[GeneticsDave]

Another incident of police brutality occurred yesterday in Indiana, the report is as follows (go to the web link to view video):

Cops Caught On Camera Stomping More Heads

Tasering people into submission by pain compliance is not enough, they also must kick the living crap out of petty thieves for good measure.

Not satisfied with using pain compliance to Taser people into submission, police officers have now begun to kick the living crap out of suspects just to make sure. An incident that occurred in Indiana yesterday marks another chapter in a wave of police brutality that has swept the nation.

26-year-old Felipe Alvarado was chased by police after being fingered as a suspect in vehicle burglaries, but police metered out a punishment more befitting of a dangerous murderer.

Watch the clip.

The video shows the suspect fall to the ground after officers Taser him before delivering brutal kicks to the man's face, chest and back.

After the man is flat down on his face and handcuffed, another officer delivers one more boot to his head.

Sgt. Matthew Mount of the Indiana police then ludicrously attempts to explain away the kick by claiming that the cop was trying to prevent "the possibility of bodily fluid exchanges," claiming the suspect was spitting at the officer despite the fact that the video shows his head turned away from the officer towards the ground.

The four brutal kicks delivered before the final boot to the head are completely glossed over and ignored.

The incident follows the arrest of IMPD officer Adam Chappell in connection with kicking a 17-year-old during last year's Indiana Black Expo Summer Celebration.

{The article continues, but contains mostly activist opinion, you may read the rest by clicking on the article title. Alex Jones is somewhat of an extremist, but the facts of this case are real and disturbing no matter where it is reported.}

 

[Mazellan]

This kind of think just pisses me off. :disgusted: There was no call for the kicking of the suspect. I know that a high speed chase can cause the adrenilin to flow but it is no excuse for abusing any suspect. I am very disappointed that these officers thought it was okay to do this.

 

[xmirage2kx]

While what these officers did was wrong, I can't really fault them too bad for it. You break the law and run from the cops you need to have your (Auto Edited) kicked :emt:

 

[Paul]

While what these officers did was wrong, I can't really fault them too bad for it. You break the law and run from the cops you need to have your (Auto Edited) kicked :emt:

 

[GeneticsDave]

You break the law and run from the cops you need to have your (Auto Edited) kicked :emt:

I don't really agree, but I see your point. Yes, you probably deserve harsher treatment (at least more force) when you flee, but do you really believe that the police should be "kicking ***"? I personally think that only the force required to apprehend someone is justifiable, any more and the officers step away from enforcing the law and towards punishing criminals. It is not the job of law enforcement to punish, only apprehend. The job of punishment is left to our judiciary system (the courts). While they often fail miserably at that job, I still don't think it gives police the right to punish :cop:

 

[Car Knocker]

I can't really fault them too bad for it. You break the law and run from the cops you need to have your (Auto Edited) kicked

And if a drunk resists arrest, just put a bullet through his head? If your wife runs a red light, the cop just slaps her a couple of times before writing the ticket? If a kid gets pulled over for speeding, he gets the snot beat out of him but not kicked? What immediate roadside physical punishment should be appropriate for not pulling over fast enough (in the cop's opinion) when a he lights you up?

The trouble with condoning abuses of authority (or holding the attitude of "I can't really fault them too bad for it") is that it's a slippery slope where more and more abuse becomes acceptable. Abuse of authority by a few "bad cops" also makes it a lot harder for "good cops" to perform their jobs safely; if a guy knows he's going to get Tased, kicked, handcuffed and kicked again, there's not a whole lot of incentive not to fight a cop. The "good guys" lose, both in the area of safety and public respect. Unless some acceptable reason for the behavior of the cops in the video comes to light, they just come across as thugs. And I, personally, am going to strenuously resist funding thugs with my tax dollars.

Abusing one's authority is a lot like being "sorta pregnant". It's either abuse or it's not. If it's abuse, it should be punished.

 

[divegeek]

While what these officers did was wrong, I can't really fault them too bad for it. You break the law and run from the cops you need to have your (Auto Edited) kicked :emt:

You certainly do -- by the court, NOT by the police.

If you run, you should be charged with resisting arrest and the kicking should be in the form of an appropriate combination of fine, prison sentence, etc. Authorizing the police to punish in the heat of the moment will only lead to bad outcomes.

 

[TMG]

Let me start by saying The kick to the head was WAY out of line!! An yes, he should face some discipline.

Having said that, and again, 'Not Condoning the officers actions', let me add this for some of you to think about before pasing judgement. What I find interesting with this case, and others like it, is how the the media focuses so much attention on the actions of the officer, as apposed to the action of the person running from the LEO's...!?! you know, the one that started the deadly pursuit in the first place....
Car Knocker, you made some references to 'Abuse of Authority''. Is this really Abuse of Authority, or is this some cop amped up on adrenalin after Chasing some Puke that put hundreds of lives at the risk of Death, driving like an A hole?? (And if you've never experienced an adrenalin rush like a pursuit, you probably wont understand..)
Perhaps what you didn't see in this video is the car carsh before the foot pursuit; the one that just killed YOUR Wife and kids. Would that justify 1 kick to the head? (I know, that's not what happened), But from the perspective of an LEO whose been in a few pursuits and has seen some people killed, it's Very hard to block out Anger when you watch the dangers created by a person running .
btw, I have to say, I thought it was kinda bold of you to say that this was just some Thug officer handing out street side justice, (which I dont entirely disagree with) I did, however, think it was ridiculous of you to compare kicking this guys butt with killing a drunk that's resisting arrest... It's comparing a misdemeanor assault with Murder...?

