5 Ala. officers fired for beating caught on tape

[jsarno]

Originally Posted by Missin21

If a military faction goes into a town in Iraq & rapes & murders an entire village in the name of the USA, it's a tragedy, but a cop, whose life isn't in NEARLY the danger a soldiers is, is justified for beating someone to near death because "his job is dangerous?" That's bullshit & you know it. Like I said, try having a cop abuse you a few times just because he can, like I & several of my friends, & your tune will change.

You are putting words in my mouth with the connection to the Military. If I believe that 99% are doing their jobs and we should look the other way in most cases, why would I not think that out of Military personel? However, to compare rape with someone getting "abused", don't you think that's a tad over the top? Rape should not be acceptable in ANY circumstance.

I'm sure, since you are such a supporter of the police, that nothing I've said even phases you. I'm sure you don't believe anything I've said. I don't really care to be honest. What I do really care about is this blind faith in someone simply because they have a badge. It just boggles my mind. As if the shine off the badge puts you in a trance or something & you are thereafter brainwashed-"All cops are good. Their job is dangerous. Support your local troopers."-in a typical hypnotic voice.

Funny thing is, when I read your rant, at first I thought, damn he had some awful expereinces, then the more I read and the more I saw your anger, the more I realized that you probably THINK you did NOTHING to envoke the officer, but in fact you did. Fact is, even in the cops caught on camera, the "victim" usually mouths off, or spits at them, or does some behavior that's lewd or uncivilized. I'd wager you played the same roll in your "victim" status. Guess what, I have not had the experiences you had with the police cause I actually respect them and what they do. When they come to my window, I use the word "sir" a lot. (not PIG for instance) And no, it's not a comment with a distain voice saying "what the f--- are you stopping me for sir?" When I have heard stories about "police abusing power" it's ALWAYS cause the "victim" starts shit then gets pissed when the cop ends it. Sorry, I don't believe your story that you were just minding your own business, maybe on the way to church with your suit on singing Holy, Holy, Holy, and a big bad cop showed up at your window with a gun pulled. Why not be honest with all of us and tell us EXACTLY what happened, with an emphasis on what you said and did to envoke him. A good rule of thumb when someone tells a story about someone else is that if they focus 100% on what the other party did, they likely had a lot more to do with the incident then they let on.

FYI, here is an acceptable way to speak to the police on a routine traffic stop even if you think you were not speeding:
COP- Do you know why I pulled you over today?
YOU- No sir, was I speeding?
COP- Yes, I caught you going 75 in a 65.
YOU- I'm sorry sir, I didn't realize I was travelling so fast, I was trying to keep up with traffic, but could have sworn I was travelling at the speed limit of 65.
COP- No sir, my radar had you clocked at 75...license and registration please.
YOU- Of course sir, let me get those for you. (while handing them to officer...) Sir, I am sorry my speed was over the limit, I am having financial troubles with the economy the way it is, is it possible you could let me off with a warning?
COP- Let me run your tags / license.
waiting...
COP- I decided to give you a ticket at the speed of 75 MPH, you are required to appear in court on ... day...blah, blah legal mumbo jumbo.
YOU- Thank you sir, have a nice day.

You will notice no arguing, no telling the cop he's dumb, or wrong. Always being polite even though you think you are right. Remember, you will always have your day in court if need be. Do NOTHING to try to anger him. While you might have been caught in the morning, or on a good day, he might have had a miserable day of jerks before you. These are PEOPLE! They are not machines no matter how much you wish they were. You don't want people talking to you with lack of respect, so why do it to them? I have been stopped well over 10 times in my life by the police, and I have had interaction with police (on duty) maybe 25-30 times. Not once have I had an incident because I use a good rule of thumb...treat others the way you want to be treated.

