Skateboarding is not a crime!

I fuckin' hate cops like this. What a jackass. Resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, interference of "law enforcement officer"... Battery?!? For falling down and skinning his own knee? Good thing these brave men are out there protecting us from dangerous hoodlums such as these. Only useful purpose these assholes serve is raising revenue for the city/county/state.

Thank Jesus that cop finally choked and made the camera dude eat concrete. I was getting SOOOOOOO pissed at the world's worst camera work. He deserves everything he got for being such a retarded videographer.

stupid kids deserve it, don't screw with the police

he's not choking him, just holding him down. what a drama..

The cop was totally overreacting. If I saw a 230 lb male man-handling my daughter, I wouldn't rest until I had his career.

I'd like to think that there was much more lead up to this than is shown here, especially since this was probably released by the kids. While I don't agree with the application of force here, I get the sense that the kids generally have no concern/regard for his authority, or the law for that matter. It's clear that they were in fact violating the city ordinance, and so when the cops catch you in the act - you better listen. It is also worth pointing out that if you run, you will be chased and cuffed. Period. And if you lay hands on an officer (happened towards the end there), he has the right to take you down and cuff you.

the policeman is being a dick, and that's that.
are you gonna tell me there is some kind of back story where the kids were really suicide bombers or nazis or something?

"The cop was totally overreacting."

Oh, and the punk kids weren't? They obviously set the whole thing up, reality-tv style. If my kid pulled something like that, I wouldn't bail him out, I'd congratulate the cop on a job well done.

"The cop was totally overreacting."

Yes he was - the fat fuck. Those kids did nothing wrong - I've skated for 20 years (and dealt with more shit-head cops then you can imagine) and if I was in that situation the cop would have been unconscious before he finished putting the first kid in cuffs. My front truck up the side of his head would have guaranteed that. Now that's excessive force.

To quote reservoir dogs:
Mr. Pink: You kill anybody?
Mr. White: A few cops.
Mr. Pink: No real people?
Mr. White: Just cops.

See that's the kind of idiotic, overtly male, machismo attitude that perpetuates the constant struggle of aggression between people who have to deal with actual people who actually pose a possible threat to their own safety and to the safety of others. Maybe if people weren't such dicks, then cops wouldn't always over-react.

I'm not condoning the actions of this cop, but we DON'T know the whole story of what happened, but it's very possible that any of these little kids could have had the same ridiculous attitude of putting his "front truck up the side of his head". Then what would you have said was unreasonable force? I promise you, it is possible to skateboard AND respect the law and authority. They don't have to be mutually exclusive just for the sake of fronting some bullshit attitude to show off for your friends.

Having had to step into the middle of a fight this weekend between a couple of jackasses whose neurochemical make up apparently consisted entirely of testosterone, I'm personally and recently sick to fucking death of overly aggressive douchebags. On both sides of the law. Fucking act right! These kids at least have the excuse that they are young and stupid.

(/vent)

Finally after moving from Germany to Ireland i am allowed to state the following:
ACAP
All Cop(per)s are bastards.

...this statement is illegal in germany, and that says it all.

maybe you're just looking for trouble

Fucking pigs. Imagine giving lifes failures authority and a gun...

"if I was in that situation the cop would have been unconscious before he finished putting the first kid in cuffs. My front truck up the side of his head"

Sorry kid, 110 lb skateboarders don't strike fear in the hearts of anyone, much less the police. Remember that next time before you posture on the internet, mmmk?

So BillO, it was totally appropriate to put that girl in a choke hold? Because, you know, cleary she was RESISTING arrest by walking with her friends and making sure they were OK? She made no move to run away UNTIL the cop grabbed her. The officer just randomly tries to tackle her, puts her in a choke hold, and starts saying she was resisting arrest. Wow, talk about a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The way that cop is going on an authority powertrip, you'd think the country had declared martial law or something.

And let's not forget these are CHILDREN, that posed no threat whatsoever to this cop.

Choke-holds are appropriate for hardened criminals breaking the law. She was resisting arrest, skateboarding where it's illegal, interfering with an important investigation, and who knows what else. Her parents must be so proud.

What has happened to our police officers all over this country? Protect and serve is bullshit. Protect and serve there own, regardless of their crimes,and or abuse of power.

