.

Then someone else opens the door and pulls the guy in! Great, now there's two of them. And then three! Three yelling people coming at you.

----

Now, yes, the kid was mentally handicapped. How did the cop know that? Yeah, he was technically a kid. Again, not to appearances, so how would the cop know? Yeah, he ran home to his mom, but the cop doesn't have a damned birth certificate. The cop was acting on the information he had available.

Sure, the mom says she tried to "explain." While fighting the officer. Have you ever been in a fight? Ever try to have a conversation, in which someone gives you information to remember, while you're fighting them? Ridiculous.

So, yes, the cop was mistaken. But not maliciously. He didn't wake up in the morning and say, "Well, time to go beat up a crippled kid. Ooh, and a bicycler."

And the mother and friend did escalate the situation, to the point that the cop had to use a baton to get things under control. Again, not maliciously. She didn't wake up in the morning and say, "Well, time to go resist arrest. Ooh, and endanger my son."

The cop was working with understandably incomplete information. The mom just wasn't thinking straight, and she acted out of maternal panic. Neither of them was doing it intentionally.

What about the part of the story where, during the chase, multiple people conveyed to the police officer that the boy was a child and mentally handicapped? The cop had this information before the chase was over and the kid resisted arrest. At the point when they reached his house, the cop should have slowed down and tried diplomacy, not enter the post-chase beatdown mode.

 

[Chrono180]

This is a prime example of why I feel that the people who hold positions of police nowadays should be put into concentration camps and exterminated like the monsters they are.

 

[Brandon237]

We all make mistakes from time to time. It's just a shame someone got a taser for it.

The police are meant to uphold the law and show other people right and wrong, and this is MUCH more than just a mistake. You can have a prefect legal system, but it means jack-squat if you have bad cops. This is just... insane. And 2 cops were there at first, not one mistake, 2. And Later a whole lot more showed up, same thing. Bloody insane. The police also threatened arrest to a neighbour for trying to explain the situation... WHAT THE HELL?! These police should be fired, arrested and get the full time for all the charges, the first article had a damn long list of them...

Police should not be above the law, they should be forced to follow it to the letter, they must be exemplars to the rest of the citizens, not empowered, entitled and aggressive jerks. This is wrong on too many levels...

 

[ICantBelieveItGoesBoom]

I don't even know why but this made me cry a little bit, maybe it's the thought of an innocent person with disabilities being beaten by those that are paid to protect the public. I don't know, I just know that this is a fucked up world we live in.

 

[evilneko]

It might not be exactly that hard to become a police officer either. During the cocaine wave in the 80s you could be hired by not being on drugs during the interview. I doubt it is hard even today.

The police force has a willingness to hire people the military rejects... what does that say?
Hell, anyone else remember the case where people where refused entrance for being too intelligent?

No not genus level intelligent, either, just ten or so points above average will get you bared from being a police office. Think that one over for a few minutes and realizes just what sort of people it leaves taking these jobs. The fact this was upheld by a court of law, that found it was not discrimination as all people need to score below a certain intelligence level,* makes it a very shocking and dark future for the police force.

*Proving the same non-intellectual categorization is required of judges...

Yeah, I'm gonna need a source on that...

 

[Del-Toro]

This article [http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/family-sues-city-over-sons-arrest-1198555.html] also includes events as described in the police report.

Based on what little info we have, it is definitely not a clear-cut case. I do however question the need to pursue a teenager for a mere bicycle traffic infraction.

Indeed, it does seem excessive. That said, it would strike me as suspicious if I, who for the sake of this am a cop (I'm not) and I try to get someones attention who literally bolts off without telling me why. Frankly, if a cop doesn't chase someone who flees over getting their attention, then 9 out of 10 times they aren't doing their jobs.

 

[xXBanisherXx]

It might not be exactly that hard to become a police officer either. During the cocaine wave in the 80s you could be hired by not being on drugs during the interview. I doubt it is hard even today.

Well, thank you for proving my point even more.

 

[Spade Lead]

If they thought the boy was trying to escape and tasered him, while it would have been over dramatic, I could understand. But really, beating, pepper spraying, calling for back up when the kid just swore and turned away? WHAT LE FUCK?

