Seattle Police Defend Own

[Ghostwriter]

Sorry but thie is inexcusable. They were jaywalking for goodness sakes.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/06/16...est=latestnews

[PiKA2001]

I guess jaywalking is serious business in Seattle.

[DrPhil]

Since when are police allowed to punch people regardless of what was happening? This isn't about self-defense or officers hitting people back.

I agree with the guy who said "why'd you have to hit her with closed fists?" He couldn't taken her to the ground or anything to handcuff her.

That idiot spokesperson said "officers are trained in boxing with closed fists....."

I agree that being a solo officer surrounded by people can be terrifying but the people surrounding this officer weren't being aggressive or turning on him. Police departments need to be honest and acknowledge that much of this is just an adrenaline rush and officers playing "quines mas macho" rather than proper protocol for officers to protect themselves and public safety.

[cheerfulgreek]

Originally Posted by PiKA2001

I guess jaywalking is serious business in Seattle.

lol

[Senusret I]

I agree with the police officer and the guild.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by Senusret I

I agree with the police officer and the guild.

Of course.

I have now watched the tape 4 times. I wish I could see what happened right when the teen jaywalkers got stopped. I assume they were pissed to get stopped for jaywalking. They were dumb if they began talking trash and being aggressive when they were being ticketed. Being a smartass to an officer happens but it should never be aggressive or anything that leads the officer to believe she/he is being verbally or physically threatened.

I still don't agree with the punch.

[Ghostwriter]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

I still don't agree with the punch.

Agree, this does not rise to the level of physical violence shown regardless of what they said. The officer is, or at least should be, trained on how to defuse these type situations.

Sounds like a Barney Fife to me.

[IrishLake]

Originally Posted by Senusret I

I agree with the police officer and the guild.

I do too, for the most part. Looks like a pretty busy road they were crossing. Maybe they almost caused an accident? Cop can't ignore that. There's always 2 sides to every story. The punch maybe was excessive, but he definately had to do something to get the 2 girls under control, into his car, and him into the car until back-up arrived. It easily could have turned into a mob type situation.

[WinniBug]

Why weren't they respecting the officer? They were hitting and yelling at him and everyone around was taking pictures and egging them on. I agree the punch probably took it too far, but WTH...it WOULD be scary to be that officer, out there doing the right thing (your JOB), with no back-up and the crowd behaving that way!! Who's to say that when she went to hit him, someone else wasn't going to try and knock him down and take his weapon?

[Kevin]

I watched the video and saw nothing wrong. He should have broken out his tazer and pepper spray and arrested both of those women for felony assaulting an officer. They should do hard time for behaving like that. They are not victims.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by PiKA2001

I guess jaywalking is serious business in Seattle.

Originally Posted by Ghostwriter

Sounds like a Barney Fife to me.

LOL. I really did find this picture before I read this part of your post.

[TonyB06]

There is a middle ground here. Nobody can put themselves in the officers' mind and feel his level of "threat" in the immediacy of that situation. That being said, officers train rigorously in assessing/handling threat. He didn't immediately draw his weapon on the girl. Why? He'd made an initial calculation that such a step wasn't necessary.

From that, you'd think there was a successful control/take down maneuver that likely would have subdued a 17-year-old girl, something short of a closed fist to the face.

I study martial arts (taekwondo). Training involves using self-defense techniques sufficient to the threat faced. An attacking stranger on a dark street at midnight is likely to get a far more forceful technique response than, say, a friend's uncle who has had too much to drink at the family picnic, where a more controlling technique (i.e. a joint lock) might suffice to stop the behavior.

Again, videotaped replay makes it easy to second-guess the cops' action in the heat of the situation, but it seems like something short of what happened, perhaps should have occured.

Sad situation.

[Kevin]

Rai Goulsby, Seattle Police Punch Filmer, Wanted $1,000 for Fight Footage

http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/daily...police_pun.php

[PiKA2001]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

Since when are police allowed to punch people regardless of what was happening? This isn't about self-defense or officers hitting people back.

I agree with the guy who said "why'd you have to hit her with closed fists?" He couldn't taken her to the ground or anything to handcuff her.

That idiot spokesperson said "officers are trained in boxing with closed fists....."

I agree that being a solo officer surrounded by people can be terrifying but the people surrounding this officer weren't being aggressive or turning on him. Police departments need to be honest and acknowledge that much of this is just an adrenaline rush and officers playing "quines mas macho" rather than proper protocol for officers to protect themselves and public safety.

Proper protocol is to control the situation, which this officer did. I think he should of taken her to the ground and placed her in handcuffs instead of punching her though, that's what I would have done at least. And yes, he was right in using a closed fist because that's how he was trained. Law enforcement agencys don't train officers to "bitch slap". I also don't think this guy is a Barney Fife, a Barney Fife would have let this girl beat the shit out of him. He stepped up and let this girl know who was in charge. I've seen countless videos of police officers getting the shit kicked out of them, maimed, and killed by subjects they encountered on "routine" stops. 9 times out 10 these people attack because of the perception that the cop was weak, inexperienced, or the fact that they thought they could get away with it.

[AXOmom]

TonyB06 - Very well stated. I agree that its hard for anyone to know how they would react in that situation. She was trying to prevent him from arresting her friend, one of them had shoved him, and he needed to respond, but whether the response fit the situation...idk.

To back up what Pika2001 said - there have been five police officers killed in the Seattle area in the last six months. Four were killed while they were sitting in a diner, writing reports. To say the police in Seattle are a little wary of the public these days and have every right to be is an understatement. In addition, the two girls involved had a lenghthy criminal history.