btw: You can see the pedestrian overpass just in front of the cop car, that people are supposed to use to get to the other side of this street.

From what I've read, a lot of assholes in the area just jaywalk, and taunt cars as they do, so the local precinct decided to try to crack down on it, which leads us to this story.

Also in this video, you can clearly hear someone in the background saying "there's gonna be a riot right here". Real, real nice. I'll bet the officer was very happy to hear that, especially being alone.

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/96353934.html

According to Seattle police, the incident began when an officer spotted a man jaywalking in the 3100 block of Martin Luther King, Jr. Way S. at approximately 3:10 p.m. The man was some 15 feet away from a pedestrian overpass, police said.

The officer was talking to the man when he saw four young women jaywalk across the same street at the same spot. The officer asked the women to step over to his patrol car, but the women were being "verbally antagonistic toward the officer," according to officials.

One of the women, later identified as a 19 year old, began to walk away from the scene despite the officer's instructions, prompting the officer to walk over to her and escort her back to his patrol car.

The girl then "began to tense up her arm, and pull away from the officer while yelling at him," investigators said. The officer told the girl to place her hands on his patrol car, but she refused. When the officer tried to grab hold of her, "she pulled away and twisted, breaking free of the officer's grip several times," the blotter report said.

When the officer tried to handcuff the girl, another girl, this one 17 years old, intervened and placed her hands on the officer's arm, "causing the officer to believe she was attempting to physically affect the first subject's escape," police said.

The officer pushed back the second girl, but the girl came back at him. The officer then punched her, police said.

The officer then handcuffed the 19-year-old woman. Other officers arrived and helped handcuff the second girl.

Both teens were cited for jaywalking. The older suspect was booked into the King County Jail for investigation of obstructing an officer. The 17-year-old girl was booked into the Youth Service Center for investigation of assault of an officer.

Nobody was injured during the incident, police said.

1) I think the girls were stupid and should be taught how to deal with officers who have no respect for your age or gender, especially if you live on the wrong side of the tracks

2) I just can't imagine this happening to some of the skinny blonds I knew in high school, some of whom were just as crazy. I can't see them being suckerpunched. can you?

3) Despite some of you wanting to make an exception for these girls because they don't fit the phenotype you prefer, they are kids and minors, with the same mentality as such. It absolutely does matter in this situation.

4) The crowd was not hysterical, not a mob, not a riot. Look at their behavior, not their skin color. They were very restrained, not physically interfering at all. Just paying attention and recording to make sure this didn't turn into another 'accidental' cop murder. Given the history of cops, I can't blame those folks for being wary.

5) The officer obviously needs more training. To let a jaywalking infraction escalate into punching a 17 year old girl is unacceptable.

6) You law and order types would not be quiet and respectful if you thought some officer arresting you was in the wrong. You feel the way you do because you seldom encounter aggressive cops. Well, some people deal with that type everyday.

17 years old = minor

In case you didn't know>> ^Grimm:
Some people who are defending this "kid" (rolls eyes) forget the simple fact that these people were breaking the law and they knew they were breaking the law and they knew they got caught breaking the law. If they don't like the law, if you don't like the law, that's not the cops fault and it doesn't give ANYONE the right to just start grabbing and pushing the cop.
Almost EVERY day when we drop off or pickup my son from school (High School) some dumb-ass "kid" will not only bolt out off the curb or from behind a parked car right into traffic but they will do it without even looking in the direction the cars are coming from.
If there wasn't a jay-walking law or if it wasn't enforced you could just imagine the shit storm when one of these "kids" gets killed by a car. Why isn't there anyone out there keeping them safe? Why isn't anyone keeping them from crossing the street in a dangerous area?

I saw this video first on a local paper's site. Look at the article for the account and one of the comments is from a by-stander which is where I got the account of what happened just before the video which I paraphrased.
http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2010/06/seattle_police_officer_caught.php

Too many comments for me to find that one comment right now but it's one of the longer ones somewhere in the middle (there was already 900+ comments when I read that particular one yesterday).


