Beaten Alabama cop says he was afraid to use force

Department said the police are under intense scrutiny so any use of force can be viewed as unjust

“A lot of officers are being too cautious because of what's going on in the media," the officer said to the news site. "I hesitated because I didn't want to be in the media like I am right now."

Source

I seen this coming a mile away. I think a lot here did too. In the age of social media and where everything is recorded, I can see certain cops getting gun shy when it comes to using any type of force when trying to subdue someone and adding further risk to their own lives due to it. Of course, there are exceptions and some cops will continue to use force, however, I'm quite certain that there are plenty of good cops out there right now questioning themselves if they are even in the right profession anymore and how they are having to walk on eggshells due to the bad apple cops giving the entire Police Force nation wide a bad thuggery name.

I'm not pro-cop or against cops, but I just find this interesting and I bet we see more cases like this one come up in the future.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Is what is going on making their jobs harder/impossible since they are being scrutinized under a microscope?

a reply to: Bloodydagger

I'm glad he is OK, I think this is a natural progression and supports the idea that armed state representatives are not the solution to violent crime (nor non-violent crime).

As an individual, I imagine he would have been willing to defend himself and be held accountable for his actions.

The age of the storm trooper and the armed tax collector is either coming to an end or about to explode forth against civilized society. I expect the former because we are not idiots.

a reply to: Bloodydagger

There are an awful lot of videos around which clearly show police officers using excessive force when dealing with people (up to and including shooting people who are walking/running away). These things obviously have to stop.

However, that said, I question the idea (proffered by the media, and seemingly eaten up by the public) that "unarmed" means "incapable of doing grievous harm". So, every time someone gets shot...and it so happens they are not carrying a gun...the assumption is made that the shooting was not justified.

This incident is a good example of why this automatic assumption is unjustified.

If a police officer is caught up in a physical confrontation of some kind, and he elects not to use a weapon (even if just drawn, to act as a deterrent)...then he is effectively unarmed too - and he is now at risk. If he is up against a larger or more skilled "unarmed" opponent, then he is potentially in mortal danger...either from a physical beating, or the use of his own gun against him.

This issue is not as black and white as many would like to make it.

When this happened I questioned whether he hesitated due to media pressure.
It's not too hard to get beaten down when it's a lone cop facing 2 men.
One distracts while the other attacks and there you go - he was fortunate to not have been more gravely injured.
The comments on twitter were sickening though - no sympathy at all for a man on the ground bleeding from his head.
These clowns were cheering with delight.
Something is very sick in our society for those types of comments to predominate.

originally posted by: Bloodydagger

"I hesitated because I didn't want to be in the media like I am right now."

Of course, this is the dialog that FOP wants to push at the moment.

"If you criticize us, it is MURDER"

Yah. Sorry, police unions, it's coming, and you did it. Your behavior is why you can't have nice things. Now, you're going to be kaizened up the wazoo. It'll take some time, but it's coming.

Are we about to live in a world where a lot of cops are afraid to do their job? Also, i'd pay close attention to the job overall for the next year or so. I bet we are about to see an exodus where lots of cops quit over what is going on. A cop that is afraid to lay his/her hands on someone in any manner is here.

a reply to: Bloodydagger
Whatever..If it had been 2 Pigs on a armed civilian,the civilian would have been beaten to a bloody pulp,or killed.

originally posted by: Bloodydagger
Are we about to live in a world where a lot of cops are afraid to do their job? Also, i'd pay close attention to the job overall for the next year or so. I bet we are about to see an exodus where lots of cops quit over what is going on. A cop that is afraid to lay his/her hands on someone in any manner is here.

And they would be well advised to do so.

Time to rejoin society anyway, it's been a while.

Wait so this cop, he's alive and well right? And the criminals, are they in jail right now, or are they Scott free? I just, you know want to know...

a reply to: Bloodydagger

I think this officer had his firearm taken from him and he's embarrassed, so he made up this reason to blame "the media" instead of taking responsibility for his mistake.

He says he was being beaten up and didn't draw his firearm??? Please! That's self-defense. It's not the same at all as shooting an unarmed, fleeing man.

Where's his body cam video?

The police in the states can't or shouldn't think they have to hold back force when it's required, yet they should also not go further than needed. If they see a broken taillight, or something minor, they could stop the person, tell them about it, and be on their way without going into all the "show us your papers" and other deep-inquisition tactics. Someone who is obviously a criminal needs to be handled cautiously yet firmly, but those who show no sign of breaking any major law should not be questioned any further than needed - which in most cases is not at all.

originally posted by: Bloodydagger
Are we about to live in a world where a lot of cops are afraid to do their job?

That's how the police unions are going to try to portray it. "If you don't let me do what I want, I'll take my ball and go home".

It's supposed to scare you. OOOh, I'd better not say anything about you breaking into a home with no warrant, or shooting a dog for no reason, or murdering someone and being called on it, or ANARCHY WILL REIGN. I'd better just put up with you.

(crude summary of that attempt redacted)

No other professional does this. Go ahead, quit. Don't let the door hit your arse on the way out. There are plenty of actually good cops who'll take up the slack, and your replacement will be a better officer than you are. There are a ton of really good military guys I worked with, we had more accountability in a worse environment, and that's only gotten 10 times worse since I left. But somehow they get the job done. If the cops that can only get by when they're not held accountable for their actions all leave, it won't be a loss.

originally posted by: Puppylove
Wait so this cop, he's alive and well right? And the criminals, are they in jail right now, or are they Scott free? I just, you know want to know...

thats what people miss, this is what is supposed to happen in a confrontation, someone might get hurt, but everyone goes home. Death does not always have to come in to play.

