Cop fired after video shows him slamming 12-year-old girl to the ground

Officer's report was "inconsistent with the video," officials say.

Read the whole story

 

[disarmyouwitha]

"The Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas"

Boys in Blue sticking up for each other.. even when they are wrong.

This whole "Blue Lives Matter" thing makes me absolutely sick. And the racist shit they post on their FB? wow..

 

[SixDegrees]

Police suck.

 

[Meailda]

kirby14[/url]":1ejtfezk]Without the context, I don't know if this amount of force was way out of line or not. As an earlier poster mentioned, if he properly disclosed it in the report he might still be employed. Leaving this type of thing out of your report is a very bad idea though and so probably deserved what he got.

The context is "unarmed 12 year old girl not in the Marvel Cinematic Universe". So ... no. We have ALL the context we need.

Props for the "not in the MCU" qualifier.

 

[aeolist]

no0ne1-0-8[/url]":1x3xze5q]The behavior of this officer does not represent the behavior of thousands of well-meaning and well-behaved officers elsewhere

I will believe that as soon as said officers start behaving well when it comes to turning in felons in their midst instead of remaining silent or lying on their behalf.

Similarly the views of these groups do not represent those of many individual police they "represent". These slimy groups fleece departments and officers for their own gain as well as the gain of poorly-behaved individuals.

And I will believe this when the individual police start voting reformers into union positions.

 

[Gabriel1234]

My first thought upon seeing the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas say there is another side to this that could explain it and the Blue Lives Matter facebook page basically saying that the amount of force was justified was fuck blue lives, fuck'em all. After I calmed down though I looked at the silver lining. His superiors, from what little information is available here, thought it was wrong and seem to have fired him without any bullshit stories about needing time to look into it and before any of these police brutality approving groups could look into it. So at least some in charge are starting to do what's right instead of trying to shield power-crazed assholes.

edit: Upon re-reading this it was apparently a district officer. I'm not sure how that differs from a regular LEO but if Blue Lives Matter is jumping into the fray it seems to be close enough so I remain optimistic about him being fired.

 

[SixDegrees]

omegahelix[/url]":20rkgd14]"We intend to fully, fully defend this officer"

Jesus Christ. He face planted a 12 year old girl. What she did or was doing is irrelevant short of pulling out some sort of weapon. He's a grown man twice her size. This is child abuse on top of police brutality.

You raise a good point: if anyone else did this, they'd be behind bars immediately, awaiting trial on numerous very serious charges. This asshole will very likely get fired...and that'll be it. Because he's a cop, they won't bring actual criminal charges against him, no matter how richly deserved they are.

 

[Meailda]

"We intend to fully, fully defend this officer"

Jesus Christ. He face planted a 12 year old girl. What she did or was doing is irrelevant short of pulling out some sort of weapon. He's a grown man twice her size. This is child abuse on top of police brutality.

But they would be happy to take anybody (man or woman) who did the same thing to jail for assault and child abuse. Go figure.

 

[SixDegrees]

bittermann[/url]":29pflzlf]

SixDegrees[/url]":29pflzlf]Police suck.

Until you need them...amiright?

They suck when you need them, too.

 

[Meailda]

SixDegrees[/url]":4gnfn300]Police suck.

Until you need them...amiright?

Well you only need them because they take you to jail if you take care of the situation yourself.

 

[Head Pirate]

bittermann[/url]":3bns70r2]

SixDegrees[/url]":3bns70r2]Police suck.

Until you need them...amiright?

Well, unless you need them to settle a peaceful domestic dispute but because your 17 year old Son is yelling that he has a baseball bat they fire 11 rounds though your door killing your Wife and 15 year old Daughter.

Then they still suck.

 

[John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt]

That facebook link for Blue Lives Matter is a hoot. Bolding is mine.

One more example of letting teenagers think they can act like assholes and it's ok. These kids parents will be the ones you see crying on tv one day wondering "what happened to my baby?!" After they get shot for not respecting and listening to authority. Wether they're in the wrong or right, when somebody with a badge says stop, freeze or questions you.... You listen, yes it may be annoying but it's called RESPECT! Simple enough, you won't have an encounter if you're not acting like a moron. The student should should be expelled, charged, do community service & the officer should still have his job! What has this world come too?!