SInce I showed you a way how to handle a police officer, here is an example of a friend of mine (that thinks all cops are out to get him too) and what he did from start to finish:
COP- Do you know why I pulled you over today?
BRAD- You had nothing else better to do?
COP- You were going 45 in a 35.
BRAD- Are you upset that I was going to get to the donut shop before you?
COP- License and registration please.
BRAD- I wasn't speeding!
COP- I clocked you on my lidar at 45MPH in a 35MPH zone sir. License and registration please.
BRAD- No way, you're wrong, I wasn't speeding!
COP- Sir, I am going to ask you one last time. License and registration please.
BRAD- Here you go pig (dropped them on the ground in front of the cop)
COP- Sir, step out of the vehicle.
BRAD- What? I gave you what you wanted, what's the problem pig?
COP- Sir, step out of the vehicle now!
BRAD- This is bull-sh.. (steps out of the vehicle)
COP- Put your hands on the hood sir and spread your legs.
BRAD- (complies, but in anger and continues to cuss and make lewd remarks)
COP- (Searches vehicle...finds marijuana in the passenger seat crack.)

Brad got busted for a misdemeanor drug charge, and speeding...could have gotten worse. He had drug paraphanalia (sp?) in the trunk, and he had expired insurance (by 2 days). But the officer let him off of those. When Brad first told me this story, he left out his comments and told me how much of a jerk that officer was, and that he was profiling. (which I laughed at since Brad is white). After getting more of the info, and the officer that stopped him was Lance Ridgway (a very well respected officer that I have known for years) I knew Brad was the problem.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, respect authority and treat them like you would want to be treated, and then you won't have any problems. Be a jerk and talk back and be rude, and you are asking for problems. Simple advice.

[Missin21]

Originally Posted by jsarno

You are putting words in my mouth with the connection to the Military. If I believe that 99% are doing their jobs and we should look the other way in most cases, why would I not think that out of Military personel? However, to compare rape with someone getting "abused", don't you think that's a tad over the top? Rape should not be acceptable in ANY circumstance.

No, I agree. It was a bad analogy that I used. I apologize. I was merely pointing to the fact that when soldiers do things that are questionable, we often forget the danger these men place themselves in 24/7 for the sake of our freedom versus the police who do not.

Funny thing is, when I read your rant, at first I thought, damn he had some awful expereinces, then the more I read and the more I saw your anger, the more I realized that you probably THINK you did NOTHING to envoke the officer, but in fact you did. Fact is, even in the cops caught on camera, the "victim" usually mouths off, or spits at them, or does some behavior that's lewd or uncivilized. I'd wager you played the same roll in your "victim" status. Guess what, I have not had the experiences you had with the police cause I actually respect them and what they do. When they come to my window, I use the word "sir" a lot. (not PIG for instance)

I didn't read your whole post simply because you are running on assumptions now. Do you honestly think that because I feel this way now that I have ALWAYS felt this way?

And I have NEVER called a cop a pig to his face like that. I have always said "sir" or "officer" because regardless of what I say here & how I TRULY feel, he still has a badge...& a gun. This is where my anger stems from.

And don't forget, I also mentioned that I had a friend put in the hospital because of cops who were on a rampage. I still really don't know what that was all about. Don't really care either, at this point. Just a bunch of thugs with badges taking out their frustration on someone they could.

I don't expect you to believe this because your respect for cops is obviously far reaching & without your own terrible experiences, you simply won't believe it. I have always tried to be respectful TO a cop when he has pulled me over or stopped me in whatever capacity & have been as forthcoming & honest as possible. That has mattered little.

I know you must think that I have spat at every cop that I encountered & called them Pigs when they come up to my car simply because I have a bias against them because of my experiences. That is simply not true. I am biased & have anger towards them because they have treated me so poorly IN SPITE of my show of respect for them. I feel as though, if I were calling them pigs & spitting at them everytime I was approached by a cop, well, then of course they were abusing me. But I wasn't.

But you go on believing that all cops are wonderful & have absolutely no agenda or biases or abuse their power. My hope is that you don't have to experience that side of them, because, my friend, it is a very scary thing & not pretty. When something like that happens, you are truly powerless. And that is extremely frightening.