The best part is that the cop is litterally baseing the battery charge from the scrap on his knee-- a 200lb adult man is bitching about a scraped knee when he just grabbed a little girl by the throat-- what a hero!

I went over the handle bars of my bike a month ago and a scraped knee is brutal. That little truculent miscreant got what she deserved for forcing him to tackle her.

The first reaction when you're a kid skateboarding where you shouldn't be and a cop comes to yell at you (and take your $100 skateboards) is to scram.

When you're a cop and you see someone running your first reaction is to chase and tackle.

Looks like these kids began to scram, a straggler was nabbed and held in a one-handed Homer Simpson choke, others stopped, the cop started arresting and one kid decided to break-out, kicking the cop back into chase and tackle mode. didn't tackle that kid, so came back and man-handled the kids who didn't run.

lesson learned? split up and run faster next time.

An unfortunate confrontation of two widely perpetuated stereotypes maybe?

I now have a strong dislike for everyone in this video. Except maybe the grammy. I mean, police officer loses control (choke-hold excessive), skater can't shoot for shit (take off the hell-spawned excessory that is the fish-eye!), and the rest of the kids are dumb as shit for trying to run away. Even the one kid who tries to make himself appear "in the right", by saying, 'I'm gonna stay here . . ." still moves away from the 'scene', prompting the officer to chase him down as well. Grammy had everything right. Regardless of how wrong it might seem, when a cop starts talking to you, YOU DON'T DO SHIT! Just stay there! If he did shit wrong, get a lawyer bring it up then, get the case thrown out and give the cop a little well deserved unpaid vacation.

Yeah, I'm sure these kids were skateboarding in a completely responsible and non-irritating way. I'm sure when the cop first asked them to cease violating a city ordnance against skateboarding, the kids were all respectful and mindful of the law. Yeah right obviously they were disrespectful little assholes who probably decided to get some glory at the cost of the police officer. Yes the officer gets a little carried away with the "see that? That's battery!" deal, but the kids need to realize that by the time they roll video, skateboarding is no longer the issue.

Plus I just really want to slap the one kid who constantly repeats "They were SKATEboarding" as if that's some kind of logical trump card which should defuse the whole situation.... what he should be saying is "They were being disrespectful assholes to a cop who had just given them a lawful command..."

"Sorry kid, 110 lb skateboarders don't strike fear in the hearts of anyone, much less the police. Remember that next time before you posture on the internet, mmmk?"

1 I'm not a kid.
2 I'm a hell of a lot bigger then 110 lbs.
3 I'm not posturing.
4 I like to knock down overly aggressive idiots with daddy issues.

Bill remember these four points before assuming anything about your safety and authority when dealing with us. mmmk?

They just played this video on CNN a while ago.

Well, unless that cop got his act together they won't actually see a trial. He charged them with all that shit, detained them, and didn't read them their Miranda rights.

boy, don't remember any rules that said citizens had to be kind, respectful, and non-irritating to police officers. cops are themselves, on the whole, quite an irritating breed. and since when does violating a city ordinance (think littering or loud music) constitute a choke-hold and tackle?

heLOOOOOOOOO!

they are KIDS.

and they didn't look like they were waving knives around or anything, they were just being kids. Build a skate park ffs.

violence + kids = bad

giving people a reason to fear and hate the police at an early age = uberretardedamundo.

cop needs to be fired, period, he obviously cannot control himself enough to be granted a badge much less a weapon

Is there more info on what happened with this? It's somewhat satisfying seeing cops get busted for the fucked up shit they do.

After the Chick got arrested by the throat, I would have, as the camera man; just wailed the fuckin police officer over the head with the trucks. At least thats what id do in a video game.

This reminded me of this video.

I feel shame, watching this video, that both the kids and the officers acted in this way.

The kids shouldn't have run. The officers shouldn't have reacted so violently, and should have taken control of the situation more assertively and positively from the start.

P.S. That wasn't a real chokehold you saw, that was a schoolyard-variety headlock with minimal pressure on the carotid arteries and windpipe, in other words no real choking/strangling action going on. Hell, the officer should have been better trained than that and used a real restraining hold.

Perhaps the kids might have been jerks to the officer, but it doesn't matter. The kids are not accountable to not be jerks...a police officer is. He is accountable to be above this kind of emotionally driven response. Is that hard to do or even unfair? Yea, but that is what you sign up for when you become a police officer.