- 174 likes.

Here we go again....another kid, spoiled fucking brat gets handed a trophy for acting out. Shame on the district, the parents the brat. Support my police! You try ' talking' to an undisciplined brat with just there, there.....if it were my kid ...I'd be in jail...and she'd be in a hospital. How dare you disrespect authority!!!!! Backing the officer 1000% !

84 likes

"I'm sick and tired of these brats acting stupid ignoring authority. .Then calling abuse when they get what's coming to them."

47 likes

 

[azazel1024]

georgeh2k[/url]":22bgkuu1]I would have respect for the police unions if they just for once came out and said, "This officer's behavior was wrong. We will NOT stand up for him." Until then, I'm tired of police unions defending this type of behavior.

I agree, but to devil's advocate for a second, if you view the purpose of a union vaguely like that of a defense lawyer...what should they say? I mean, their purpose is to advocate for employees, get them the best benefits, pay, etc. they can. How often do unions in ANY trade stand up and say "whoooaaa man. That was totally not cool. Yeah, we don't have a problem with you kicking that scum to the curb".

I realize I don't work with a police union, but in my interactions with unions, it is solidarity to the ends of the Earth. Doesn't matter who scummy the person in question is, what they did, what evidence there is. They fight each and every termination, negative action, etc. as if you fired/demoted a damned saint

But it is horribly frustrating when you are bringing someone up on insubordination and the union is backing the employee, even with a mountain of evidence that the person is an asshole, did everything wrong, was told they needed to stop and told you to take a flying leap...but hey, according to the union, their shit smells like roses and YOU are a horrible person.

 

[cmacd]

Okay, having seen it now, two things:

1) If you make a police officer take you down forcibly...which is to say if you don't just comply and go peacefully and without incident...you have increased your odds of injury about a thousandfold. Physically subduing another human being, even a 12-year-old, can lead to injury for one or both parties involved. It's why in many or even most(?) districts, restraining a child is something a teacher must specifically be trained in [before doing it], to minimize the risk to both of them. But applying force to control another noncompliant human being is still risky, period. Even tasers, etc., are risky.

2) I suspect the majority of this officer's training over his career was focused on using force against adults. I'd wager he's had inadequate (if any) training in how to take down or restrain children, including larger children. His seemingly disproportionate use of force may stem from that. Because let's be real, if that same video featured a 20-year-old man it wouldn't even move the needle.


That said, falsifying the report seems to indicate that he knew he did something wrong, and was trying to evade consequences for it.

EDIT: In case the last sentence didn't make it clear enough, this isn't a defense of what happened, merely an attempt to understand what factors could contribute to it happening, aside from the knee-jerk "cops suck" reasoning. Like I said, he obviously realized the force was unjustified, hence the false report. It's indefensible.

 

[gandalfSVG]

I smile when these camera videos actually get a terrible person fired. Never since the invention of the printing press has so much power shifted from authority to the people.

 

[azazel1024]

John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt[/url]":tof3x1p9]That facebook link for Blue Lives Matter is a hoot. Bolding is mine.

One more example of letting teenagers think they can act like assholes and it's ok. These kids parents will be the ones you see crying on tv one day wondering "what happened to my baby?!" After they get shot for not respecting and listening to authority. Wether they're in the wrong or right, when somebody with a badge says stop, freeze or questions you.... You listen, yes it may be annoying but it's called RESPECT! Simple enough, you won't have an encounter if you're not acting like a moron. The student should should be expelled, charged, do community service & the officer should still have his job! What has this world come too?!

- 174 likes.

Here we go again....another kid, spoiled fucking brat gets handed a trophy for acting out. Shame on the district, the parents the brat. Support my police! You try ' talking' to an undisciplined brat with just there, there.....if it were my kid ...I'd be in jail...and she'd be in a hospital. How dare you disrespect authority!!!!! Backing the officer 1000% !

