Authorities probe beating video of Maryland student

[mrjarrell]

who here has never beat someone unconscious? **** happens.

You forgot the purple. I hope.

 

[ihateiraq]

You forgot the purple. I hope.

i never use purple. it keeps people guessing.

is he a sociopath or does he have a twisted sense of humor?

 

[dburkhead]

i never use purple. it keeps people guessing.

is he a sociopath or does he have a twisted sense of humor?

Is there some reason a person can't be both?

 

[Bigum1969]

Is there some reason a person can't be both?

Nope. It's called multi-tasking.

 

[dross]

Police need to be given the benefit of the doubt on judgment calls.

In this case, when the video shows that they ran over and started beating a guy, and then their report shows that they knew what they did was wrong, so they had to lie about it, the hammer should come down hard on them.

What they did was WORSE than if a group of thugs had beaten the guy in the same way. They have the benefit of the doubt of the system, and without the video, the guy would not only have been beaten, he would have been charged and probably convicted.

These guys ARE JBTs, and I'd like to see some of the vocal cops on this board come out and condemn their actions, but they are usually silent on these kinds of threads.

 

[Bigum1969]

Police need to be given the benefit of the doubt on judgment calls.

In this case, when the video shows that they ran over and started beating a guy, and then their report shows that they knew what they did was wrong, so they had to lie about it, the hammer should come down hard on them.

What they did was WORSE than if a group of thugs had beaten the guy in the same way. They have the benefit of the doubt of the system, and without the video, the guy would not only have been beaten, he would have been charged and probably convicted.

These guys ARE JBTs, and I'd like to see some of the vocal cops on this board come out and condemn their actions, but they are usually silent on these kinds of threads.

H&K did on this thread... he's a standout guy.

You make a great point about the benefit of the doubt. Great way of stating that.




BTW, I lived in Denver (burbs) for 10 years and loved driving Monument Hill in Winter time on the way to the Springs! BAM!

 

[Indy317]

The new handheld videos, even on cell phones change this. The police are terrified of it.

Speak for yourself. I am _not_ "terrified of it." In fact, I wish everything was recorded when dealing with individuals. The number of false claims, malicious or not, submitted against officers is astounding. I also wish there was a state law prescribing just how complaints were to work. My department goes right along with third party, petty complaints, from people who weren't even there. It is one thing if the third party complains about criminal actions, but when someone states an opinion they think the cop was rude when he/she didn't unlock a door, and that person's co-worker, who wasn't even present, decides to take it upon them self to call in a complaint, they should be told one thing: "Sir/Mama, if you weren't present, you can't complain in this instance. Please have the person who was there contact us if they so wish."

In fact, I was just discussing this with some prosecutors last week, to listen to the panicked spin from IPAC and NADA, I would anticipate legislation or administrative rule changes prohibiting cameras and video on cell phones once we get a Republican administration.

I doubt it will happen, though I can see why some people in the CJ system (not me) are worried. Can you give us more details? This is something that should be taken to the media. Why only a "Republican administration?" I am sure that a good # of the cops caught doing wrong likely vote Democrat. The state, whoever it is ran by, has a vested interest in keeping their wrongdoings as private as they can. I know what IPAC is, but what is NADA? Can't find anything on Google, that relates to CJ.

 

[Frank_N_Stein]

These guys ARE JBTs, and I'd like to see some of the vocal cops on this board come out and condemn their actions, but they are usually silent on these kinds of threads.

I finally watched the video just now. Those officers screwed up, big time, and are going to pay (deservedly) for their actions.

 

[Indy317]

Surely you would admit the successful prosecutions in New Orleans. Or, what about the California BART cop who was videotaped executing an arrestee? The video taped police misconduct in Chicago?

The cop haters don't want to hear it Kirk. They want to believe there are 50,000 beatings like this taking place every day in this country. They believe that every cop is out there, laying in wait, to strike. Of course what have they done to stop this? Cops are not born cops, they are _hired_. How many of the haters here ever put in an application to do the job? Yes, it is hard to get on _some_ departments, but the smaller departments are constantly hiring in my area. Wages won't be great at these departments, but enough to make a living. Plus, like with any career, you have to work your way up. If that means being an LEO for $28K/year plus a take home car (if your lucky) for about five years before getting on at a better paying department, so be it.