It goes further than this simple truth though...

Why would he threaten to use mace? Mace is to be used as a means to control an otherwise out of control situation...for example to take someone down who is being confrontational. The kid is already down, under control and even restrained. He is being warned that if he moves, in this restrained state, that he'll get 'sprayed' with mace. Why? It is a demonstration of power.

There are many more points one could use against him, but it is moot. His employer agrees that he is in the wrong: http://www.wreg.com/Global/story.asp?S=6712585

anybody else notice that at 2:13 remaining, helmet cop grabs kid by the neck and shoves him into the other cop, wh then headlocks him, and tackles him to the ground, citing battery...


Also, I think back on some of the mischief I caused as a teenager..
To all the uptight squares who say the kids were punks and got what they deserved, you must have had really boring childhoods.

I agree that the kids are not accountable for being jerks. They are, however, accountable for resisting arrest and disobeying a lawful command. The police officer is definitely accountable for making such a poor response.

"There are many more points one could use against him, but it is moot. His employer agrees that he is in the wrong"

No, that story said he was placed on administrative leave (full pay), which is a neutral action intended to give time for an investigation into the matter. If his department head had decided he was guilty of wrong-doing, he would have been suspended or "given leave" without pay. There's no "agreeing he's in the wrong" there, stop bending the article.

you call that "resisting arrest" ?

but anyway, word on the article bending thing, that was naughty of u Sageous

Yes, I call that "resisting arrest". Attempting to elude a police officer for the girl (and later eluding a police officer), because she ran, and use of physical force against a police officer for the boy. Just because they resisted arrest ineffectually doesn't mean that they didn't resist arrest.

By the by, most if not all LEOs are trained to take down a runner regardless of circumstances, because it's breaking a law in and of itself, not to mention it's usually considered more dangerous to allow a runner to get away than to let him go. So that bit was pretty much warranted on the officer's behalf.

that cop is a complete douchebag. period. fuck him. the kid's might be out of order but they are kids. what happened to protect and server? he's isn't doing either, he's playing out some childhood issues by bullying young skate waifs.

i hope the cop gets fired.

Hmm....on coming back and rewatching this video, I've come to the conclusion that the cop's failing was not as a police officer specifically, but more as an adult and member of society. While his actions might be justifiable in court, they aren't justifiable from the standpoint of a grown-up interacting with kids.

The cop was an overreacting dick. Complete misuse of power, complete dick.

Even if he was right to arrest the first kid (which I seriously doubt), he had NO right to do what he did to the girl, complete fucktard.

Complete dick.

"I'll spray yah".

Dear god what a prick.

I hope he gets fired... but he won't.

seriously, consider the cops temperament, should he be carrying a gun?

Children are one of the things he supposed to be protecting. He could have talked sensibly with the kids, and contacted their parents. They were no immediate danger to anyone.

Ruffing someone 20 something and up to the ground is one thing. But a child? Absofuckinglutely no way!!!!

I hardly think they were being jerks - saying that about the kids, that is, is patently unfair. Hell, I was probably seconds away from getting the same treatment. http://www.videosift.com/video/Krupo-almost-got-arrested-at-the-Ride-for-Heart (Of course, I didn't have a helmet cam... but I soapboxed about my experience at the Sift anyway).

OMG - he just violated that kids constitutional rights. That cop is the biggest jerk-ass in the world.
Do Americans not have the following rights...
- Freedom of the Press?
- Freedom of Speech?
- Freedom of Mobility?
- Freedom of Assembly (Skateboarding Day: Peaceful political protest)

And some rights against unreasonable search and seizure?

Maybe not in Arkansas. Way to reinforce the redneck backwards stereotypes associated with the South.

I hope those kids manage to sue the police for all they're worth. Absolutely ridiculous.

I haven't bent an article. I didn't claim the officer was fired. I claimed that it was shown that he was in the wrong. The article claims that the mayor has indicated that he does not condone the officer's actions. The major...ie the major of the city...the city is what employes the police force...the city's mayor is above the opinion of the police officer in the food chain.

For example at a private company if I do something and my middle manager boss doesn't think it's bad, but the CEO does, then it is bad.

