Reports are everywhere about eight Houston police officers allegedly caught on tape beating a suspect. But the worst is no doubt yet to come, when the video eventually gets released.The 15-year old suspect ran from the cops, who allegedly handcuffed then beat him after they caught up with him, not realizing their actions were captured by a surveillance camera at a self-storage facility. The FBI are reviewing the video to evaluate possible civil rights charges. Connelly concludes, "So brace yourself, Houston. At some point you may be getting yet another black eye in terms of world opinion. Not as bad as getting a beating while handcuffed and on the ground, to be sure, but not terrific either."
Mayor Annise Parker tried to describe what's seen on the security-cam footage as calmly as possible to reporters yesterday, but anytime you have to say of your police force that they're alleged to have "handcuffed the suspect and then may have beaten that suspect while he was in custody and handcuffed," it's not good.
Some things seemingly never change. It's like Chris Rock said about running from the cops in his classic video (below): "Everybody knows, if the police have to come and get you, they're bringing an ass kicking with them."
For more excellent advice on interacting with police, see the various videos and materials available from the group Flex Your Rights.
Incidents like this one ( and there are many) are the reason our youth is growing up with a lack of respect for cops.
ReplyDeleteUntil cops begin to stop acting above the law...No One wins! They (the police force) can beging to redeem themselves by first raising the bar...uphold the law with dignity, professionalism,and respect for all ALL those in the community (SERVE and PROTECT). Secondly STOP putting up the "Blue Curtain"...To protect cops who are dirty weakens your "brotherhood", by doing so you compromise the highest virtue---humanity.
It is a sad and sorry but telling comment on the increasing police state nature of Houston, of Texas, of the entire Nation, that citizens must essentially take lessons in how to avoid getting an ass-kicking from peace officers. I wonder if the cops are the target audience of videos similar to those you mention, but designed to teach cops how to avoid the delivery of unnecessary, gratuitous ass-kicking. What kind of training are these guys getting?
ReplyDeleteMany years ago, too long to remember whether it was HPD or Harris Co SO, a former officer of one of those agencies told me you can always tell if someone has ever run from the police in Houston. If they have, when they are caught, they roll up in a ball in anticipation of the beating that experience tells them they are about to get. The person who told me this, to my knowledge, has always been a credible person. It seems that this practice continues.
ReplyDeleteLOL...Maybe that Chris Rock video needs to be required viewing I high school!
ReplyDeleteMost Police offers are full of anger and hate. They want to spank you and you are not their child. While their are some people who are pretty mean and hateful, you still cannot ruff people up/ Texas is just like being in war. The prisons are full with hateful staff that want to do horrible things to you. Police are coming from all types of background witl all types of hate. Where are the Pastors for these Police?
ReplyDeleteHow does one get a copy of a video showing a "beating", when those who know it's a "beating" don't want it released?
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know how old this teenager really is? There have been no less than six news reports ranging his age from 15 to 19 years.
ReplyDeleteWhere did you see the age listed differently, 8:02? Upon reading your comment, I tried to find other ages listed for the boy using Google News but didn't see any on the stories that came up.
ReplyDelete5:53, your statement is wrong and ridiculous. "Most police officers" are NOT full of anger and hate. That statement is akin to claiming that MOST BLACK and MOST HISPANIC people are criminals or lazy. You can't generalize about groups in that way. MOST POLICE OFFICERS do their duty diligently and with respect, even when being treated with disrespect by people who have been raised to believe that all cops are bad and want to hurt you. It is a sad day when we begin to generalize and chastize police and corrections officials as a group based on the actions of a few.
ReplyDeleteI guess the ass-kickings are better than the throw-down guns and dead suspects of years past though.
ReplyDelete9:46 You obviously haven't been the victim of wrongdoing on the part of an officer nor had a loved one severly beaten by a cop. I used to think just like you. I know better now. And my experience hasn't been with one cop, it's been with several incidents where the cops were unprofessional, unreasonable, presumed guilt before innocence, and then the one who used "excessive force" against my husband. And before you jump to any incorrect conclusions, I don't do drugs, I pay all my taxes, I've had only 1 speeding ticket in my entire life, so no, I'm not a criminal. These days the "exception" seems to be when officers are public servants, instead of just doing a job for the power they have over others. The "rule" seens to be that they are exactly as 5:53 described them.
ReplyDeleteI hope you remain "innocent" to reality. Many of us have lost ours and will NEVER get it back, not even because of a few "nice" cops.
9:46...I do agree that collectivley generalizing about anyone or a group is wrong. That being said...It's the few that ruin it for the those that truely are profesional and law abiding; espeacialy when they (the dirty abussive cops) are not held accountable and dismissed from any wrong doing; placing them above the law.This weakens the bond between law enforcment and the community.
ReplyDeleteAll to often when found guilty of poor conduct,breaking policies, officers are simply given a slap on the wrist and allowed to continue wearing a badge.
A cop should be held to the law 10 times more than a civilian. At least while on duity. Meaning that ANY poor or ilegal conduct while on duity is automatic loss of job. No alternatives. Why? because they are the ones who enforce the law and MUST abide by the law to the T.
Yes I know that cops are human too...subject to make mistakes, but chaising down a person then proceeding to beat them (cuffed or not) is not in any way acceptable police conduct and is in no way excussable. Nor is it appropreate when a cop uses his lights/sirens to get through an innersection when not responding to a call (been witness to this twice),or rolling through a stop sign, and speeding (just to speed)...
I respect a person when they show me by their upright actions and forthcoming virtues (compassion, humbleness, humainitarian) for all of man kind that they deserve respect...Not because they wear a badge. Any monkey can wear a badge...these 8 Houston PIGS have proven that.