Again, LE is nothing more than a cross section of the population. There are numerous reasons why folks apply. All I can say is that what I am seeing in the hiring processes I was in wasn't that great. Stable jobs eventually paying into the mid $50Ks plus a company car, and they were lucky to get 120 people to show up to the physical testing phase. Back in the day, state police used to have 7,000 show up for testing. Prior to their pay matrix, they were lucky to get 700. The reason we likely are seeing more issues with police are because we are getting what we are paying for. There has to be something that is causing few members of the population to want to do the job. If more and more good people continue to leave, or not even apply, to do the job...what are we left with? Maybe we should disband the police and give folks their cut of property taxes back? That way, if you are a victim of a crime, you do your own investigation? You pay the thousands it costs for a DNA test out of your own pocket? You interview people, submit search warrant request, filed your own probable causes?

What I constantly tell the cops I work with is that they shouldn't let the power go to their heads, they shouldn't take the job personally. The only thing you should do is make sure _you_ are safe. Justice should be in the hands of the judge or jury, not theirs. There is no reason to get personally, emotionally wrapped in the job just because someone you have stopped a guy for stealing someone's laptop and he is mouthing off. I also tell everyone, cops and non-cops, that people are watching. I myself carry my own personal pocket voice recorder, and like to use it to protect myself from the numerous false complaints, some of which are malicious. Maybe we should start charging more civilians who lie on official misconduct complaints?

As far as Rule 617, I already see a major loophole in it. It only applies to interrogations in a "Place of Detention." The way it is worded, detectives could just met with a suspect stopped by a street officer and not have to record the conversation. Even if the squad cars have the equipment to record, squad cars don't see to meet the definition of "Place of Detention." Why didn't they just mandate that all interrogations _shall_ be recorded? If this means lots of people get away with crime, so be it. Let the voters choose to amend the Constitution and change the way the system works once they get tired of criminals getting off. To me, why limit it to just felony crimes and only those conversations that just happen to take place in a "Place of Detention?"

 

[Indy317]

I finally watched the video just now. Those officers screwed up, big time, and are going to pay (deservedly) for their actions.

I agree with this. More and more, cops are going to have to separate their personal feelings from the job. I find it very easy for me, others will likely find it hard. The hardest part of the job for me is anything with children involved followed by people who are victims of horrible assaults. Anything property related I can easily detach from, especially when most victims are just leaving things out. Too many cops will take things personally, even mundane petty stuff. I don't know why. Those who want to act like God, will eventually end up on video. There is a video of an Indiana excise officer on YouTube. Lets just say I would have handled things differently.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

Speak for yourself

That's all I can do. I've been battling the police over videos for some time and am the thorn in the side to IPAC that helped implement 617 (I'd like to think that my yammering about the interview with the deaf girl was the last straw for the Indiana Supreme Court on that).

Even today I have a pill case where I have been requesting video for 7 months now. I know why they did not want to hand it over .

Why only a "Republican administration?"

This was all just speculation but I believe that law enforcement has more influence under a Republican administration than a Democratic one. I have no doubt that NADA would have the Obama administration abolish camera phones today if they could but I think they will get further with a Republican administration.

I know what IPAC is, but what is NADA? Can't find anything on Google, that relates to CJ.

Oops, sorry about the jargon. It's the National District Attorneys Association.

NDAA National District Attorneys Association

For some reason people on my side call them "nada".

Ich sehe nichts. Ich sehe keine Polizeischlechtes betragen! Nada, zip, zilch, nichevo, zero.

YouTube - I See Nothing - Sgt Schultz

 

[Kirk Freeman]

The cop haters don't want to hear it Kirk. They want to believe there are 50,000 beatings like this taking place every day in this country.

Maybe not. Maybe the Wookie suit fur is in their ears.

It happens, but things are getting better and I think video is part of the reason. I remain convinced that the "bad old days" are behind us. Bringing police conduct into the light helps enforce the Constitution and helps the community (aka the jury) see what life behind the badge is really like.

You and I know that in 99.1% of the cases it is exactly what the police say. You fight for the 99, I fight for the 1.

