Police Brutality in L.A.
 

I woke up to a report that yet another man was brutalized by the LAPD. What's going on??

Story

I was watching that police chase on TV yesterday morning and the guy ran into another car, and was running from the cops in a stolen car. He then got out of the car when he hit a dead end and ran from the cops some more. He finally "gave up"(I put this in quotes because he might have had a weapon but didn't throw it down--it turns out he did not), threw the hands in the air and stuff. The third cop that got there was too rough on him because there were already two other cops cuffing him.

I don't know what to think anymore, I'm just glad I don't have that job.

ETA: After reading the article you posted, I can say it's nothing like the Rodney King beating, that was a disgusting display-this one was one cop, RK was 4 . The community activists they are talking about were no where near the scene. The three they claimed were being rough was really just one who was being rough and two who had the guy down to cuff. From the vantage point of the news cameras that captured it it was just the one guy.

I don't know. The videotape I saw had the victim hanging over at the waist (like bending to touch your toes) surrendering. Then one cop tackled him to the ground. OK, I understad that. Then another came in an jumped on him - considering the man had surrendered and was not noticably trying to get away, I thought it a bit excessive, but whatever. That was when the third cop came in, kicked the victim in the head, and then he pulled out the falshlight and started hitting him. And the article said 11 times! The guy wasn't resisting the arrest at this point. Why would you need to hit him? It seems a little Rodney Kingish to me...

Course, in NY the guy would have probably been shot dead :rolleyes:

PSA: NO I am not hating on all cops. My uncle was a police office in Detroit for many years. I'm hating on ignorant a**holes who abuse their power and beat on people for no reason.

I agree, this was probably an example of police brutality. There could be details that emerge that might make me think otherwise. Right now, I think the cops in question need to be subject to the same penalties as civilians (maybe worse) that behaved in the same manner. They should also be responsible for paying whatever medical bills the suspect has from the injuries they caused him.

On the other hand, the dumbass was running from the cops and this would have never happened if he had surrendered in the first place. If he hadn't been on TV, he'd most likely be spending a LONG time in prison for his stupidity. As it stands, he'll probably get off with little more than a slap on the wrist.

I just saw the video again, and sat closer to the TV this time...did anyone else see the suspect trying to turn over when the second officer got there? I dunno...I can't say it was for "no reason" simply because he ran from the cops in the first place, but what the third cop did was more than excessive.

I guess I'm just of the same school of thought at ktsnake...don't run from the cops. I had an uncle who was a police officer in NY (not NYPD) and he was shot (not killed, just shot which is bad enough) by a guy who was high on crack...so I don't have a whole lot of sympathy for people who run from the cops.

So why didn't the other two cops stop him?

While one shouldn't run from cops, It is brutality when someone of authority exercises excessive force on an unarmed person (black/white/whatever). Too bad they won't be any type of discipline for these few and corrupted police officers.

But then again, this is not a new phenomenon.

When someone runs from the police, it's reasonable to assume that they are armed. You just never know really. It's understandable what they did given the situation, but that doesn't make it appropriate. There's an underlying aspect to this that I don't think anyone is talking about though and I'm a little hesitant to bring it out...

Would this have happened if the suspect had been white?

If it had happened to the suspect and the suspect had been white, would there be such an outcry?

-- Two questions that I think we should be investigating.

The underlying problem is, of course, racial. Maybe that's why noone is talking about it b/c its that obvious. Its a known fact that the police profile, arrest and abuse african-americans (or minorities) more than they do caucasians. There has been studies done on this (taking a police in america class). Add resisting arrest, too much discretion given to cops, and the LAPD, and you have a recipe for disaster. I don't think all police officers are abusive of their given authority but the departments need to do something about improve the displice of its officers. In fact, in LA officers were fired before they can report a partner who misused their authority.

In my experience in the criminal defense world, this is so true, and I don't understand why more people aren't really pissed off about it.

Well, it's because, as many people have shown on this very site, when we talk about things like this people jump and say that all we do is whine about racism or (my favorite) play the "race card" like we're just imagining these problems.

Let the record show that a white person brought the subject up on this thread.

So it's okay to discuss now, right?:D

Just quote the above message if you are accused of playing a "race card".

Unfortunately, sometimes the race card is used in situations where it probably shouldn't be (like OJ Simpson's case in my opinion). That is where we get numbed to racial issues and the water becomes muddy as to what is really a racial problem and what is not.

LOL! Yes, please continue...

As long as a person's racial catergory is so closely tied to their life chances race will always be an issues, IMHO.