I mean really, is anyone dead? Nail in coffin and buried? Did the criminals get away with it? What's the situation?

I do know one thing, if the cops alive, they certainly let him off better than he's claiming he would have them had he pulled his gun.

Yeah the cop got beaten, and that sucks. I feel bad for the guy I do. But unless those criminals are still running around doing whatever they want to do, the outcome here is much better than if he had pulled his gun and shot them. No one is dead.

a reply to: Bloodydagger

The end result here will eventually be a nationalized police force. See the suggestion coming from various fronts. When that happens, you ain't seen nothing yet. People will eventually get what they "want". They just won't want what they get.

originally posted by: Reallyfolks
a reply to: Bloodydagger

The end result here will eventually be a nationalized police force. See the suggestion coming from various fronts. When that happens, you ain't seen nothing yet. People will eventually get what they "want". They just won't want what they get.

That must not happen.

a reply to: greencmp

You and I are in complete agreement, but it will. I hope I am wrong, I really do.

There's only one suspect. And we don't know the story of the encounter. But the suspect is on paid leave and all the witnesses have manufactured a story that makes the suspect look completely innocent, so he'll probably get off scot free.

Oh, wait, that's not true! He's in custody, charged with several things, including attempted murder. As it should be.

I bet the cop is pretty embarrassed that the suspect was able to get out of his car and attack him and get his service weapon. I would be.

And this wouldn't be happening if not for the way cops have been acting. I know there are good cops out there, and it's WRONG for people to be beating cops up, but we don't know what happened and probably never will.

And he blames the media for shining a light on how cops have been killing people for no reason. That light needs to shine and brightly! I sure would like to see the video the from the cop's bodycam.

originally posted by: Bloodydagger

Department said the police are under intense scrutiny so any use of force can be viewed as unjust

“A lot of officers are being too cautious because of what's going on in the media," the officer said to the news site. "I hesitated because I didn't want to be in the media like I am right now."

Source

I seen this coming a mile away. I think a lot here did too. In the age of social media and where everything is recorded, I can see certain cops getting gun shy when it comes to using any type of force when trying to subdue someone and adding further risk to their own lives due to it. Of course, there are exceptions and some cops will continue to use force, however, I'm quite certain that there are plenty of good cops out there right now questioning themselves if they are even in the right profession anymore and how they are having to walk on eggshells due to the bad apple cops giving the entire Police Force nation wide a bad thuggery name.

I'm not pro-cop or against cops, but I just find this interesting and I bet we see more cases like this one come up in the future.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Is what is going on making their jobs harder/impossible since they are being scrutinized under a microscope?

I think its a good thing in the sense that cops might think twice about shooting unarmed civilians if they know they will be under the spotlight, and will instead use less lethal force if the situation allows it.

Although i do feel sorry for the good cops, who are now in a position like this man, where they feel afraid to use force thus end up having their own lives endangered as a result. A lot of the public forget or don't realise that these cops put their lives on the line every day and that they have wives, and children that they want to go home to at night.

Ive said already that body cams need to be implemented in every state, not only as a deterent for bad cops that shoot first and ask questions later, but also for the good cops who are justified in their use of force, that people might construe as in the wrong, that way they have video evidence that clears them.

The problem is, you can't really say what happened. The guy's in an unmarked with no uniform.

For all I know, he got out of the car and started some crap with the other guys, and was doing the cop swagger thing with no cop aura of protection. People say that cops have no respect, but that's not true, a lot of people don't give cops half the crap they'd get if someone just thought you were some crazy cracker with a sidearm in a nifty holster and a necktie.

Which is what might have happened here. I just don't know. If these guys didn't think he was a cop, and he got abusive, they might have just handed him his ass and left him lying there. Then they realized he WAS a cop, and took off.

From my admittedly biased POV, I'm thinking that's what happened, but I have no way to know.

He might have come up to the window soliciting donations for PAL or FOP, and the guys in the car cruelly beat him for no reason.

At any rate, it's sort of crude and unnecessary to beat someone when there's no really firm reason for doing so, and it's a lack of home training to dry gulch someone and then gloat over it.

OTOH, if I wasn't sure you were a cop, I'd probably have a hard time putting up with a lot of nonsense from some random rumphole mall cop wannabe with a shoulder holster. I got one on too, if I'm at the house. It doesn't mean you're a cop. Neither do lights in the grille, I can buy the same ones at the NAPA no question asked.

This is a really good reason why this sort of thing isn't allowed back home. A guy in street clothes in an unmarked lacks bonafides. You are not cop-like. You are a bozo with a holster and an attitude. You MAY be a cop, or you MIGHT be a total whack-a-doo with a set of lights.

I'd like to feel really bad about either side here, and I don't like that the guy got hurt. But it seems like it's a death match between a doofus and two jackasses. Neither side really rises to a level of sympathy for me.

But I see the "I was beaten because I was afraid someone was recording me" is pure recent FOP crap. It's why the Boston police commissioner is pushing for no recordings "ooo, what if someone hesitates because they might be doing something illegal and are about to get caught at it?" Well, you know, if you're not doing anything wrong, you won't get in trouble, right?