84 likes

"I'm sick and tired of these brats acting stupid ignoring authority. .Then calling abuse when they get what's coming to them."

47 likes

Yes well, the same people who are over supporting Trump as well. A reasonable minority of Americans are big in to authoritarianism.

 

[cmacd]

gandalfSVG[/url]":2o7j1rt0]I smile when these camera videos actually get a terrible person fired. Never since the invention of the printing press has so much power shifted from authority to the people.

Agree. Just a reminder that the Rodney King tape was just another night in LA, it was just pure luck that somebody in that era had a camera.

 

[foreignreign]

omegahelix[/url]":3lo63dht]"We intend to fully, fully defend this officer"

Jesus Christ. He face planted a 12 year old girl. What she did or was doing is irrelevant short of pulling out some sort of weapon. He's a grown man twice her size. This is child abuse on top of police brutality.

In fairness, judging from their website, they seem like a union-type so they're likely obligated to take this stance.

 

[angrysand]

superchkn[/url]"05dtmls]

angrysand[/url]"05dtmls]this is disturbing to watch. this could be anyone's daughter, sister, niece...

whats more disturbing is all the other instances of police brutality and abuse that go unseen and unpunished.

Or anyone's, you know, person. I'm sure it wasn't intentional, but having to relate a woman to someone's relative just reinforces the societal view of women being somehow less than a [male] human.

that wasn't my intention. it just make its more relateable and personal. if it were a 12 year old boy, it could have been anyone son, brother, etc, but that wouldn't be reinforcing the social view of men somehow being less than human, unless for some bizarre reason you already have that view which I can't help with.

 

[PRMan]

georgeh2k[/url]":t93te61e]I would have respect for the police unions if they just for once came out and said, "This officer's behavior was wrong. We will NOT stand up for him." Until then, I'm tired of police unions defending this type of behavior.

Read between the lines. They only said they want to make sure all his rights are upheld. They didn't defend the behavior in this case, because it's indefensible.

 

[disarmyouwitha]

bittermann[/url]":2jc2uuj5]

SixDegrees[/url]":2jc2uuj5]Police suck.

Until you need them...amiright?

I'm guessing you don't have warrants, amiright? xD

 

[zombiedog]

kirby14[/url]":usajvly2]Without the context, I don't know if this amount of force was way out of line or not. As an earlier poster mentioned, if he properly disclosed it in the report he might still be employed. Leaving this type of thing out of your report is a very bad idea though and so probably deserved what he got.

Without context? What possible context could be missing from the video besides being posessed by the spirit of Randy Savage? You can even see that it wasn't an "oops, I was going to move her and dropped her" as he visibly accelerates her into the ground. There's no misunderstanding to be made here. He abused his power and then omitted the detail hoping no one would notice. Fortunately, about 2.4 million people noticed.

 

[foreignreign]

PRMan[/url]":32ytf0b4]

georgeh2k[/url]":32ytf0b4]I would have respect for the police unions if they just for once came out and said, "This officer's behavior was wrong. We will NOT stand up for him." Until then, I'm tired of police unions defending this type of behavior.

Read between the lines. They only said they want to make sure all his rights are upheld. They didn't defend the behavior in this case, because it's indefensible.

Right, if a union decided when to and when not to take a case for one of their members based on an emotional response, then absolutely no one would have any respect for that union. Why would anyone join it in the first place?

 

[jweller13]

Law enforcement needs to invest more funding in de-escalation techniques training.

 

[dbostrom]

When are we going to see actual (not pro forma box-ticker) psych evaluation for police officer candidates? It seems clear at this point for a few warped individuals the absolute power and authority of the job is an attraction allowing them to act out some serious problems.

Given the bill of rights and constitution and their expectations, testing ought to be taken up and imposed at the federal level.

Only a few crazies in the police forces but they stink up the whole machine, make work harder for the good officers.

