17-year-old abused by police officer; suffers brain damage during traffic stop

[Laurie4b]

I do find 'a couple of hours' hard to believe. I'm actually really proud of my husband's agency. They have ongoing training every month on less-than-lethal tactics, deescalation(is that a word, lol) and encounters with the mentally ill.

 

Some agencies are addressing these issues.

 

That is unusual in our state. I live in a progressive part of the state and the local police station does train like this, but it is well above and beyond what the state requires, which is almost nothing on de-escalation. I have corresponded with legislators and spoken directly to LEO spokesperson, so I am not talking out  my hat. 

[ChocolateReignRemix]

I do. Not complying with the law is criminal behavior. If they don't think it's criminal behavior, then why are they stopping people for these crimes? 

 

Those are violations of the traffic code and are not criminal offenses. 

[Laurie4b]

It saddens me terribly when I read these threads, because there is so much disconnect. There is a serious lack of understanding for contexts other than your own.

 

I lived in a poverty-stricken, high-crime, African-American neighborhood for fourteen years. The next community over was a wealthy white community.

 

It is a fact that those who do not appear to be middle class are targeted and harassed by law enforcement, and it is a fact that people of color are targeted and harassed disproportionately. 

 

I realize that the kid in this incident is white.

 

Nevertheless, I just feel sad when people talk about just obeying officers, that there is nothing wrong with a "reasonable request." 

 

Actually, there IS something wrong with detaining people without cause. That is why there are laws about doing so. There IS something wrong with making requests to roll down the window or put out the cigarette--these are NOT reasonable requests unless the officer has identified a specific probable cause for detainment. 

 

Yes, I teach my kids to treat the officer like a wild animal. He is armed, and unfortunately I have personal friends who have been subjected to police brutality as well as police harassment. MANY TIMES. The fact is that power corrupts. The statistics on this are far, far inadequate, because many do not report. Many fear retaliation, and many are just glad to get away when the ugly interaction ends.

 

I say this even though a dear, dear friend of ours is a police officer. Frankly, my friend is the kind of LEO everyone in this thread wants, the kind we want them all to be. My friend is ethical, moral, kind, physically fit, decisive, slow to anger, and a real hero. When we were in college together, we all knew he would be the most amazing cop ever, and he totally is. He has a son with profound autism, and he is so very, very amazing in his care for him. The fact that officers like my friend exist does not negate the fact that there is a serious problem with police bullying. 

 

Don't kid yourself--your status (your appearance) as a middle-class housewife protects you far more than you know.

 

Walk a mile in someone else's shoes. 

 

This kid was not only white, his dad was an LEO a district over from where the bad cop was. Even his dad assumed the kid had done something to somehow provoke the cop----until he saw the video. HIs son had followed his instructions exactly.   The kid had already been being harassed by LEO after being found with a tiny bit of marijuana on him in an illegal search. So his dad (who did not support the MJ obviously, but also did not support illegal searches) specifically told the kid what to do. He did it. 

 

There is a really long article about this written from mostly the father's point of view. He kept feeling that there was a mix-up somehow....until he saw the tape.  The son couldn't recall because: brain damage from being tased in the heart for 23 seconds and not being given CPR for 6-8 minutes after that. So until the dad saw the tape, he, too, was giving the cop the benefit of the doubt. 

 

And unbelievably, this brain-damaged young man is STILL pulled over constantly by LEO in that district. Really hard to say that's not retaliation. It is SICK. 

 

It is not acceptable for the solution to be that  people should just roll over to illegal searches or other forms of harassment by police. Anyone who stands up to that is protecting my rights and yours. 

 

I teach in the public schools. When I see a video of a teacher abusing a child I think she is a bad teacher and needs to be fired and prosecuted. I do not think that all public school teachers are therefore bad. Same with LEO. 

Edited June 12, 2016 by Laurie4b

[Laurie4b]

Being asked to roll your window down or put out your cigarette aren't violations of your rights.  I am not saying that people should give up their RIGHTS....I am saying that when a person is combative, argumentative, refuses to comply with very simple and reasonable requests...it's absolutely reasonable for an officer to get suspicious.

 

Yes, officers should pull people over only when they have legit probable cause, I would never say otherwise.  What I am saying is that if an officer pulls you over, comply with their reasonable requests without throwing a fit. 

 

You are mistaken as to what is a reasonable request. The courts have ruled on this area repeatedly.  Police have no reason to tell you to put out a cigarette. You do have to crack your window to pass them your license. You do not have to roll it all the way down. They are fishing when they ask you to---hoping they can better see something or possibly smell something.

 

 Police who ask you to do things that you as a citizen are not required to do are indeed violating your rights---and not just yours. They are abusing their power. It's the first step in what we've seen can become a deadly sequence.

