Is This Officer Over Stepping His Bounds: Cop Lays out a Soldier

I had to watch the video a couple of times to decide who I felt was in the right or wrong.

The kid was being a jackass. If the cop had been a normal citizen that he was lipping off to I would expect him to get an attitude adjustment. The poor kid apparently felt threatened, and instead of trying to downplay the threat to calm the situation he decided to pull some chest puffing and posturing. He obviously didn't fully assess the situation and realize he was going to get his block knocked off.

I guess some kids don't realize you should use calm and reassuring tones while talking to law enforcement so that they don't get all agitated and beat the crap out of you.

The cop was obviously in the wrong, mainly because his occupation holds him to a higher standard. But what are you gonna do? Don't call the cops unless you are being killed or robbed.

You can respond to an assault with like force even if the person assaulting you is a cop.

Once he commits a crime he loses the protection of his special status as a police officer.

I'd have loved to have been that Soldier for that day...

Originally posted by havok

Originally posted by flyswatter
The kid was being stupid. That doesnt mean that the cop should have done what he did, but this kid DOES need to grow up a it.

Again...so it deserves a punch or perhaps a chop to the face?
The cop was the adult in this situation.
The young man was agitated because took a long time to respond.
Maybe he felt threatened by the fight earlier.
But this particular LEO clearly couldn't make rationals decisions.
He acted purely out of being offended from a citizen.
Poor judgement by a person of granted "authority".
So he should've handled it much better.
That's the entire problem!

Where does this LEO (and alot more) get off thinking he can do what he wants?
This "entitled" power over citizens...this blatant abuse of power they don't have!
He is there to investigate a call and calmly at that.
The young man made NO threats or had NO weapons.

The cop screwed up, no doubt about that. If he wants any sort of a career in this field, this type of thing will not happen again. But just as with most situations, a second chance should be given and he should have a chance for redemption.

"The cop screwed up" is putting it lightly.
He went far beyond the call, and instigated a much worse situation.
Just because he felt offended or whatever his reason was.
Bull crap. That LEO was twice the size of the young man.

There are a lot of LEO's out there that have this condition.
Almost like a disease of sorts.
They all think with their "power".
Of which they have little.

Much respect to those who work within their own limits.
Few, but there are some, who would've treated this differently.
And now look...it's got national attention.

If you read the part of my statement that YOU QUOTED, you will see that no, I dont agree with what the cop did. You are arguing the same point that I was. The kid was being obnoxious, but he did not deserve what the cop did.

You may see "the cop screwed up" as putting it lightly, but that is not something taken lightly by the cops themselves. They pride themselves on not screwing up. Redemption or not, the incident will follow this cop for the rest of his career in law enforcement, as it should. Being given a second chance by no means says that the incident is forgotten.

The Rambo cop assaulted the youngster without any provocation, if it had been the other way round the young guy would be sitting in a prison cell. One law for them and one law for us fools.

All these problems start at the top and trickle down to everyone else.


Nothing is going to fix this until the people at the top take responsibility and change the way they conduct business.

reply to post by MmmPie


Are you saying this is Obama's fault?

reply to post by VekTorVik


The kids attitude was wrong, for sure, but cops are not there to assess someone's attitude. It is not illegal to be a jerk to a cop, as much as some would like us to think so. A cop has no right to use force unless they are in imminent danger. That some just accept that 'you better be polite or expect to get hurt' is a great sign of the times.

Scary, scary times we live in.

ETA; Sounds like this town's police are an example of the authority hungry, bullying style that a lot of cops have nowadays. 6 People shot and killed by cops in this one town in the last year? Definitely a problem with the force, and not just this one cop.

Suckering punching cops eh?

This is why you do not call the police for help, they are not here to help you the citizen.


"What was all that moaning on the ground what was all that about? Was that because my knee was in your chest?"
WTF kind of twisted ego crap is that? He chuckles about about the knee in his chest?

"Since you got all soldiered up on me"

Forced him to use force?

Professional hard working agency?


And they wonder why there is an ex-cop hunting down cops and their families?

God Bless America.

I think the cop intended to put this kid "in his place". When he is in uniform he is there to do a job and a level of professionalism is expected at all times. He should not be fired because the soldier did challenge him, but he should definetly be disciplined.

Originally posted by swimmer15
I think the cop intended to put this kid "in his place". When he is in uniform he is there to do a job and a level of professionalism is expected at all times. He should not be fired because the soldier did challenge him, but he should definetly be disciplined.

And how exactly would they discipline him? Come to him and say NO! BAD COP! NO DONUTS! ??????


Let's be real for a minute, they probably watch the video down at the station and some laughs and a round of high fives.

reply to post by VekTorVik


No.


Not one bit. It starts with the men in charge at whatever station these corrupt individuals work at.


I live in a smaller town, and our station never gets into trouble and people don't hate cops here. People respect the men in charge, and everyone under them follow suit.