 

[no0ne1-0-8]

aeolist[/url]":3hhacuo6]

no0ne1-0-8[/url]":3hhacuo6]The behavior of this officer does not represent the behavior of thousands of well-meaning and well-behaved officers elsewhere

I will believe that as soon as said officers start behaving well when it comes to turning in felons in their midst instead of remaining silent or lying on their behalf.

Some do report wrongdoers. Many of the reports came from fellow officers and more often than not they were not anonymous. The personnel in internal affairs really wanted to nail the perpetrators and pushed hard for termination. Again, the extraordinary power of the union overwhelmed IA.

You are also overlooking the fact that the district attorney (or more appropriately sometimes a single assistant district attorney) is the one who decides to prosecute or not. In Texas DAs are elected at the county level, but ADAs are hired/appointed.

Similarly the views of these groups do not represent those of many individual police they "represent". These slimy groups fleece departments and officers for their own gain as well as the gain of poorly-behaved individuals.

And I will believe this when the individual police start voting reformers into union positions.

Seriously now. San Antonio police union members, which make up 99% of San Antonio police officers, voted no confidence just a few weeks ago in the police chief for failing to terminate an officer that shot and killed an unarmed man in February.

I realize defending (some) police officers might be an unpopular position, but would caution you to exert the appropriate amount of cynicism and research your facts first. Sometimes the circumstances justify more cynicism than less, but you cannot dismiss all police as psychopaths in one casual wave of the hand. On the other hand, I would feel comfortable doing that for police union lawyers.

 

[KGFish]

azazel1024[/url]":2ov37eic]

John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt[/url]":2ov37eic]That facebook link for Blue Lives Matter is a hoot. Bolding is mine.

One more example of letting teenagers think they can act like assholes and it's ok. These kids parents will be the ones you see crying on tv one day wondering "what happened to my baby?!" After they get shot for not respecting and listening to authority. Wether they're in the wrong or right, when somebody with a badge says stop, freeze or questions you.... You listen, yes it may be annoying but it's called RESPECT! Simple enough, you won't have an encounter if you're not acting like a moron. The student should should be expelled, charged, do community service & the officer should still have his job! What has this world come too?!

- 174 likes.

Here we go again....another kid, spoiled fucking brat gets handed a trophy for acting out. Shame on the district, the parents the brat. Support my police! You try ' talking' to an undisciplined brat with just there, there.....if it were my kid ...I'd be in jail...and she'd be in a hospital. How dare you disrespect authority!!!!! Backing the officer 1000% !

84 likes

"I'm sick and tired of these brats acting stupid ignoring authority. .Then calling abuse when they get what's coming to them."

47 likes

Yes well, the same people who are over supporting Trump as well. A reasonable minority of Americans are big in to authoritarianism.

NWA was right.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1M8vei3L0L8

What I also find fascinating: 10 years into cameras everywhere, no Sasquatch. Police abuse, on the other hand...

 

[PRMan]

thedrwes[/url]":yilnwk8t]It was excessive force, but if you resist, then you should be taken to the ground. Most accidents happen because people feel that they don't need to listen to a police officer. This is the problem that we need to fix, not the police officer.

They are trained to take down people who are violent offenders, and if you are not going to listen, then they will take you down in the manner that they were trained. If you think it is cool to resist them, then you have done this to yourself.

But it's only this way because nobody respects them anymore. He should be able to subdue a 12 year old who hasn't started fighting yet without potentially fracturing her skull. Talking her down should have been the first step.

 

[cmacd]

zombiedog[/url]":3j7w1ep8]

kirby14[/url]":3j7w1ep8]Without the context, I don't know if this amount of force was way out of line or not. As an earlier poster mentioned, if he properly disclosed it in the report he might still be employed. Leaving this type of thing out of your report is a very bad idea though and so probably deserved what he got.

Without context? What possible context could be missing from the video besides being posessed by the spirit of Randy Savage? You can even see that it wasn't an "oops, I was going to move her and dropped her" as he visibly accelerates her into the ground. There's no misunderstanding to be made here. He abused his power and then omitted the detail hoping no one would notice. Fortunately, about 2.4 million people noticed.

