This may get confusing..but two separate issues...
Looking to get some feedback...
Quote:
Deputy suspended over speeding arrest
Florida woman grabbed, cuffed after speeding to hospital to visit ill father
The Associated Press
Updated: 8:41 a.m. ET May 3, 2007
TAMPA, Fla. - A sheriff's deputy was suspended for five days for using excessive force when arresting a woman speeding to the emergency room because she thought her father had suffered a heart attack.
Deputy Kevin Stabins, 29, pulled over Melissa Langston, 37, for speeding as she was pulling into the University Community Hospital parking lot in November.
Footage from the cruiser's dashboard camera shows Langston telling the deputy that her father had suffered a heart attack and had driven himself to the hospital. Stabins took her license and registration and returned to his car to write a ticket.
But after several minutes, Langston took off and drove into the parking lot. After a short pursuit, Stabins pulled Langston out of her car and handcuffed her.
'You're going to jail'
When he pulls her out of the car, he got her in an arm lock that left bruises, spun her around, and slams her against her car's hood hard enough her feet leave the ground, the St. Petersburg Times reported Thursday, citing the video from the dashboard camera.
"Please let me see my dad, " she sobs as he handcuffs her. "If it was your dad ..." Stabins cuts her off. "Now you're not going to see him, 'cause you're going to jail."
The father, William Johnston, stayed in the hospital six days, his wife, Mary Johnston, told the St. Petersburg Times for Thursday's editions. He went home with two stents in his arteries.
It was not clear when the suspension takes place. The sheriff's office did not return a message left early Thursday by The Associated Press.
The Sheriff's Office has dropped all charges against Langston, who was clocked going 63 mph in a 35-mph zone.
"I think (Stabins) understands that he was wrong and could have handled it better," Sheriff David Gee told The Tampa Tribune for Thursday's editions. "On both sides, really, it could have been done better."
© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18466124/
This is definitly hard to say which way it should go. I mean, if my father was in the hospital, and thought he might die, id be doing the same thing. However, most Officers I know, would at least follow you to the hospital if not just let you go...
BUT
She ran...i mean I know she was in a hurry but he doesn't know why. And regardless, she was still breaking the law..
Quote:
Inquiry into police action at L.A. rights rally
Hundreds of hours of video reviewed in wake of action at MacArthur Park
The Associated Press
Updated: 10:38 a.m. ET May 3, 2007
LOS ANGELES - Investigators will review hundreds of hours of video of an immigration rally where police clashed with the crowd, wielding batons and firing rubber bullets to break up the demonstration, the police chief said Thursday.
Chief William J. Bratton said in an appearance on CBS’s “Early Show” that he was “not happy” when he watched videotape of the events at MacArthur Park late Tuesday, when officers fired 240 nonlethal rounds to clear demonstrators.
He said police and news media video would aid investigations into whether the officers’ tactics were appropriate.
“We have to really try to determine exactly what happened. We’re fortunate in this instance that we have a lot of video to look at,” Bratton said. “We have literally hundreds of hours of video to review to make our decisions.”
News images showed police hitting a television cameraman to the ground, shoving people who were walking away from officers and injuries from the rubber bullets.
Rally organizers denounced the police action as brutal.
“They were pushing children, elderly, mothers with their babies and beating up on the media” said Angela Sanbrano, an organizer.
The clashes started around 6 p.m. Tuesday, when police tried to disperse demonstrators who moved into a street, according to rally organizers and reporters. Authorities said several people threw rocks and bottles at officers, who used batons to push the crowd back to the sidewalk and then cleared the park.
A police order to disperse was in English and from a police helicopter, a likely ineffective tactic because of the noise and because many at the protest were Spanish-speakers, Bratton said at a news conference Wednesday.
Police caution on 'rush to judgment'
Bratton said police were initially trying to deal with 50 to 100 “agitators.”
“The individuals were there to provoke police,” Bratton said. “Unfortunately, they got what they came for.”
Police union leaders urged against a “rush to judgment.”
“Our officers gave a legal dispersal order and were met with violence. In the coming days it will become clear what transpired,” said Los Angeles Police Protective League President Bob Baker in a statement.
Seven officers suffered minor injuries, and another was pushed off his motorcycle, Bratton said. About 10 other people were treated for minor injuries, though authorities expected the number to rise.
The investigations already under way include an overall departmental review of tactics, an internal affairs investigation into the behavior of the officers and commanders on the scene, and an independent review by the Inspector General, the investigative arm of the Police Commission, which sets policy for the Police Department.
John Mack, president of the five-member Police Commission, said he was “deeply disturbed and very disappointed” by the news images.
“This was not a pretty picture. This incident raises serious concern regarding the use of force by some individual officers,” said Mack, who is one of Bratton’s bosses.
Official calls for D.A. to investigate
Democratic Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez, who represents the park district, also asked Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley to launch an independent investigation into the officers’ actions.
He said police deliberately led troublemakers back to the peaceful marchers before beginning their assault.
“The only logical conclusion I can come to is that somebody wanted it to bleed into the march so that they can do some target practice on some of the immigrants that were marching,” Nunez said.
News organizations also condemned the Police Department for its use of batons and riot guns against members of the media.
“We are sorry for what happened to our employees and find it unacceptable that they would be abused in that way when they were doing their job,” said Alfredo Richard, spokesman for the Spanish-language network Telemundo, whose anchor and reporter were hurt.
Bratton promised to investigate the treatment of reporters.
“I’m not seeking to defend it at all,” he told the “Early Show.” “That’s why we’re having investigations.”
© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18467963/
I really have to wait and see with this one, I mean im leaning twords siding with LEO, but....it could go either way
First one, I'd say the officer used poor judgment, but so did the woman in question. It's a cop-out to do the monday morning quarter-back thing, but arresting a woman that is distraught enough to take off from a ticket... in the hospital parking lot...
Personally, I wouldn't have taken her to jail, but I would have checked with hospital administration to see if the man was actually there, and if he was, let the woman go with the ticket if I wanted to be a dick, but she's not in the right state of mind to figure out she oughtta stay put, take the ticket and THEN go on.
For the second, I can't state exactly what happened... and if there is going to be investigation, then that means that there's some evidence of wrong doing prima-fasciae. I suspect that the bigger question in the higher-ups' minds is whether or not there was an organized criminal action undertaken by the officers (possibly motivated by racism?)
Either way, if something comes of it, you'll see it on the news. Things like this are incredibly hard, if not impossible to crimp a lid on.
Transeat In Exemplum: Let this stand as the example.
all i gotta say is watch the video for the first one. i think its on cnn.com. the cop literally yanked her out and slammed her down. NOT cool.
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- Sold my beloved J in April 2010 -
For the first one I don't think they should've suspended the cop. Both of them the cop and the lady made poor judgement decisions however in my opinion the lady made the worst mistake of running.
As for the second story I'll wait for more info however I will say I'd hate to be a LA cop, they seem to get the race issue thrown at them the most lol.
I think they both over reacted.
I wouldn't want to be an LA cop... too many problems that come along with the shield.
Transeat In Exemplum: Let this stand as the example.