Shock shock horror police are just thugs with badges, hope the doucebag gets punished ot the fullest extent of the law.

wait, what did the kid even do? it said that the cop tried to talk to him, then he rode home, then he got brutally attacked. theres no reason for the cop to be talking to him, and not wanting to/being ABLE to talk to someone isnt grounds for an arrest.
and the second article says 'unintelligible language'. so, does that mean that if the only language you can speak isnt english you get tasered? way to be racist...

Somebody gets horribly beaten and then tasered by a cop.

How is this surprising anymore?

Tazing, pepper spraying, and beating someone for disrespect? Good to know the police aren't abusing their power.

That's all that can be said, some asshole with a gun feels powerful enough to beat down citizens for no just reason.

Why is it so hard for these american cops (you see these coming up like every week) to keep their dicks, oops sorry guns in their pants. Do your fucking job is all I have to say about it.

Police should not be above the law, they should be forced to follow it to the letter, they must be exemplars to the rest of the citizens, not empowered, entitled and aggressive jerks. This is wrong on too many levels...

I don't even know why but this made me cry a little bit, maybe it's the thought of an innocent person with disabilities being beaten by those that are paid to protect the public. I don't know, I just know that this is a fucked up world we live in.

Just another fucking stupid incident that shows that cops in America attempt to solve any incident, no matter how minor, using violence. They need to fucking wake up. Sickening.

Read this article before you jump to conclusions.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/family-sues-city-over-sons-arrest-1198555.html

Having been in law enforcement myself (The Coast Guard is a military branch, and a Maritime Law Enforcement agency), these situations are sticky. Everyone knows that if you run from a cop, it is a crime. The Mother fought the officers to prevent the sons arrest, which is itself a crime. Then a neighbor got involved. Another crime. Plus, the one thing the cop feared, that the kid was going inside to get a weapon or back-up, came true. Sorry, but the mother was asking for it. She escalated a situation that was still salvageable, until it became necessary to utilize extreme force.

Regardless of whether the officer recognized the kid or not, he was duty-bound to speak to the kid about his traffic infraction, even more so if he DID know the kid was in mortal danger because he was mentally handicapped (which a Speech Impediment most definitely is not). No, while the cops may have used excessive force (I doubt it, seeing as three people were getting violent, according to the police report), the civilians were definitely in the wrong.

This is a prime example of why I feel that the people who hold positions of police nowadays should be put into concentration camps and exterminated like the monsters they are.

Yes, because that is a really enlightened state of mind... You are a horrible person.

 

[Low Key]

At least he didn't get shot instead...

 

[twistedmic]

What about the part of the story where, during the chase, multiple people conveyed to the police officer that the boy was a child and mentally handicapped? The cop had this information before the chase was over and the kid resisted arrest. At the point when they reached his house, the cop should have slowed down and tried diplomacy, not enter the post-chase beatdown mode.

Who's to say that the officer wasn't going to try diplomacy? Maybe when he got to the kid's house he would have calmly explained the situation to the mother so that she could explain to her son what he had done wrong.
The article that talks about the police report says that the kid, once he discovered the door was locked, turned and made a violent gesture towards the officer that had just mounted the steps (to issue him a bicycle citation).
And the officers only resorted to physical action when the kid, and later the mom and friend, entered the situation.

 

[Brandon237]

Huge snip

I read the article you linked, it was still horrible handling of the situation. Police should have a few things to be allowed to patrol at all: People skills (Anyone with these would have been able to calmly talk it out with the mother after the kid was inside), Common sense (same scenario), and the ability to remain calm. (Do I even need to go here?).
The second you are pulling out tazers, you have proven that you lack at least two of those three, and should not be allowed on patrol. My dad served in the police (And most emergency services) for a long time, and he agrees that a cop pith people skills is more useful than one with combat skills, and crap like this is proof of that. The law should not come before the thought process, and those police taking a moment to actually think about the situation (acknowledging the mental handicap too) could have prevented this from getting violent. Also: chasing someone, especially someone without all their mental faculties working as they should, will cause them to panic, take it slowly, and avoid panic, the purpose of the law and by extension, law enforcement, is to prevent violence, injustice, injury et cetera. The police these days seem to cause as much violence and civil unrest as the criminals.

 

[Griffolion]

Only suing for $250K? Should be more, I also hope both police officers lose their badges and are forced to make a public apology to the young boy. The fact that the officers clearly did not go about the situation properly and listen to the individuals they supposedly 'serve' only goes to show how pigheaded they are.

