Another Police Beating Video

[Super_Dave_D]

Saw this on Fox news

A Louisiana police officer is out of a job after video shows him beating a female inmate. The entire beating, which was caught on tape, sent the female prisoner to the hospital with bruises on her face and several broken teeth. FOX 10's Troy Hayden takes a look at what happened.

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail;jsessionid=142C64AA7978232E00E867477D3E4AB3 ?contentId=5812247&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1&sflg=1

[speeder]

Wow. "She fell". Unbelievable.

[RickM]

Despite the fact that she didn't follow direction and acted like a rabid animal she didn't deserve what she ended up with. IMO, she should have been shackled to an immovable object. Isn't that SOP?

[speeder]

Rick, I think that drunks act like this all the time when getting arrested. Not saying that it's fun for the police to deal with, but this is insane if it's what it looks like. The actual cause of her injuries is missing from the tape, but I'm not coming up with any way that she could have done this to herself.

[RickM]

I agree. However, it looks to have escalated due to her moving around. I figure if she were handcuffed to a nicely anchored eye bolt this may not have happened.

[Dueller]

Originally Posted by speeder

Rick, I think that drunks act like this all the time when getting arrested. Not saying that it's fun for the police to deal with, but this is insane if it's what it looks like. The actual cause of her injuries is missing from the tape, but I'm not coming up with any way that she could have done this to herself.

Especially with her hands cuffed behind her. You'd be suprised at the number of cases where the camera malfunctions or is "inadvertently" turned off....however it is rare that such things occur when the police are vindicated.

[dhoward]

Whenever there's video running, I always block the camera and pause the tape if I know someone's about to 'fall'.

[Mule]

If everything was innocent, why did they block the camera? Since he's no longer a cop, come relative of hers should give him a little taste.

[Dueller]

On a related note, I settled a police brutality, false arrest case yesterday that had been pending for 3 years. Must have had something to do with the trial coming up next tuesday. Didn't get as much as we wanted but when both sides are unhappy with the settlement it was probably fair.

[RickM]

Originally Posted by Dueller

On a related note, I settled a police brutality, false arrest case yesterday that had been pending for 3 years. Must have had something to do with the trial coming up next tuesday. Didn't get as much as we wanted but when both sides are unhappy with the settlement it was probably fair.

The young man who worked for your wife?

[speeder]

Originally Posted by RickM

I agree. However, it looks to have escalated due to her moving around. I figure if she were handcuffed to a nicely anchored eye bolt this may not have happened.

I know that back when I worked in nightclubs in CA., it was illegal to cuff someone to a stationary object. Not sure if it applies to police, but major no-no for club security. Might have something to do with fires.

There were times when it sure would have made life easier, like when you have 20-30 people fighting at once in one large room and one or two guys are 90% of the problem. But not allowed under any circumstances. Once one of the bouncers cuffed a guy, then turned his back and the guy bolted out an exit and into the night. Got away, due to the kaos and confusion. Running through downtown LA with hands cuffed behind back. Must have at least got a glance or two.

[RickM]

Originally Posted by speeder

I know that back when I worked in nightclubs in CA., it was illegal to cuff someone to a stationary object. Not sure if it applies to police, but major no-no for club security. Might have something to do with fires.

Having watched one or two episode of Cops, I've seen people cuffed to steel benches, eye bolts, wall mounted steel bars....no rings on the floor though

[rouxroux]

A few things "not covered" by the media: She was involved in a DWI hit & run earlier that evening, she left the scene, drove app.2.9 miles north, ran off of the road, then into a light pole. (She suffered facial injuries during the wreck and was treated by Shreveport paramedics). She refused the breathalyzer test. The filming was stopped (standard procedure after a refusal for SPD). It was turned back on by the officer to document her injuries. (However I find it amusing that he looks at his knuckles 3 times during the tape....checking for cuts, bruises or blood?) A few things I do NOT like about this officer: He has had 3 other "prior scuffles". 1. he pistol-whipped someone when other force should have been used, 2. Another handcuffed person broke their arm while in his custody. 3. He has a case pending against him of excessive force while loading a teenager into a cruiser. This woman and her husband were contacted last year about how to file a complaint of brutality, but they never did. She "lawered up" with one of the most aggressive lawers here, and this should be a fun case. The officer was fired, and it seems that there was a pattern of violence with him. Who knows? Maybe she'll skate from the hit & run, the DWI and the crash into the light pole afterall.

[RickM]

Originally Posted by speeder

like when you have 20-30 people fighting at once in one large room and one or two guys are 90% of the problem.

Brings back memories of my "clubbing" days. Watching a crowd move like the waves in an ocean and a whirlpool in the middle of it all.

[Dueller]

Originally Posted by RickM

The young man who worked for your wife?

No...that incident only happened a short while ago. The one I settled was a 44 y.o. white male who was pulled over for a bogus traffic violation, then falsely accused of possession then was beat up and thrown in jail for 4 days only to have thge entire episode disappear on the docket. But not before there was a write up in the paper about the arrest for which he was fired from his job of 7 years,

[Dan in Pasadena]

Dueller, I'm just curious. Does this man have a case for a wrongful termination suit against his employer? Especially considering (I think you're saying) that he wasn't convicted of anything.

They fired him for being arrested and charged? Whatever happened to the (gulp for irony) "presumption of innocence" that only seems to exist on paper and nowhere else these days?

By the way, I am applalled at this woman's condition and ESPECIALLY of the blatant camera covering to coincide with a beating. The cop whould have been prosecuted himself.

[Mule]

And the police "union" is defending the guy. Smooth!

[Dueller]

Dan..no. Absent a written employment contract this state is not a "right to work state" but rather an "employment at will" state. In other words an employer can terminate any employee without cause so long as the termination isn't based on constitutonal protections (age, race, gender, religion, etc).

[Dueller]

Originally Posted by Mule

And the police "union" is defending the guy. Smooth!

No. Actually the city's insurance company defended him. There is no police union in this PD.
The laws protectiivng them pretty much grants immunity from civil liability so long as they are operating in the course and scope of their employment.

Trust me...its tough to win a suit against a PO.

[Mule]

There was a guy interviewed on the ABC tape who claimed to be the union lawyer.