[Missin21]

Originally Posted by jsarno

Sorry, I don't believe your story that you were just minding your own business, maybe on the way to church with your suit on singing Holy, Holy, Holy, and a big bad cop showed up at your window with a gun pulled. Why not be honest with all of us and tell us EXACTLY what happened, with an emphasis on what you said and did to envoke him.

You just run off with your assumptions, huh?

You want the whole story? Ok.

I was driving to work one night (I used to work at UPS in Chantilly-worked there for a little over 3 years). It was around 3:15am when I passed a cop who had someone pulled over in the far right lane right near...I wanna say it's Chantilly Plaza, but I could be wrong about the name. There's a gas station there & across the parking lot is a townhouse community...it's on route 50 just past Old Lee Rd, if I'm not mistaken.

Route 50 thru there is 3 lanes & no shoulder, so he had this car pulled over in the far right lane. I was in the middle lane with a car about 1 to 2 car lengths behind me. I was driving the speed limit (which is 45mph). Next to me, about 1/2 a car length ahead was a blue minivan & behind him, about 1 to 2 car lengths back, was another car.

We pass the cop & the person he had pulled going the speed limit. I look up in my rearview & I see his lights. This cop is swerving in between the cars behind me & next to me to get behind me. The blue minivan (which I remember with astounding clarity) thinks HE is being pulled over so he starts to get in front of me & over into the right lane. I realize that, for some reason, the cop is after me. The blue minivan hasn't figured that out yet & stops in front of me, nearly causing me to rear end him. Once he realizes that the cop wants me, he bolts.

Now, I am stopped on the side of the road. At this point, we are near where the IHOP & Lowe's(?) shopping Center where there is more room for me to pull over. This guy approaches my window with his gun drawn & screams, 'HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE 'EM!' So I put my hands on the steering wheel, now thinking that this is a case of mistaken ID or something. He never pulls me from my car, but he is seething the whole time. I actually expected to see foam forming around the corners of his lips.

Once he realizes that I am not going to give him any trouble, he puts his gun away. I never say more than "No, sir", "Yes, sir" to him as he explains that I did not "yield to an emergency vehicle." I didn't argue with him as I knew this would cause more problems & I really didn't want to see the gun again. He gave me a ticket & left. Now, maybe that doesn't seem like much to you, but try having that gun in your face when you ARE obeying the law, which I was...keep reading.

NOW, I get to court. If you've ever been to court, then you know that they call cases by the cops name. So they start rattling off his cases while I'm sitting there. At one point, the judge practically had his head in his hands BEFORE he calls me. The girl who was called before me he pulled over in a similar fashion because she had an expired county sticker on her windshield...right next to the valid one which she had just gotten at the gov't center. She explained to the judge that she did not have a razor blade on her to remove the old one, but thought she was ok with the valid one until she got home, which was when he pulled her over. The judge threw HER case out.

Then I get up there & explained the situation to the judge (after reading the LAW in the DMV book before going to court which states that you are supposed to yield to emergency vehicles WHEN REASONABLE) & how there were several vehicles around me & that I did not see it reasonable to sideswipe the car next to me or slam on my brakes & meet the guy behind me via car accident. Once the judge heard the WHOLE story, gun drawn & all (that prompted the "doh: from him), he looked at the cop & asked, "What was he supposed to do?" and threw the case out.

Like I said, you are assuming way too much & obviously think that everyone who gets abused deserves it. That is my most recent run in with a bad cop. I can only imagine had my situation started out like your friend, Brad with

COP- Do you know why I pulled you over today?
BRAD- You had nothing else better to do?
COP- You were going 45 in a 35.
BRAD- Are you upset that I was going to get to the donut shop before you?

I wouldn't be here to tell you about it.

You must really think I'm very stupid. Your assumptions are so ridiculous, they are actually kind of funny...not.