 

[OutforEC]

I could rant on this topic all day, I have reviewed and looked into MANY such cases as this one and believe this stems from inadequate training, abusive personalities that gravitate to positions of authority and the governments willingness to turn the police force into a para-military branch. If you wish to learn more about all of this, just take some time out of your day to research how the police are being trained for yourself... it is all 'fear for your life' orientated that quickly puts the police officer into a mind that the citizens are the enemy....

So I will focus more on the topic at hand: The user of tasers by the police force.

The largest problem with tasers is the fact they are advertised as non-lethal deterrents. Due to the inadequate nature of the training surrounding this tool, and the under-playing of cases where they are lethal as somehow 'bizarre accidents,' is leading to a police force that does not question the use of tasers in normal situations. More and more officers believe this it is justified to use a taster for a wider range of users, including forcing non-violent individuals to comply with an order.

That above one, by the way, is one definition of torture.

The correct term for a taser is less-then-lethal, not this ridiculous catch phrase of 'non-lethal.' Less then lethal means that it has less chance of killing someone over other lethal methods. It is still, in itself, a lethal option and is meant to be treated as one with all the same rules and regulations in place to protect innocent people from gun crazy police officers.

Tasers are only meant to be used in situations where the only other option is to use a firearm!

So if you read about case where the police taser someone, immediately ask if the person tasered deserves to be shot dead. Not just if the person dies, but every time a taser is used ask yourself this question. Does this case complies with the rules and regulations about lethal use of force.

Most times the answer is no!

Bullshit. Just because you can kill someone by startling them, that doesn't mean you have to keep your voice down in case someone has a heart condition. You can't stop criminals with harsh words and nerf guns, and no offense, but all I got out of your apparent hatred for tasers is that people who don't have a clue what actually happens in the real world and those that can't see two sides to any story shouldn't be the ones investigating those that do.

 

[OutforEC]

By regulation, physical weapons can only be used if there is a serious risk of grievous bodily harm to the officers or innocent bystanders. Unarmed, though violent, resisting of arrest does NOT constitute grounds for use of a weapon. It does allow you to use physical means to detain a person but a weapon, any weapon, is still off the list.

Incorrect. Use of force continuum policies and procedures (in the United States where this incident occurred) state that if unarmed physical force is unable to defuse a situation, use of batons and tasers and other less-than-deadly tools may be implemented at the officer's discretion. This is prior to using the "threat" of deadly force, and the call is always done by the officer on the scene, followed up by investigation and legal action if his judgement is called into question as is the case here.

 

[Richard Eis]

Except it isn't time to time, these things happen about once a week and nothing is ever done about it except to sort it out through the courts. When something like this last happened in England it caused a major investigation of the police force and it wasn't even close to as bad as what this child was put through.

Your police force tortures a mentally handicapped child for amusement and your response is that it's acceptable..a minor goof and nothing needs done about it. Slaps on the wrist all round.

America, frankly, is a sick place...and the police and peoples' twisted attitude is clearly indicitive of how bad it has got when this is considered normal.

 

[ResonanceSD]

Everyone might yell at me on this (not that I care, I'm used to it now)...but why would a legally 'incompetent' child be allowed to roam free on a bicycle without supervision?

I may sound harsh, but what's stopping an 'incompetent' child on a bike from riding into traffic?

Also, this is hardly a real news story, they only state one side.

EDIT: Yeah, this sounds more realistic and credible than the OP's link

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/family-sues-city-over-sons-arrest-1198555.html

Another 'I hate cops and will only link a one sided semi-news report' thread, eh? It is amusing seeing the hate against police this site runs with. Actually, it's kinda sad.

And you provide the polar opposite, how nice.

 

[Chrono180]

This is a prime example of why I feel that the people who hold positions of police nowadays should be put into concentration camps and exterminated like the monsters they are.

Yes, because that is a really enlightened state of mind... You are a horrible person.

So, I am a horrible person for wanting justice for the people the cops beat up and abuse? Spoken like someone who has never been a victim of police brutality.

 

[Zinkraptor]

Holy hell are people -still- taking articles from courthousenews seriously?

Guys, this isn't the first time that site has caused a ridiculous amount of debate and controversy on this forum due its misinformation and extreme bias. Please, try to keep this in mind before taking every word written on that site as absolute fact. Although the stories they "report" on actually occurred, they only -ever- report on one side of the issue and leave out MANY important details.

Trust me, this case isn't nearly as one sided as Courthosuenews makes it sound.