 

[XMil]

What really bothers me about these types of videos, besides the obvious cowardly act of beating, tasing, kicking etc. someone who is not free to defend themselves is what goes on in the back ground. In many of them there are several other officers in the back ground who do nothing. Usually there isn't even a reaction and that strikes me as consent by inaction.

It also, to me at least, makes it seem like its not all that unusual. I don't know how a person stands by, without reacting to an unprovoked, vicious beating unless you are a psychopath, or maybe just used to seeing it. That makes it look like something worse than "a bad apple".

There are many examples, but a couple I've seen have been exceptionally bad. One in particular where a person handcuffed to a chair was punched directly in the face by what was almost certainly a heavy user of "the roids" was especially shocking. Three other uniformed personnel in the back ground didn't even blink.

The other was last fall when a cop at a police station, tased a guy right in the neck, who was standing with his hands of the hood of the cops car. Plenty of other cops in the background were walking around, smiling, laughing etc. They must have scheduled all the bad apples on the same shift that day.

Once again, it's not that there aren't nutjobs walking around, it's the implied consent and casualness of the bystanders that makes it look like "everyday" behavior. Hopefully video will help curb this.

 

[mrjarrell]

Oh, look! Yet another MD cop caught on video. This time with a gun in hand and the a back up plan after he got caught. I feel for the guy who taped him. So does the judge who eventually released him from jail.

via Photography Is Not A Crime

After spending 26 hours in the Baltimore County Jail, Anthony Graber still doesn’t understand what he did wrong. Sure, the 24-year-old man admits to speeding on his motorcycle, but does that merit having a plainclothes cop pull a gun on him?
Does that merit six state troopers raiding his parents’ home and seizing four computers at the crack of dawn?
Does that merit getting charged with a felony and threatened with five years in prison?
Of course it doesn’t
This is nothing but an obscene case of police intimidation. A Constitutional violation against a man who has served six years in the Air National Guard and who has never been arrested before.
A knee-jerk reaction from the Maryland State Police after Graber posted the video of the cop pulling a gun on him on Youtube (video is below).
That cop’s name is J. Uhler, (first names possibly Joseph David) in case you were wondering. He has no business wearing a badge.
So how come he’s not being punished?
Well, we already know that answer. He’s above the law. They are above the law. The Maryland State Police Department, that is.
Why else would a judge sign a search warrant, allowing them to raid Graber’s parents home at 6:45 a.m. on a weekday, detaining his entire family for 90 minutes, forbidding his mother from going to work and younger sister from going to school while they rummaged through the family’s personal belongings?
And that judge’s name?
That’s a secret.

More at the source. Including the incriminating video.

 

[Timjoebillybob]

The police fear of video tape comes from them being hoisted by their own petard as well:

Oklahoma cop proves to be a liar after dash cam is released (sign petition to get him fired) | Photography is Not a Crime

This is why police video is often "unavailable" as cameras are broken/disconnected.

While the officer was over the line, so was the paramedic in this case imo. And the article is not honest. It says he was running hot to pick up his wife from the police station. He was responding as backup to a robbery at a gas station. He pulled up there found out he wasn't needed and then went after the ambulance for failure to yield.

Oh, look! Yet another MD cop caught on video. This time with a gun in hand and the a back up plan after he got caught. I feel for the guy who taped him. So does the judge who eventually released him from jail.

via Photography Is Not A Crime

More at the source. Including the incriminating video.

The wiretapping charge is BS, the rest the guy deserved. There was a marked car behind the motorcycle at the stop and the plainclothes officer didn't draw until the guy started backing up the bike. If it was me I would of thought the guy meant to run. Here is a longer video of it.
YouTube - pullover2

But back on topic. The cops deserved to be charged with assault with a deadly weapon. Same as any other person would be.

 

[Bapak2ja]

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[Bapak2ja]

I have a love-hate relationship with the police officer. I love the fact that the blue line stands between me and anarchy in this nation. Public society needs law enforcement. They have a job to do, serve and protect, that requires extensive training, intelligence, patience and wisdom. They put their lives on the line with every traffic stop, every investigation, every time they step out of the house or office with badge and uniform. We need them. I respect them. I honor them.

BUT!