 

I would certainly at the least verbally question  and use a cell phone to tape an LEO who asked something like that of me. And I would be doing it not just for myself but for others. And then yes, to court we go. 

[Laurie4b]

IMO, it's not a far stretch to include "cops breaking law" in the concept of "police bruality."

 

Yes, if the cop cannot articulate a legal reason for the stop, it should be ended.  But MOST of the time, when a person is pulled over, the cop DOES have a legal reason.

 

Yes, ANY police brutality is too much.  Yes, it should all be prosecuted.  I didn't say the media is blowing it out of proportion, I said they are making it seem like it happens more often than it does.  It is a serious issue...but it's not something that happens in most police/citizen interactions. 

 

How do "they" "make it seem" like it happens more often than it does? Should they not report on it when they have a video, for instance? 

 

My guess is we only know the tip of the iceberg--the cases where there are, in fact, videos. 

 

 I shudder to think what things were like before videos. Back then, I *always* assumed the LEO was in the right and telling the truth and that it was not police brutality, but police needing to protect themselves from a bad guy. Now, I would not make that assumption. 

[Laurie4b]

Consistant.  Yes.  Worth trying to reduce, yes.  But the stats posted didn't seem to indicate that 50%....or even 25% of interactions with police involve brutality.  Even if we count situations where a cop pulls someone over under false pretenses, or other instances that don't directly include violence, I don't think we are going to find that even 25% of police interactions result in cops behaving badly. 

 

Which, to me means....MOST police/cop interactions don't have cops behaving badly.

 

I don't know what relevance that has to the fact that *some* police interactions are cops behaving badly. All bad police interaction needs to stop, and that is for the sake of the good cops as well as innocent citizens.

 

Did you see that video of the teacher who deliberately pushed the kid over? Just like all teachers behaving badly need to be fired, and prosecuted, so do all cops behaving badly.  When we see a video of a teacher abusing a kid, people don't leap to the conclusion that when you say that teacher needs to be fired and prosecuted that we mean instead "All teachers are terrible." 

[Miss Peregrine]

This kid was not only white, his dad was an LEO a district over from where the bad cop was. Even his dad assumed the kid had done something to somehow provoke the cop----until he saw the video. HIs son had followed his instructions exactly.   The kid had already been being harassed by LEO after being found with a tiny bit of marijuana on him in an illegal search. So his dad (who did not support the MJ obviously, but also did not support illegal searches) specifically told the kid what to do. He did it. 

 

There is a really long article about this written from mostly the father's point of view. He kept feeling that there was a mix-up somehow....until he saw the tape.  The son couldn't recall because: brain damage from being tased in the heart for 23 seconds and not being given CPR for 6-8 minutes after that. So until the dad saw the tape, he, too, was giving the cop the benefit of the doubt. 

 

And unbelievably, this brain-damaged young man is STILL pulled over constantly by LEO in that district. Really hard to say that's not retaliation. It is SICK. 

 

It is not acceptable for the solution to be that  people should just roll over to illegal searches or other forms of harassment by police. Anyone who stands up to that is protecting my rights and yours. 

 

I teach in the public schools. When I see a video of a teacher abusing a child I think she is a bad teacher and needs to be fired and prosecuted. I do not think that all public school teachers are therefore bad. Same with LEO. 

Is there an update somewhere on his condition/progress?

[Laurie4b]

Is there an update somewhere on his condition/progress?

 

 

This article is very thorough and written from the pov of his father, mostly. (His dad is LEO in the next district and really, really did not want to believe that a fellow LEO could do something like that.) It is long, but well worth reading. 

 

It was written 7 days ago. It sounds as if the brain damage is permanent. 

 

 

https://theintercept.com/2016/06/07/tased-in-the-chest-for-23-seconds-dead-for-8-minutes-now-facing-a-lifetime-of-recovery/

Edited June 13, 2016 by Laurie4b

[Miss Peregrine]

This article is very thorough and written from the pov of his father, mostly. (His dad is LEO in the next district and really, really did not want to believe that a fellow LEO could do something like that.) It is long, but well worth reading.

 

It was written 7 days ago. It sounds as if the brain damage is permanent.

 

 

https://theintercept.com/2016/06/07/tased-in-the-chest-for-23-seconds-dead-for-8-minutes-now-facing-a-lifetime-of-recovery/

I read that one. I was curious about what his limitations are today. I'm surprised he is driving again.

[Laurie4b]

I read that one. I was curious about what his limitations are today. I'm surprised he is driving again.

 

Since the article was written 7 days ago, and the crime was 2 years ago, I assume that the description of his disability is current.