 

[divegeek]

Is this really Abuse of Authority, or is this some cop amped up on adrenalin after Chasing some Puke that put hundreds of lives at the risk of Death, driving like an A hole??

Both. The latter doesn't excuse the former.

 

[Car Knocker]

TMJ,

I'm not passing judgement on either the officers in the video or the guy they apprehended - nobody's told their story yet, no charges have been filed nor has there been a trial for anyone involved.

Abuse of authority vs anger? Certainly cops should be able to feel emotion, even strong emotions. But they are professionals and should be expected to control those emotions, the same as professionals in other fields should control their emotions. I don't believe that you hold the opinion that anger allows three officers to put the boots to a person they've apprehended, Tased and have down on the ground, let alone the one officer kicking the guy's head after he's cuffed. I think society expects more from law enforcement than that.

As for my "thug" comment, I said:

Unless some acceptable reason for the behavior of the cops in the video comes to light, they just come across as thugs.

and I stand by that; if there was no justification for what the video showed them doing to the suspect, then they did indeed engage in thuggish behavior and are thus thugs. If the SLCPD rolled up on 3 guys who had Tasered a fourth guy, who was on the ground, and the three guys were kicking him, would they not arrest the three guys for assault? Would "We were angry at him" be considered an acceptable excuse and the cops would give them a pass? I don't think so.

I'm not sure that what we saw is in fact a misdemeanor in their locality; such a stomping could well put a rib through a lung, fracture the neck, etc. People have died from a lot less. (As an aside that's not directly related to this case, if I were on the ground and three strong, healthy guys were kicking me like that, I would certainly consider myself justified in using deadly force to protect myself.) Comparing this to a felony? As I said, it's a slippery slope. Witness the sodomizing of Abner Louima in NYC in 1997 by police - one officer is serving 30 years and the city paid Louima almost $9 million. Further along that slippery slope are Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, also in NYC. These are people who felt, because they were police officers, they did not have to adhere to the same laws as other people.

What's really unfortunate about incidents such as this is that the public has a tendency to tar all officers with this brush, even though it's not justified. And it results in a growing hostility toward law enforcement in general - read the comments appended to stories on KSL.com, the Trib and D-news sites about officer-involved shootings. To tell the truth, the attitude exhibited by these increasingly vituperative comments really bothers me. It bodes ill for our society.

 

[TMG]

Again, Not condoning his behavior/actions. Just trying to help those that are Quick to jump on the 'Abuse of Authority ' bandwagon Understand How or Why these things can happen; and it's not always an 'Abuse of Authority' issue. It's sometimes just plain and simply a cop letting his anger get the best of him. But, if you've never been in a fight, been in a violent confrontation, or experienced an adrenalin rush of some sort, you cant understand it. And, Therefore, you do what a lot of others do; jump on the Police abuse bandwagon before taking the time to learn All the details surrounding the incident, and the officer.

 

[divegeek]

It's sometimes just plain and simply a cop letting his anger get the best of him.

Certainly, and when this happens the officer should be reprimanded appropriately, and training programs should be analyzed to see if there's some way that officers can be better prepared for such situations.

Everyone screws up, and officers who legitimately mess up shouldn't be fired or severely punished, but neither should the situation be shrugged off with "well the officer was just upset", and certainly not with "the guy deserved it anyway". And officers who develop a history of letting their anger get the best of them need to be removed from situations where that can happen, even if that means moving them out of law enforcement.

 

[GeneticsDave]

:agree:

 

[TMG]

It's sometimes just plain and simply a cop letting his anger get the best of him.

Certainly, and when this happens the officer should be reprimanded appropriately, and training programs should be analyzed to see if there's some way that officers can be better prepared for such situations.

Everyone screws up, and officers who legitimately mess up shouldn't be fired or severely punished, but neither should the situation be shrugged off with "well the officer was just upset", and certainly not with "the guy deserved it anyway". And officers who develop a history of letting their anger get the best of them need to be removed from situations where that can happen, even if that means moving them out of law enforcement.

:agree:

 

[MarshallDodge]

This is why I could never be a police officer. Day after day of dealing with the scum out there and I might have done the same thing.

The officer was wrong in what he did. He just gave the guy an automatic get out of jail card and probably a cash settlement.

 

[Cinhil]

It's sometimes just plain and simply a cop letting his anger get the best of him.

Certainly, and when this happens the officer should be reprimanded appropriately, and training programs should be analyzed to see if there's some way that officers can be better prepared for such situations.

Everyone screws up, and officers who legitimately mess up shouldn't be fired or severely punished, but neither should the situation be shrugged off with "well the officer was just upset", and certainly not with "the guy deserved it anyway". And officers who develop a history of letting their anger get the best of them need to be removed from situations where that can happen, even if that means moving them out of law enforcement.

:agree:

:agree: +3

We all screw up occasionally but there is no excuse for behaviors and patterns of abuse which go unregulated, or unchallenged. With the ability of cutting and clipping the media can show just about anything to be what they want us to see. That said, by viewing the video I can honestly say (if the video wasn't clipped and cut) that not one of the kicks, unless used in an attempt to stop the criminal from getting away through tripping (which only one kick may actually have qualified for), was inexcusable. Hopefully the investigation will focus on the whole incident and adjudicate appropriately from all the evidence presented.
In the end I am sure we all hope that justice shall be served.