...it's time to raise the bar!
07:12, check out www.injusticeeverywhere.com Tell Packratt how you heard about his project.
ReplyDelete08:02, if a public servant or a gang of them beat anyone from 8 - 80, blind, crippled, or crazy, it's still wrong.
Machine is dead on. The bar is currently at ground level. Unions and Associations force the Good to stand up for the Bad. Grand Juries refuse to indict despite clear footage. Juries refuse to convict despite clear footage.
Bad Cops and those that love & defend them will always say don't run and you won't get beat. But when asked to explain the multitudes of instances in which Bad Cops beat those that didn't run, they’d mark them as isolated incidents or ignore the question by declaring them as only human.
*Question for all: If you witnessed a human being getting beaten by the authorities, would you assume he/she deserved it or would you call 911 and the local media outlets? Note to those that would assume and be silent, what if you later learned that it was your mother, father, or a mentally impaired neighbor?
To 7:12
ReplyDeleteFile a request under Open Records. If you don't know how to do this or need assistance, call the Texas Attorney Office @ (877) 673-6839.
2:57 thank you very much, that's very helpful
ReplyDelete5:57 I meant to say the Texas Attorney General's Office. I got their assistance in the release of two dash cam videos the police refused to release pursuant to a request under Open Records, both excessive force claims.
ReplyDeleteBTW, both plaintiffs won their cases as result of the video evidence.
"Why can't we all just get along?" Possibly because someone is beating you in the head with a stick designed to break bones? And that someone will claim immunity and be covered by co-workers up the food chain.
ReplyDeleteAre police trained well? Ahh, it depends on WHO IS RAISING REVENUE AND DESIGNS THE TRAINING. If cops' upline REALLY had their backs, they'd be training cops on the written law. Cops shouldn't have to know the law like the judge does, but he ought to be carefully trained enough to consider laws vs. rights vs. constitution, etc. For that matter, why can't the crap public schools teach people in more than one six-month civics class?
And really, why can't people stop breaking into storage sheds? The cops shouldn't have beaten the kid, but I really don't have any sympathy for him. After you've been burglarized a couple of times and lost irreplaceable items that have no value to anyone but you, its hard to work up much sympathy for burglars. I predict this kid will sue, get a couple of million dollars, and that he will be incarcerated for a felony by the time he is 21. He is a thug, and if he broke into my home while I was there, he would be a dead thug. The reason that grand juries don't indict cops and if they do, juries don't convict them in the Houston area is that we are all tired of being victimized by the thugs and burglars that prey on hardworking people. Really, we don't much care if their asses get kicked or they get shot. Too bad, don't do the crime.
ReplyDelete11:45 You have the mentality of a "rogue" cop!
ReplyDeleteAfter my husband was arrested (and severly beaten in the process) 5 of my properties were broken into, thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars of my husband's tools, equipment, etc was stolen (he is a builder). I hired 1 person to do some plumbing work in his absence. 3 of his friends robbed two of my properties. I was told by the one that he knew they had our stuff. I called the Johnson County Sheriffs Office and reported the theft. I gave them the thieves' names, addresses and phone numbers. I tried to report the theft of property from the second property. He told me I would have to go to that property and call them a second time to make that report. They did nothing to retrieve our possessions. I have no doubt these same individuals were involved in the other breakins. My husband and I became targets for theft after my husband was arrested and received NO police protection or help.
I want justice, I want our possessions back. But in getting our possessions, I would never want these individuals beaten just because they robbed from me.
Sometimes it IS necessary for officers to use force on individuals who fight them, really do try to harm them. I don't expect a cop to allow themselves to be harmed or killed. But I also don't expect them to beat someone who is not resisting them. Especially as the cop did who beat my husband, who was just trying to stay alive himself, while he is being beaten down, just because the cop was mad! The police cam video I listened to made me sick to my stomache.
What do I want done to that cop? I want him to answer for what he did that night. I want him fired! I want monetary compensation for his actions. While money cannot undo the damage he did to my husband physically, emotionally, mentally, money talks. I want him to regret his actions for as long as he lives, to effect him just as severely as the beating he gave my husband has us. He deserves a "mental" adjustment, where it will hurt him the most - his pocketbook!
Even so, I know beyond a doubt, what will be gained, will NEVER replace what has been lost and can never be given back - my belief in the legal or the justice system.
5:57 Thanks. Can the wife of the person who was beaten request & receive a copy of the video or must it be an attorney that requests it? The case against him has been ruled on, so it is not pending at present.
ReplyDeleteAnny 5:53
ReplyDeleteSo which police for do you shill for? I think anyone who has actually been on the receiving end of being treated to some of the boys in blue style doing their "duty diligently and with respect" would vehemently disagree with you. One bad cop can and should ruin the whole force's rep, because cops ought to be held to the HIGHEST standard at ALL times. If one bad apple gets in, the whole crop is tainted. By omission, if nothing else, you can't tell me his other "brothers" don't know what he's up to. Check out "tainted Justice", then tell me how cops are bastions of moral purity. Shining beacons of justice, my ass.
11:40, seems like you should check out Chris Rock's advice.
ReplyDelete8:16am Yes, the wife and any person for that matter can make a request for the information.
ReplyDeleteHere is a link to the Texas Attorney General's website if you need help on how to request public information.
http://www.oag.state.tx.us/open/requestors.shtml
Call the AG's office if the governmental agency you are requesting the information from refuses to do so. One other thing, the governmental agency cannot ask you why you want the information.
7:35 Thank you very much. You have been very helpful.
ReplyDelete