Ecessive Force? Police Brutality?

[ShunNakamura]

Basically several freinds/acqaintances(I don't really hang with them.. but I got no real gripe either.. we do talk books occasionally though) got busted for underage drinking at a party. Anyways One who was a minor told the cop(when the cop went to cuff him) that he wants to wiat for his parents to get here (He also pulled his hands back slightly, since the cop from all accounts I heard was already being fairly rough). The cop then procceded to slam him to the ground.

My freind/acquantance is now reallly hurt in his face. Really looks like he come out on the wrong end of a really nasty fight. I am still trying to personally figure out how throwing someone to the ground(albeit it was cement, but I have been thrown onto cement pretty hard before, and nowhere near this damage occured) can mess your face up so bad. Someone says he skidded accross the cement... that may be true but the damage doesn't look like it was all done by a skid.

He has a black eye the size of a baseball or there-a-bouts and has bruises and scraps all around his mouth. A cut on his nose and a huge mess by the black eye. Keep in mind this is all visible nearly 30 feet away, easily visible. the wound near his eye is ripped up so bad that it is the color and size of large bandaid.. that is what I thought it was at first. However once close up I could see the ragged edges and how the wound was reccessed.

My friend/acquaintance is SMALL.. the cop if I, recall the right one, is fairly large. I'd say 200-220lbs and near or over 6'. My freind is probably around 110-130 lbs and is about 5'6"-5'7". I see no reason for the force required to do that damage, even on a cement surface. And what I find worse is I heard someone tell me that that is what they are taught at the police academy. Ever hear of a warning?

Right, the class is currently pushing him to press charges.. or I guess a tar and feather party would work as well. oh yes the cops also arested and took at least one if not several innocents down on underage drinking. The breathilizer, once they were at the station, read .00. Hmm.. looks like they weren't drinking afterall.

Anyways it turned to a huge mess, and as far as I can tell my freind's parents weren't there for the breathilizer test or for the questioning the cops did. This just sounds bad to me. The cop I am fairly certian transfered from a larger city, so that is perhaps some excuse to him.

I think it is just a bit excessive for underage drinking while at a party... not to mention the cops had been called in on the fact that it was suspected they were drinking at the party... why not bring a hand held breathilizer?I am certian our station has one.

And as an ending note; the sad thing is when one of our teachers heard about it they did not sound particually surprised that this particular cop did it. The teacher's first remark was"'such and such' surely didn't do this?!"
My friend said, "No it was 'the cop's name'"
Teacher, "Hmm..."(the way he did it did not show any surprise, and he is familar(not buddy buddy though) with that particular cop)
Class, "Figures"

yeah.. everyone figures we can at least get the cop out of town, though most think he will remain a cop.

[nik0tine]

Just sound like another case of a cop on a power trip. What he did was obviously unjustified, but cops do it all the time. People like to feel as if they are above another person. Being a cop gives you an opportunity to feel this way by exerting unnecessary amounts of power over another person.

Thankfully, not all cops are like this.

[DarkLadyNyara]

Yeah, unfortunatly, there are some cops who act like @$$es and give the rest a bad name. Most of the ones I've encountered were decent, though.

[ShunNakamura]

As a quick update.

My freind is being charged with;
Public intoxication
underage drinking
resisting arrest and
disorderly conduct

Alos the police reports stats that he FELL down, making the implication that he tripped and fell. Sorry to say if you trip and fall, you don't turn your face into hamburger. Though his black eye is much better today then it was yesterday.

The police chief basically says that it was a bit aggressive but not anything serious. And he had said to his son, who I know, that it was only a minor scrap and no real damage, but that he would talk with the officer involved.(the implication was that he would simply say, "next time try to tone it down, 'kay?")

Heh, no one aggrees with that. though when asked if *this* was little damage the reply was, it could be far worse. Which is true, but it doesn't make any more right.

Grr... this really irks me, particualy since it seems that little will be done. And apparently(hard to believe I wasn't paying enough attention before) that our police force is known to be fairly rough and downplays in thier reports.

Anyways I needed to get this off my chest, I know that a wound like that would hurt, I have suffered similar less severe injuries and they hurt. Anyways I just hope that the courts dicide that the "resisting" arrest charge is ludicris. He made a request on his rights, I do not recall that being a component of resisting arrest.

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

If you truly think wrong has been committed (which obviously you do) then try to organize people and say that something isn't right. They might not listen to you alone, but if there are many, many people saying that something went wrong and the officer was far out of bounds, they'll be much more inclined to listen.

Part of the reason guys like this get away with the things they do is because people aren't willing to stand up and demand change and reparations.

[fire_of_avalon]

He needs to contact a lawyer and start taking and dating pictures of his wounds immediately. He also needs to find out how many of his non-drinking friends saw this happen.

Things like this can be... well, I won't say remedied, but justice can be served if people are willing to press charges and provide evidence. I've seen several friends and family members treated very poorly by the police, and since it has given me a severe distaste for cops in general.

[ShunNakamura]

We got himself a lawyer, one from out of county(we aren't renowned for good/fair lawyers). And is pressing .. well I do not think it is a law suit but I am not sure what exactly he is pressing for.

As for non-drinking there are about 4-5 that said they seen at least part of it.

And he also had pictures taken and a doctor look at it the other night.. 1-2 days after it happened. Not sure exactly when just that it was done.. and he still looks bad.. particually the area that I thought was a band-aid at first.

Overall the problem comes out that even the police chief's son says there is very little that will likely happen and that there is no way in the world he would succeed at a lawsuit.

At most we could see this cop told to go elsewhere... since this guy is particually disliked in the town.


And to tell the truth what also upsets me is that I know am suspicious of cops.. which isn't a good thing. You are supposed to be able to trust law enforcers.. But now I am very cautious and make sure my wrestling senses are at thier best, no one is going to put me or my freinds(when I am around) into the cement like that for no reason, without me showing the perpertrator how it feels, cop or no cop.

And I know another part of the upseting thing is that it pisses me off that big guys do that sorta stuff to little guys, picking on someone smaller is not a way to show how strong you are!

Grr.. can't do much but offer good luck sense I wasn't there.. probably a good thing for me that I wasn't ... I can be hot tempered when someone starts beating on my freinds for no true reason.

Disclaimer: Yes I do qualify as one of the little guys(5'5 1/2" and 155lbs) but in wrestling I practice with the 215+ guys, and one of them is a blackbelt. So I really don't think his weight would have much against me if I was pissed.

(Now I wish I had a punching bag.. I am likely coming off as quite more aggressive then usual this last day or so.)