>> ^volumptuous:

>> ^swedishfriend:
context from a guy who was there:
young man gets stopped for jaywalking. Cop wants to arrest him and the girls get angry and start yelling. C

Sounds like this person wasn't actually there. The girls were the ones who were jaywalking, which is why they were also cited for it.
btw: what's your source for "a guy"?

>> ^MaxWilder:

1. Wow, this thread has sure brought out the crazy in a lot of people.

2. Of course this situation could have been handled better if this guy had better training,

3. but if it wasn't for the atmosphere of disrespect toward officers that some in this thread are exacerbating, this situation would not have ever happened.


1. I agree.

2. So why not just get all officers better training. This seems to happen quite a bit.

3. You sincerely think it's our outrage at a situation which under any other context would be consider 'uncalled for' is the reason cops are disrespected? Instead of say - the entire history of police corruption and misconduct. Seriously?!

Being a cop doesn't give you the right to be violent whenever you feel like it. There's no excuse.

If you can't handle a jaywalking teenager without excessive forceful you shouldn't be a cop.

If you don't hold cops accountable when they overstep their duties, you give them a superiority complex which inevitably leads to abuse.
Zimbardo's Prison experiment proves that.

Laws don't mean shit if there's a double standard.
Max, you can't comprehend how that's more important then arresting some jaywalking idiot?!

Wow, this thread has sure brought out the crazy in a lot of people. Some of whom I thought were rational previously.

First of all, WTF is wrong with you "verbal warning" idiots!!! Jaywalking is a crime. It is a crime because when too many people don't follow the rules of traffic, PEOPLE DIE. Verbal warnings are for people who don't realize they're breaking the law. As has been stated repeatedly in this thread, the area where the video was shot has a problem with frequent violations. So really, stuff your "verbal warnings".

But it's too late now. Too many "verbal warnings" were given, and when a police officer finally starts to really enforce the law FOR THE SAFETY OF THE PUBLIC, the stupid kids are expecting to get away with it again. What happens when you break that expectation? Physical confrontation! Congratulations, "verbal warners", you've just created an unsafe situation for anybody to try to enforce the law.

So these kids freak out and disobey an officer who is trying to do the right thing by giving them a citation (which might *gasp* encourage others to use the fucking crosswalk). One of the lawbreakers brazenly tries to walk away from the officer who has instructed her to wait for a citation. What should he do now, "verbal warners"? Let her walk away? Is THAT THE MESSAGE YOU WANT TO SEND?

I am seriously dumbfounded at the stupid responses in this thread. And I shouldn't be letting it make me upset, but it is that kind of retarded viewpoint that makes it harder for cops to do their jobs, which makes the good cops quit their jobs and makes intelligent and honorable people less likely to become cops, which creates more bad cops who abuse their authority.

WRITING A CITATION IS NOT AN ABUSE OF AUTHORITY! IT IS THEIR JOB!

Dammit, I hate writing in caps, but you morons need to pull your heads out of your asses.

PS. If you get between an officer and a person he is trying to detain, you get the smackdown. Fuck all y'all who say different. Of course this situation could have been handled better if this guy had better training, but if it wasn't for the atmosphere of disrespect toward officers that some in this thread are exacerbating, this situation would not have ever happened.

Um, NOT punching teenage girls in the face is a good start.

Edit - Also, I'd really like to *talk about this issue of law enforce vs citizens further.

>> ^Mcboinkens:

>> ^Raaagh:
Face punching is a legitimate physical recourse to pacify a 17 year old girl?
Fuck you.

What was he supposed to do? Ask them nicely? Like that was going to work. What is your suggestion for stopping an unruly crowd member from interrupting an arrest of someone resisting arrest?

In reply to this comment by Grimm:
Some people who are defending this "kid" (rolls eyes) forget the simple fact that these people were breaking the law and they knew they were breaking the law and they knew they got caught breaking the law. If they don't like the law, if you don't like the law, that's not the cops fault and it doesn't give ANYONE the right to just start grabbing and pushing the cop.

Almost EVERY day when we drop off or pickup my son from school (High School) some dumb-ass "kid" will not only bolt out off the curb or from behind a parked car right into traffic but they will do it without even looking in the direction the cars are coming from.