The police chief will probably do what he can do to dodge...what else can he do. He's gotta take care of his flock. The mayor though, has already indicated that the action doesn't represent the values of the city. And values, not the technicalities of legalease (like the way he's trying to claim battery), are what we're talking about in this thread.

Rembar hits the nail on the head..."I've come to the conclusion that the cop's failing was not as a police officer specifically, but more as an adult and member of society" - I agree completely.

i used to skate. this pisses me off. grrrrrrrr

grrrrr !

Sageous, I didn't say you claimed the officer was fired. You said "his employer agrees that he is in the wrong". The mayor of the city is not his direct employer. Furthermore, the city's mayor's opinion is NOT above the opinion of the commanding officer of the city's police force, and in terms of usefulness is most certainly less important than that of the police chief.

Your comparison is faulty because a public servant, especially of the law enforcement variety, is not under the same chain of command that an employee of a private company is. Nobody's guilty of anything until the cop's CO or whatever investigative committee gets set up says he is. Specifically, this is partially due to the fact that politicians can be trusted, for their own part, to be dodging as best they can.

And the newspaper article was sketchy at best. "Not condoning" someone's actions can mean completely disagreeing with those actions, or just refusing to say they were justified.

Anyways, like you said, it's the values that are more under consideration here. I don't think those kids were being punks, really. But one of the things I had drilled into me in my youth was that, if I ever got into minor trouble like this and I didn't do anything wrong, to sit down and shut the fuck up. It's kept me from getting my ass kicked a good number of times. Does anybody here think it was ok for those kids to run?

That's a strawman because you're defeating a point that was only an anecdotal example. I feel like you did a good job with it, but my actual position has been that the police force, who is employed by the city, has acted in a way that is not representive of the city's values...ie...in the wrong. That position continues to be true. Outside of that...I suspect I'll agree with you.

It's pretty simple really. When someone grabs little girls by the neck...or when someone threaten to spray mace into the face of someone who can't get up...people tend to dislike that person even if they were within the 'rules'. I don't feel like it's rocket science. It made their local news for a reason.

It will be interesting to see what, if anything, happens to the guy. We probably won't ever get to know. Personally I doubt he'll be fired...but I wonder if local people will look at him differently. Perhaps people will inflate the events over time and eventually it becomes problematic for him..."hey you're that guy who hates children" or something. I know that's stretching, but at this point I'm just pondering out loud.

In retrospect...perhaps we've got him all wrong...maybe something happened to him that morning. Maybe his wife died, mother died, etc. Or it could be far simpler...maybe a bird crapped on him a few moments before the skaters came about. There's just so many possible reasons...we can never know.

It must be nice to live in a city so devoid of actual crime that some punk skateboarders warrant this much aggressive attention. However, I wasn't much impressed with this officer's ability to whip the asses of a couple skinny teenagers - I'd hate to see what would happen if he actually had to take on a grown man. But seriously...

From what little context is offered, it seems as though this cop pulled a power trip and the kids got smart with him - "forcing" him to save face by acting all legalistic about city ordinances.


I skateboarded as a kid and had to deal with plenty of these types from time to time, but police officers run a spectrum peripheral to that of the human race: some are obnoxious jerks looking for a fight and others are decent folks just doing their job.

Sure, the kids probably shouldn't have acted a certain way... but this cop is WAY out of line.

Appropriate.

@rembar - I had the same thing drilled into me, which kept me from running from the cop... I think I could've made it - I was on a bike, way faster than all but jet-powered skateboards, but there was a heavy 'lice presence in the area, so I didn't feel like chancing it. Could've gotten v. ugly.

That's a great little comic, pyrex.

Some more information here

hmm.

Cut and paste it is.

http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/Story?id=3327172&page=1

"Skateboarding is not a crime.....Unless I beat you with the trucks."

