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Cont: The behaviour of US police officers - part 2

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Florida cop charged after tasing man at gas station, setting him ablaze

Florida sheriff’s deputy has been criminally charged for firing a Taser at a man pumping gas, igniting a fireball that burned nearly three-quarters of his body...

...

Baerga suffered second- and third-degree burns over about 75% of his body, according to his lawyer, Mark NeJame, who said the only parts that weren’t scorched were his masked face, gloved hands and his feet.

His legal team said he has racked up $7 million in medical expenses, which they plan to recoup from the sheriff’s office, according to the news outlet.

“They’re going to cost the taxpayers in Osceola County millions,” NeJame said. “There should be consequences, because how else do we stop this type of activity for happening again?”
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https://nypost.com/2023/05/26/florida-cop-charged-for-tasing-man-at-gas-station-setting-fire/
 
A few videos that shows the day to day violations of people rights police seemingly commit on a regular basis. Not the major crimes, just the routine ignorance of the law and the way they try and circumvent peoples rights.









 
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lomiller said:
A few videos that shows the day to day violations of people rights police seemingly commit on a regular basis. Not the major crimes, just the routine ignorance of the law and the way they try and circumvent peoples rights.
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All but one of your links are not working. Sorry, I'm too lazy to fix 'em!
 
lomiller said:
A few videos that shows the day to day violations of people rights police seemingly commit on a regular basis. Not the major crimes, just the routine ignorance of the law and the way they try and circumvent peoples rights.








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I mean they aren't "major" as in no one was killed or crippled. But, I do consider kidnapping and false arrest (the WV one is that for sure), and assault with a deadly weapon (tasering without justification), to be very serious crimes. If the FBI would arrest these cops, and the US justice department prosecute them, this **** would stop in a big ass hurry. Its the only way things are going to change. Right now we expect police departments to investigate themselves and its just not going to happen.
 
shemp said:
Yep, the taxpayers always end up paying for the actions of these ******* cops.
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I mean, the public is ultimately those responsible for allowing these police to continue to operate this way. Cops put a fat thumb on the political scales, but ultimately a sufficiently animated public could reject the status quo and actually rein in their police departments if they wanted to.

Paying out damages is just the cost of doing business.
 
Far more effective than large payouts to supposedly generate public pressure would be things like:

- Altering "qualified immunity" to be not so much an impenetrable shield.
- Making it so if an officer was found to deliberately and significantly abuse their power, they can no longer be employed in law enforcement.
- Ditto for intentional and material falsehoods on police reports.

You can throw all the training sessions you want, but if they have no teeth they accomplish little.
 
I still maintain that if the FOP was made the sole liable party for court awarded damages, you'd actually see self-policing.

That last settlement shaving another $80/mo. from your retirement figures creates a natural motive to suppress or remove the "bad apples."
 
Delphic Oracle said:
I still maintain that if the FOP was made the sole liable party for court awarded damages, you'd actually see self-policing.

That last settlement shaving another $80/mo. from your retirement figures creates a natural motive to suppress or remove the "bad apples."
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Hmm

I'm inclined to say it isn't really the officers fault because it's not really a case of a few "bad apples". There is clearly a systematic issue with how police are being taught to do their jobs. If you watch video's of police interactions the same basic pattern emerges almost every time, this isn't something that will come about because you have a few bad apples, it's something that comes about because police are being trained to operate this way.

Some examples
- look for any excuse to demand ID even when they are not entitled to. Usually this amount to some version of "I think you are suspicious"
- treat refusal to give them your ID as a) suspicious activity, and b) obstruction, even though it's neither.
- look for any excuse to detain people without arresting them, even if they have no lawful reason to detain that person. Usually this amount to some version of "I think you are suspicious"
- use "officer safety" as an excuse for handcuffing and being physical with detainees, even when such actions are clearly not required.
- Anything other then complete submission is treated as resisting arrest, justifying assault even when there is no cause to arrest or even detain the person.
- demand people answer questions even when they have no legal requirement to do so.
- treat refusal to answer questions as a) suspicious activity, and b) obstruction, even though it's neither.
-claim to be "investigating" even when demanding things like ID that have nothing to do with the "suspicious activity" they are investigating. Eg. once you can confirm someone is stopped for a valid reason you don't need to to see their ID to investigate why they stopped there.


What it all amounts to is exerting control over people and looking for an excuse to demand their ID so you can run it though police databases, even though stopping people and demanding their papers is a blatant violation of peoples constitutional rights. And, like I said the pattern is consistent enough that these are clearly things they are being trained to do, not just the result of a few bad apples.

If the officers are being trained to do this, the responsibility really does fall on the government that is training them and ultimately the taxpayers that vote for that government.
 
Another one here



The commenter makes the point that the "techniques" used in this stop are part of the training for Kansas State Police. That is

- follow someone
- look for a reason to pull them over, even just a going slightly over the speed limit for a short time,
- extend the stop or conclude the stop but instead of telling them the stop is over they keep it going as a consensual stop
- attempt to either gain access to search the vehicle or just hold the person an bring in dogs to sniff around it
 
We have a quartet of officers being fired from the San Jose PD for various acts of genius, such as

Detective Ismael Lemus was arrested last year on charges of using a retired patrol car as his personal vehicle without permission. Police sources with direct knowledge of the situation said he is one of the four officers who received termination papers this week.

A second officer is accused of running the license plate of a woman he met at a community event and then later showing up at her door.

The last two officers responded to a domestic violence call and left without making any arrests, sources said. They are facing potential termination because the suspect in that case returned later in the evening and killed the victim.
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Checkmite said:
We have a quartet of officers being fired from the San Jose PD for various acts of genius, such as
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The first example is clearly a case of criminal conduct and probably ought to be treated more harshly than just an HR issue. The second one is arguably criminal as well. Maybe it's too soon to jump to conclusions, but there's a fine tradition of our society treating police criminal acts as simply workplace discipline issues rather than those deserving prosecution.
 
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Cop who dragged a Philadelphia woman out of her car and beat her during the police riots of 2020 found not guilty, in part because the judge couldn't be sure that this particular cop was one of the several cops who actually struck her, or was just present for the mob beating.

Municipal Court Judge Francis W. McCloskey Jr. said at the conclusion of a one-day bench trial that prosecutors had not presented enough evidence to show that then-Officer Darren Kardos struck Rickia Young during the chaotic incident. The episode was captured on video, which was played for the judge, but it also involved scores of other officers who were never charged, and Young did not testify — something the judge said was a significant hurdle in proving that Kardos hit her, or acted in a manner that amounted to a crime.

“There is no on-scene identifying witness,” McCloskey said in describing why he cleared Kardos of charges including simple assault and reckless endangerment.

Prosecutors had argued that Kardos “crossed the line” as he and the other officers sought to regain control of the area around 52nd and Chestnut Streets on Oct. 27, 2020. Protests had erupted there hours after other officers nearby fatally shot 27-year-old Walter Wallace Jr., a Black man who relatives said was experiencing a mental health crisis and had lunged toward police while wielding a knife.
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https://www.inquirer.com/news/darren-kardos-philadelphia-police-rickia-young-assault-not-guilty-20230612.html
 
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