That's how takedowns work. You use rapid, overwhelming force and get it done.

I remember at ComiCon the SDPD were doing "takedown" videos for donations to their police association...you give them a couple bucks, and they'd let you record yourself getting planted into the hood of the cop car they had set up. Good for FaceBook pranks I suppose (can't imagine the liability involved there, but whatever it's their party).

Thing is, they were doing it full-force, or nearly so, from what I could tell. Funny watching some of the congoers' reactions as they got slammed into the hood, they clearly were not ready for it and it looked like it hurt. Didn't look any different than the time my local PD finally showed up to take care of the guy going through some sort of drug-fueled meltdown and trying to drag some poor woman out of her car. I spent ten minutes trying to keep him calm until they arrived. They spent about four seconds swiftly putting him down, cuffing him, and stuffing him in the car. No half-measures.

You make the cops put you on the ground, it will hurt.

As I said, I'm guessing he had poor (if any) training on better methods of taking down noncompliant kids. And he obviously realized he overstepped, given the report. This is probably more a "why using real cops in school hallways is a bad idea" problem than anything, if you ask me.

jweller13[/url]":3j7w1ep8]Law enforcement needs to invest more funding in de-escalation techniques training.

Also, this. Very much this.

 

[A.Felix]

cmacd[/url]":36pyueua]Okay, having seen it now, two things:

1) If you make a police officer take you down forcibly...which is to say if you don't just comply and go peacefully and without incident...you have increased your odds of injury about a thousandfold. Physically subduing another human being, even a 12-year-old, can lead to injury for one or both parties involved. It's why in many or even most(?) districts, restraining a child is something a teacher must specifically be trained in [before doing it], to minimize the risk to both of them. But applying force to control another noncompliant human being is still risky, period. Even tasers, etc., are risky.

2) I suspect the majority of this officer's training over his career was focused on using force against adults. I'd wager he's had inadequate (if any) training in how to take down or restrain children, including larger children. His seemingly disproportionate use of force may stem from that. Because let's be real, if that same video featured a 20-year-old man it wouldn't even move the needle.
That said, falsifying the report seems to indicate that he knew he did something wrong, and was trying to evade consequences for it.

What training? I can subdue a 12 year old girl very easily with minor harm if any at all. It's a little girl without any weapons. Do you seriously need to be trained for that unless it's in how to be absolutely careful not to inflict any damage? Lesson 1: wrap your arms around them to keep them still and hold them with their back against your chest. Lesson 2: if they're kicking and may hurt you, themselves, or someone in the immediate vicinity then grab them like carrying a large package. One arm around their torso to hold their own arms in place, and the other arm grabs their legs. You proceed to take them away.

There, training finished. It's not like a child will suddenly pull out some ninja moves on you. If someone who is trained to deal with grown men who are putting up a fight can't use a minimum force to subdue a kid, and confuses the training, maybe that person shouldn't be enforcing anything around kids. I'm not defending any kid's behavior. Yes, I know kids can sometimes be major assholes. Still, a 12 year old girl poses no physical challenge to an adult male. Pick her up, carry her away. How hard is that?

 

[sondjata]

I've seen a lot of instances where such a body slam would be appropriate (yes, even for female students) but the fact that this guy lied on his report seals it for me. If the girl was that far out of line then there would be no need to lie about what happened.

Note to police: If you think you'll have to lie about why you used the force you plan on using, it's probably excessive.

 

[KGFish]

no0ne1-0-8[/url]":12qld2yc]

aeolist[/url]":12qld2yc]

no0ne1-0-8[/url]":12qld2yc]The behavior of this officer does not represent the behavior of thousands of well-meaning and well-behaved officers elsewhere

I will believe that as soon as said officers start behaving well when it comes to turning in felons in their midst instead of remaining silent or lying on their behalf.

Some do report wrongdoers. Many of the reports came from fellow officers and more often than not they were not anonymous. The personnel in internal affairs really wanted to nail the perpetrators and pushed hard for termination. Again, the extraordinary power of the union overwhelmed IA.