(07-03) 08:48 PDT LITTLE ROCK, (AP) – A police officer who appeared to choke a skateboarder and put two others in a headlock in a video posted online used appropriate force when making his arrests, an internal police investigation found. The Hot Springs Police Department Internal Affairs Board found the use of force was within the police department’s policy on non-deadly force and recommended “no changes to this policy.” The decision was released Monday. Officer Joey Williams confronted a situation that “would have overwhelmed any single officer” when he stopped those breaking a Hot Springs city ordinance by skateboarding on a downtown sidewalk June 21, the report said. However, Williams was faulted for leaving a handcuffed suspect unattended while chasing another youth in the resort town’s historic Bathhouse Row. Williams has been on administrative leave since the video hit YouTube on June 25. Police said he would return to active duty Thursday in the city’s downtown. “I think it was fair,” City Manager Kent Myers said. Witnesses “consistently supported the actions of the officer and his efforts to control the situation.” Video from a business’ security cameras shows 10 skateboarders rolling down the city sidewalk at a good clip, followed by Williams, who sprints past the last skater. A video taken by skateboarders and later posted on YouTube shows Williams on top of one of the skaters, apparently choking him. The video also showed Williams putting another two skateboarders in a headlock, and the officer can later be heard threatening to use pepper spray on a skateboarder lying on the ground. Police said they arrested Matthew Jon McCormack, 21, and Skylar Nalls, 19, both of Hot Springs, and four juveniles. McCormack faces a misdemeanor battery charge accusing him of pushing or striking a 67-year-old city employee during the melee. Nalls was cited for skateboarding and faces misdemeanor charges of fleeing and obstructing governmental operations. McCormack has previously disputed many of the police allegations, especially his battery charge. He has said he pulled on the city employee’s arm after the man lifted a girl off her feet in a choke-hold. Hot Springs is a resort town about 50 miles west of Little Rock.

I would sue him for assault.

As the local Fox affialate reports (http://www.fox16.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoId=47825),
Officer Williams has been "cleared," i.e., restored to duty but must attend counseling on how to handle apprehended subjects. Call me crazy, but I don't think that retraining this guy is going to help mitigate his clear disposition to violence. He does not belong on the street.

As noted by Internal Affairs, one of the worst things this cop did was to leave a cuffed suspect unattended to go running after another questionably criminal actor (that he never apprehends!). That may sound silly, but it is an incredible breach of safety protocol. Short of preventing a fleeing suspect from obviously and imminently injuring or killing many people, an officer with an actor in custody never leaves the actor unattended until transferred to another officer's custody.

Beyond that, though, I am really surprised IA did not find that Williams used excessive force. It's worth noting, according to the quoted AP report, that IA recommended no changes to the department's rules of non-deadly engagement. One wonders if a desire to leave certain language in said rules was a motivating factor in the decision.

It is clear that Williams grabs a teenage girl by the throat when she walks away from him after being told she was under arrest for violating city ordinance. It is certain that when a cop tells you to stop where you are and/or that you are under arrest, walking away from him is the Wrong Thing to do. So we might surmise that Williams is justified in going after her, except that he again(!) leaves an already apprehended suspect unattended. At this point, we also see a second (bicycle?) officer who is engaged with another apprehended actor.

As Williams is dragging the girl back towards the other officer, the third (fourth?) actor gets in the fray by jumping in front of Williams and screaming at him. While I can understand this kid's outrage, he could not possibly have picked a worse course of action. This cop was clearly torqued up about as tight as he could be wound and to antagonize him at that point invites an (arguably legal) attack. Don't mistake that statement for any kind of justification for Williams outrageous reaction. But even though we may euthanize bears that attack people, it's hard to have sympathy for someone that pokes a bear with sticks.

Williams was clearly out of control in his attempt to perform his duties. He failed to remember some of the basic instructions he (hopefully) learned as a police cadet (assuming he was one). He further allowed himself to be emotionally overwhelmed (by children!) while attempting to carry out his duties. While the kids displayed a contempt for rules and authority (which is to be expected of teenagers), the adults in the situation displayed an even greater lack of wisdom.

I would recommend Officer Williams be permanently removed from field duty, and that the bicycle officer be temporarily relieved pending retraining for not restraining his colleague.

jonny for Arkansas police commissioner!

that cop seemed pretty wimpy.

Cop is a cock, he mishandled the situation and then just tried to justify it with trumped up charges
dumb-ass. This is *fear policing at its worse. oh and *WTF and *NSFW

This video has been flagged as being Not Suitable For Work - declared nsfw by Zonbie.

Adding video to channels (Fear, Wtf) - requested by Zonbie.

*teenagers

Adding video to channels (Teenagers) - requested by eric3579.