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Police brutality or standard procedure?

November 28, 2012 @ 8:46 am (Updated: 9:24 am - 11/28/12 )

I spent yesterday listening carefully to the whole 28 minutes. I don't know if you listened to the whole discussion with the 911 medics, but they were asking the cops whether 'you would like us to write down if this guy was being restrained at the time.'

It sounded like they were listing all the things that they found wrong: he had a contusion, his eye was swollen shut. They also put a neck brace on him.

The cop asks if that was necessary and they were saying 'Yes, that's standard for procedures like this and it's not going to be pretty.'

And the medics seem to ask if they'd like them to write down that he was being restrained at the time. The cops say 'OK,' bought I thought it was interesting that the fire department seemed to be checking with the police department on how they might want this to be written up.

Did you also notice that we don't see the initial interaction between the suspect and the cop who ends up doing the punching because the mic isn't on. He's apparently got a wireless mic and he went off to talk to somebody else.

The suspect has his hands peacefully on the car. He's not trying to escape in any way, but his compatriots, or the people he was hanging with, they feel that something is about to happen. The one guy in the wheelchair moves away, the other guy walks away. It looks like they anticipate something bad going down here.

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Comments (3)


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  • Chuck Gould wrote...
    Was the police response consistent with the level of threat? Was there probable cause?
    November 28, 2012 9:15 am
    The dispatcher reported that a "white van" (only two of those or so in Seattle) was a suspect vehicle in a crime. The squad car pulls into a parking lot, and spots a white van with three guys standing nearby. One of the guys is ordered to put his hands on the hood of a car, the other two are allowed to leave.

    A cop grabs the suspect's wrist to put him in handcuffs. To this point, I certainly don't hear on the tape any discussion where a cop tells the suspect why he is being detained, that he is under arrest, or reads him his rights. The suspect reacts by trying to pull his wrist away. A third cop begins pushing the suspect's head down onto the hood, to restrain his body so the cuffs could be applied.

    The panicked suspect struggles.

    The beating occurs when the cop with his hand placed over the struggling suspect's mouth detects some saliva flying out. After the beat down, you can hear the cop say, "You can't assault an officer by spitting on him!"

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  • MagneticPatriot wrote...
    Dave, you could have written a better article...
    November 30, 2012 10:51 am
    Let me ask you Dave… What would you have done? I would be real interested in what you and others on how you would have handled it.

    The video - Dave, you are right, he did have his hands on the hood of the car and kept taking them off (this is where you failed to mention that in the article) Police never told him to take his hands off the car. He also turned around when he was supposed to keep his hands on the hood, again wanting to do his own thing.

    When asked a basic question of what his name was, he couldn’t even do that, and that was well before any hands on took place!

    If people want to be treated with respect they need to at least act human!

    Funny (and I actually mean sad) how tough he was before and then after when he’s crying!

    Also funny (again sad) how important it is for him for someone to take a picture and play the crying game like he’s completely innocent.

    He can’t even work with paramedics who are helping him.

    Oh by the way, medics will ask officers and general public questions in regards to all going on for both records and safety.

    This guy is looking for a payout now and knowing the city, guilty or not he’ll get one, but that is yet another problem!

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  • Police Chief David Couper wrote...
    Improving Police
    December 1, 2012 1:26 pm
    Police use of excessive force, corruption and other misconduct hurts everyone – including the police -- in terms of lost cooperation, support and trust – which, in turn, diminishes their effectiveness. That's the reality. Now what? To learn how to confront and prevent it. Follow my blog at http://improvingpolice.wordpress.com.
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