I hate them! I hate their arrogance. I hate their attitude! They are bullies, loud-mouthed show offs who think they are better than everyone else, who use their power of badge and uniform as excuses to belittle people, get priority treatment, intimidate ordinary law abiding citizens. They are jerks!!

SO

I ask myself why do they act that way? They act that way because if they do not do so, they will be dead! They have to adopt that attitude as a measure of self-preservation. They have to be violent people, ready to get physical at the drop of a hat, ready to fight, shoot and kill without hesitation. If they lose focus, if they miss one little thing, the BG gets the advantage and the cop's family get a call to the hospital—hoping their loved one is still alive and capable of healing.

I understand that if I do not break the law, I have nothing to fear from a LEO. Yes, there are out of control jerks out there; but if I do not mess with them, they will not be in my face or bothering me or mine.

What troubles me most is the impact this prepared-to-be-violent lifestyle has on the wives and children of our officers. The LEO must maintain a high level of alert, must be on edge, and that has to have a negative impact on himself and his family.

We need the LEO. I love them. But I hate them. Wish they could do their job without being arrogant SOBs, but they can't. If they are not arrogant SOBs, they are dead. If we can get the extreme cases off the force, we are better off. It will make the job easier for the good ones, and reduce our contempt for the blue line. If we know that the BG LEOs are booted out, not exonerated, it makes it easier to accept the arrogant aggressiveness of those good one who remain to serve and protect.

I want the cops to do their job, but I do not want one living next door. His rage may break out at me. Like I said, Love-Hate.

 

[mrjarrell]

The story has a new twist to it. A coverup. The wife of one of the cops is in charge of video and the exact video that was needed for investigation went missing. When it was eventually allowed to be found, it had been edited. Wonder of wonders.

via WJLA

Sixty hours of video was handed over to the attorneys -- except for a 90-minute disc from the camera with a view of where McKenna was beaten. The disc covered the time from midnight to 1:30 a.m. on March 4.

University of Maryland College Park spokesman Milree Williams told ABC 7 News on Tuesday that the disc was missing, and blamed a technical error.

"The server that manages those cameras automatically overwrites at a certain point, and it just overwrote and it didn't give us a opportunity to copy this particular piece," Williams said.

But just hours later, the university said the disc had been found. The disc, however, was missing two minutes of footage, officials admitted. Details on the timeline of the gap were not immediately, nor was an explanation of how a two-minute gap could appear. In another bizarre coincidence, the campus police official in charge of the video surveillance system, Lt. Joanne Ardovini, is married to one of the National Capital Park police mounted officers who was named in the complaint Prince George's County police filed against McKenna. The complaint claimed McKenna had assaulted the mounted officer, John Ardovini, whose name is misspelled in the charging document. Court records and officials confirmed they are the same person, despite the misspelling.

The charges against McKenna were dropped by prosecutors last week.

In an interview before the missing disc surfaced, Williams said administrators were aware that missing video would raise additional questions about a case which already includes accusations of a police cover-up.

More at the source. This just gets uglier. Better to have your own recording devices and pray that others around you have them, too. Some people can't be trusted with their video.

 

[hornadylnl]

The husband and wife both should be fired and charged with any applicable crimes.

This is kind of like customer service at a restaurant. Yes, most complaints are probably legit but there will always be those few who will complain just to get a free meal. You can know that is what they are doing but a good manager will comp the meal anyway. It gives a good public face and fewer disgruntled customers. When law enforcement does something wrong and covers it up, it calls into question everything they do. I'd rather see a cop wrongly fired than a citizen wrongly jailed. Ideally, I want to see neither one.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

The issue of the police destroying videos is what I fear in the increasing use of video via carcam or under IRE 617 will continue to increase as police relalize that the whole world is watching.

I've fought a couple of police departments over missing police videos and I fear there will be more missing/damaged video (all unintentional it will be argued by prosecutors, heck even this case in Maryland will be aruged that it was done unintentionally). I believe the remedy is to provide for dismissal of any case with "missing" video much like the fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine for bad searches whether the "missing" video is intentional or unintentional.

As I must admit, video is no pancea. The problem remains that some police are altering video or destroying video and some police departments have policy to do so it will be a game of tank/anti-tank as police use newer techniques to alter evidence and we have to use counter-techniques to catch them.

Local computer security expert investigates police practices