Not everything is about Obama. Problems like this existed before Obama took office. IE- RODNEY KING.

reply to post by Komonazmuk


Actually, according to the report, it was stated in the letter they received that, that is exactly what happened.

Originally posted by MmmPie
reply to post by VekTorVik

 

No.


Not one bit. It starts with the men in charge at whatever station these corrupt individuals work at.


I live in a smaller town, and our station never gets into trouble and people don't hate cops here. People respect the men in charge, and everyone under them follow suit.


Not everything is about Obama. Problems like this existed before Obama took office. IE- RODNEY KING.

edit on 8-2-2013 by MmmPie because: (no reason given)

Well said. When the citizenry feels that the cops are there to serve the public, things run smooth. When the citizenry is afraid of the cops, things dont. It really is that simple.

the changeover from police force to paramilitary crime fighters is almost complete.

When I was active duty I got into a fight with an officer and instead of "Making an example out of me" I was given a choice to either go to Captans mast or receive a anger managment class and give a lecture on the importance of maintaining dicipline within the chain of command on my own time to each department of the command. It sucked but I learned alot.

reply to post by captaintyinknots


I agree. I am not saying that the cop was justified, I am just saying that if I get aggressive with someone I don't know I would expect their reaction is either going to be
a.Defensive - apologize and try to calm the situation
b.Offensive - Try to kick my a$$

Since police officers are people and people come in varying degrees of emotional stability I would assume the kid would have been a little more cautious before bumping chests with someone bigger and backed by the "law".

I would have also assumed the cop, being older and presumably wiser, would have dealt with mouthy kids before and would have known how to appropriately handle the situation.

reply to post by MmmPie


I was just checking. I was hoping you weren't turning this into something like that.

I come from a small town that has no police officers or law enforcement.

the problem nowadays seems to be that police officers automatically assume that everybody they encounter on a callout is a potential suspect, for something, and they treat everyone as such. it's a power-trip endorsed and applauded by their peers. police officers need to remember that their original purpose was to 'protect and serve'. not to get all judge dredd on people. they represent and (are supposed to) uphold the law, not interpret it as freely as they so desire. far, FAR too may instances of police excesses are out there for all to see. it's like they don't care. it's like intentionally provocative behaviour. too many cops are salivating at the thought of an imminent confrontation, however minor, and the chance to kick some a##.

I almost can't believe the way some of you are siding with these uniformed thugs. Makes me wonder if some of you might be closet power-tripping cops, or just good little slaves and cheerleaders of authority.

This cop was well out of line. Sure, the kid could have been more respectful-- no argument there. But he was assaulted and displaced from his home-- he had every right to be upset that they took so long. And not a word of apology or explanation from the cop-- which would have been the decent thing to do, as well as perhaps calming this kid down.

Instead, the cop steps up into the kids face, then claims it was the kid who got in his face, then proceeded to assault the kid for no reason, and subtly coerced him into agreeing with the cop's account of things. ("Are we understood..." etc). later on in the video, of course, the same power-tripping cop admits that he was the one who stepped forward.

I think this cop should not only be fired, but should be charged with assault as well.

He was in no danger. He man-handled this guy because he felt his massive ego and tiny little sense of self worth were at risk not his safety. Disrespect is not an excuse for assault by the police. Ever.

Originally posted by VekTorVik
I had to watch the video a couple of times to decide who I felt was in the right or wrong.

The kid was being a jackass. If the cop had been a normal citizen that he was lipping off to I would expect him to get an attitude adjustment. The poor kid apparently felt threatened, and instead of trying to downplay the threat to calm the situation he decided to pull some chest puffing and posturing. He obviously didn't fully assess the situation and realize he was going to get his block knocked off.

I guess some kids don't realize you should use calm and reassuring tones while talking to law enforcement so that they don't get all agitated and beat the crap out of you.

The cop was obviously in the wrong, mainly because his occupation holds him to a higher standard. But what are you gonna do? Don't call the cops unless you are being killed or robbed.

I like that, a much more realistic atitude, the kid was just a kid, and it was the cop who needed stablizing, the kid just did not realise it. It is obvious the cop was not going to let the kid get away with complaining about the time it took for them to arrive.
I just had a thought, I wonder could it have been Jordan Dorner who was the one who sent in the tape to ABC?

reply to post by iwilliam


Can't argue with you there.

I was only trying to say that I think we all saw it coming. Is it acceptable, no. But in the immediate situation, which we saw in the video, the kid was assaulted. You can take action afterward, but it useless to argue with a cop. I understand that you feel frustrated and that people are accepting this sort of treatment, but what do you do. To maintain the high ground you follow the rules and file a complaint, but you still got your block knocked off. To threaten violence makes you no better than the bully.

The kid was trying to bully the cop as well, by using an aggressive tone and threatening manner. He just underestimated the affect it would have.

And yes, I do like authority and rules. They are the boundaries by which I conduct my life else I fall over the edge and am lost. So beat me up for it...