You are also overlooking the fact that the district attorney (or more appropriately sometimes a single assistant district attorney) is the one who decides to prosecute or not. In Texas DAs are elected at the county level, but ADAs are hired/appointed.

Similarly the views of these groups do not represent those of many individual police they "represent". These slimy groups fleece departments and officers for their own gain as well as the gain of poorly-behaved individuals.

And I will believe this when the individual police start voting reformers into union positions.

Seriously now. San Antonio police union members, which make up 99% of San Antonio police officers, voted no confidence just a few weeks ago in the police chief for failing to terminate an officer that shot and killed an unarmed man in February.

I realize defending (some) police officers might be an unpopular position, but would caution you to exert the appropriate amount of cynicism and research your facts first. Sometimes the circumstances justify more cynicism than less, but you cannot dismiss all police as psychopaths in one casual wave of the hand. On the other hand, I would feel comfortable doing that for police union lawyers.

What you're indicating is that the problem is systemic, and not just a few bad apples spoiling the barrel. If the union is so strong it can overrule IA, we have a serious problem that goes far beyond just some cops being bad. It shows that process doesn't exist to enforce rules. It shows superiors are more interested in protecting their own than in upholding the law. It shows the entire system is rotten to the core.

 

[eldonyo]

bittermann[/url]":5b2x3jd5]

SixDegrees[/url]":5b2x3jd5]Police suck.

Until you need them...amiright?

No, you aren't.

 

[MobtownDave]

A exceptionally fit 27 man only knew of one way of dealing with a 12yr old girl which was throwing her face first in the cement.


That in a nut shell is what is wrong with Police Nation wide. They have no skills other than brutality.


He could have killed her if she had a received broken her neck or brain injury. At which point the citizens who employ this asswipe would be on the hook for millions of dollars in settlements

He should be charged with assault.

We had a bad cop fired in baltimore for spitting in a hand cuffed mans face last year.

He had also a side to his story in court, He claimed he had a medical condition which created excessive spit.


Thats the Police way. Lie.

 

[Tom Brokaw]

cmacd[/url]":1sbpj4qo]Okay, having seen it now, two things:

1) If you make a police officer take you down forcibly...which is to say if you don't just comply and go peacefully and without incident...you have increased your odds of injury about a thousandfold. Physically subduing another human being, even a 12-year-old, can lead to injury for one or both parties involved. It's why in many or even most(?) districts, restraining a child is something a teacher must specifically be trained in [before doing it], to minimize the risk to both of them. But applying force to control another noncompliant human being is still risky, period. Even tasers, etc., are risky.

2) I suspect the majority of this officer's training over his career was focused on using force against adults. I'd wager he's had inadequate (if any) training in how to take down or restrain children, including larger children. His seemingly disproportionate use of force may stem from that. Because let's be real, if that same video featured a 20-year-old man it wouldn't even move the needle.


That said, falsifying the report seems to indicate that he knew he did something wrong, and was trying to evade consequences for it.

EDIT: In case the last sentence didn't make it clear enough, this isn't a defense of what happened, merely an attempt to understand what factors could contribute to it happening, aside from the knee-jerk "cops suck" reasoning. Like I said, he obviously realized the force was unjustified, hence the false report. It's indefensible.

A bear hug would have restrained her. He doesn't get to try until he gets it right. And what is this about a 12 year old girl "making" a cop use physical force?

 

[KGFish]

trs8[/url]":355opg07]If you're going to get into fights and then resist arrest, then don't be surprised when you suffer the consequences... I've no sympathy for her.

Aside from bruises and a headache she came out fine, so clearly the officer performed the maneuver well. She went along meekly after that.

I want to hope it's a good lesson for her, but I doubt it. Right now everyone is telling her she's 100% in the right. Let's not think about how she got into that situation in the first place. This is how you get a generation of self entitled brats. You teach them all their rights but none of their responsibilities.

She went meekly? That's a new euphemism for "she was knocked out cold." Face-planting someone into the concrete is an easy way of killing someone.