Thursday, June 30, 2011

A few bad apples?

Via Snarkybytes:

Are you sure you brought enough cops?
DAYTON, Ohio (CN) - Dayton police "mistook" a mentally handicapped teen-ager's speech impediment for "disrespect," so they Tasered, pepper-sprayed and beat him and called for backup from "upward of 20 police officers" after the boy rode his bicycle home to ask his mother for help, the boy's mom says.

See, this is the thing I don't understand about the "a few bad apples" defense. So some barney with an attitude goes on a authoritah-fueled rampage against a helpless innocent. Okay, that could happen without discrediting the whole idea of police. So the other cop kicks his partner's ass and drags his bleeding body back to the station, where the rest of the department stomps him a few times and then publicly cuts off his buttons and epaulets and breaks his sword. Right? Not exactly...
"Hooper and co-defendant Officer John Howard, "fired their Tasers, striking Jesse in the back with both probes."

"Once inside the house, defendant Hooper and defendant Howard began to struggle with Jesse, who was standing against the back door with his hands up in front of his face, saying 'Please quit, please quit.'"
Well, all right. Two bad apples in the same car. It could happen. Except...
"Back-up units were requested to Jesse's house, wherein upward of 20 police officers from different jurisdictions were present.

"At no point, even after being advised of Jesse's mental challenge/handicap by Jesse's family and numerous bystanders, did defendant Hooper, defendant Howard, or any other police officer present, attempt to communicate with Jesse or explain in terms he could understand as to why Jesse was being chased.

"Jesse was handcuffed and hogtied before being placed in the back of a police cruiser.

"Jesse was charged with assault on a peace officer, resisting arrest, and obstructing official business."
22 cops, and they're apparently all bad apples. At what point do we get to throw the barrel away?

6 comments:

Carl "Bear" Bussjaeger said...

You just don't understand. You need to get Massad Ayoob to explain to you that bicycle traffic stops are among the most dangerous things those brave cops do, and they just want to go home at the end of the long hard day of beating up innocents. After all, it's really the boy's fault for not miraculously and spontaneously overcoming his mental limitations to understand why the cop needed to kidnap and beat him. And I'm sure those 20 other good apples only showed up to make sure no one made a single easily misunderstood video that wouldn't show the cops' version of events. And that hog-tying (which silly, crimianl-friendly courts have often ruled is illegally dangerous because it can cause respiratory distress and failure) was necessary to pre3vent to boy hurting himself or one of those 22 heavily armed and defenseless officers.

Really. Just ask Mas. Tell him I sent you. And that I'm still waiting for him to show up and answer the questions I asked, and not the strawman questions he tossed out instead.

Carl "Bear" Bussjaeger said...

[sigh] I really need to slow down and proofread.

Matt said...

I don't know, it could of gone worse. In Pima county, AZ they might of paused long enough for a warrant, then sent SWAT to kill him. In Maricopa County, AZ, they just shoot the mentally impaired, no fuss, no muss (except for the odd grand jury that can be manipulated away).

Joel said...

I'm afraid Mr. Ayoob and I are not on a first-name basis. Or speaking terms.

Follow-up question: How long before metropolitan police departments get nukes from the feds, to enhance officer safety?

MamaLiberty said...

You guys still waste time reading Ayoob?

Carl "Bear" Bussjaeger said...

Nope. Gave up on A-Boob back when. But my old blog posts (the forementioned questions) still get a lot of traffic.