If there wasn't a jay-walking law or if it wasn't enforced you could just imagine the shit storm when one of these "kids" gets killed by a car. Why isn't there anyone out there keeping them safe? Why isn't anyone keeping them from crossing the street in a dangerous area?

It's called common sense. If your kid is dumb enough to get hit by a car while crossing the street that's on them.

That in no way justifies violence on the kid.

The cop is no different from you or me.
The only reason you think it's acceptable for Police to behave that way is because:

1. someone built a building
2. put a desk in it
3. typed up "official academy" papers
4. gave some person a badge and gun [requirements: 21 years, have a GED]

Who the fuck cares if a jaywalker broke a minor law that shouldn't be a legal matter in the first.

Jaywalking doesn't justify violence. Yet somehow it's perfectly acceptable to you because of the title of "police"?

Would you let yourself be handcuffed [by anyone besides a police officer] knowing it was purely to establish their personal power & control over you?

Yes?

>> ^xxovercastxx:
That's exactly the mentality I'm talking about. Being arrested doesn't mean you're guilty of anything, it just means you're a suspect. These idiots will get their day in court and they're innocent at least until then. That's how the system works.
Now if you think the system should be changed, that's a discussion we can have. I'd be interested to hear a realistic and better system proposed. But, in the meantime, please stop building that straw man.
>> ^ToKeyMonsTeR:
Yea guilty till proven innocent.



So because you personally can't think of sensible reforms to law-making and enforcement.. that makes it okay for anyone who's willing to complete police academy to misuse the law to arrest anyone for any reason and abuse/assault them as much as the feel the need to?

http://videosift.com/video/Dont-Talk-to-Cops @min 5:22

Being arrested means you're "suspected" of being guilty of violating a law.
Since the law is written so that any actions you take can be construed or later be found to be a violation of the law..

You are in effect. Guilty until the State can't or doesn't feel like prosecuting you.

Stop acting like police are there to protect your interest.
Police only exist to protect business and political interests of the power elite.
Arrest quotas & the "war on drugs" only exist as excuses to keep police in business.

^Sorry no, still don't see it.^ I would expect that my 17 year-old daughter would comply with a cop, even if she was just jaywalking. Most of the time in these videos I think the cop is way in the wrong and I don't think he should have hit her. But even if you only jaywalked, you still broke the law, which means a police officer can arrest you. It doesn't mean that you have the right to struggle and resist arrest. Cops aren't supermen, they get scared just like the rest of us. I don't know if this cop was scared or if he's just a prick who likes to hit women. That doesn't change the fact that you just don't struggle when you're being put under arrest. The only time I would ever do that is if I was afraid for my life and thought it was either him or me.

>> ^Raaagh:
Face punching is a legitimate physical recourse to pacify a 17 year old girl?
Fuck you.


>> ^ToKeyMonsTeR:
sorry for all the fucks, this shit bugs me and it bugs me that the majority are ok with it.


Precisely, all of you defending the cop like he has the right to be a dick because he has a title "officer of the law making an arrest" don't care about the larger social context of: You shouldn't be a prick toward other humans?

Think about it. If it were a citizens arrest or rent-a-cop at a school.
Would it be okay for the average person to punch your 17 year old daughter [aka a child] in the face?

His actions aren't protecting or serving anyone.
It's a misdemeanor charge that should have been handled with a verbal warning like our sensible @swedishfriend mentioned.

We already know that power corrupts and bureaucracies make rules for the sake of rule making.
We already know that police precincts nation wide are pressured to meet quotas & falsify crime stats.
We already know that swat teams can & will bust into your house and kill both of your dogs for no reason.

If you support this officers actions you're only supporting a broken "justice" system where white collar criminals [upper class] get away with ruining the economy and normal common class citizens get hassled.

That's exactly the mentality I'm talking about. Being arrested doesn't mean you're guilty of anything, it just means you're a suspect. These idiots will get their day in court and they're innocent at least until then. That's how the system works.

Now if you think the system should be changed, that's a discussion we can have. I'd be interested to hear a realistic and better system proposed. But, in the meantime, please stop building that straw man.

>> ^ToKeyMonsTeR:

Yea guilty till proven innocent.

I'll bet dealing with people like this all day would make you want to punch someone in the face.

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