Police Brutality - Plain and Simple

[abajan]

The taped incident I just witnessed on CNN of New Orleans police officers beating the living daylights out of a man on Saturday night was disgusting and sickening. It's amazing he survived the onslaught by those cowards. In my book, anyone who takes advantage of his or her position of authority like that is a coward.

There's simply no excuse for what transpired. Those "officers" need to be arrested, tried and jailed ASAP. Otherwise public confidence and trust in the NOPD will suffer, making the jobs of innocent officers harder. Let's face it, that particular department didn't exactly have a good of a reputation to begin with. So this incident on top of all that's gone before can't be good news for them.

[chadtm80]

This is all news to me.. I havent heard or seen anything

[Brent]

This is all news to me.. I havent heard or seen anything

Yeah it was to me too til a few hours ago on Nightly News when they showed it. It was BRUTAL.

[nystate]

What I saw on TV was bad, but we don't know what was going on when the police horse blocked the camera. I say that further investigation is needed before anyone rushes to judgement...

[Lindaloo]

Why weren't you just as outraged when the black police officers were looting and stealing from people? Allowing black people to rob people and steal cars?

It is always the black man being beaten by the white cops caught on tape. Go figure!!

If any of you have ever been to Bourbon Street then you well know how those intoxicated drunks can get down there.

I am sick of this crap!

[LaPlaceFF]

I just saw it.....

[Aslkahuna]

I didn't know that there was ANY Public confidence and trust left in the NOPD after Katrina-or anyone in authority in that city and State for that matter.

Steve

[Brent]

I didn't know that there was ANY Public confidence and trust left in the NOPD after Katrina-or anyone in authority in that city and State for that matter.

Steve

There's not... at least to me. They all deserve to go.

[Terrell]

Unless they show me that the person did something criminal (other than being drunk) prior to the arrest then the arrest itself was wrong. Even if there was criminal behaviour on the part of the arrested man it wasn't necessary to beat him, the man in question was 64 yo I doubt he was much of a threat to the officers.

[Windy]

Why weren't you just as outraged when the black police officers were looting and stealing from people? Allowing black people to rob people and steal cars?

It is always the black man being beaten by the white cops caught on tape. Go figure!!

If any of you have ever been to Bourbon Street then you well know how those intoxicated drunks can get down there.

I am sick of this crap!

What are you talking about? Did anyone here bring up race before you did?

Just saying. It's generally pretty easy to be "misunderstood" as being racist when the first thing that pops out of a person's mouth in response to a non-racial thread like this is a plea for everyone to understand that black people are bad, too. Unless there was some post prior to yours that got modded out that you were replying to. Otherwise... it's kinda non sequitur. What does a bunch of cops beating a 64 year old man into a bloody pulp in front of a camera have to do with black people shoplifting?

BTW, did you even see the video? (You can see it here.) Even if you can justify the beating of the man on the street (from which was flowing a river of blood), it's hard to justify why the cop slammed the reporter on a car and let loose a tirade of swear words. And all the reporter would do in return is hold up his press pass. (Earth to police officers: roughing up a freakin' AP producer on camera is a pretty quick way to end your career!) Pretty clear the cop was out of control.

Also, as an FYIW, the cops are now suspended and the police are filing battery charges against them.

[TexasStooge]

Just saw it on the news this morning.

[Cookiely]

I just saw the tape on http://www.cnn.com and its sickening. The horse did block part of what transpired, but even if the elderly man resisted this is not a normal response to his resistance. I agree the police in New Orleans have been under immense pressure and they need monitoring by mental health people. Clearly these men do not need to be on the force at this time. Frankly, I would have charged them with attempted murder.

[O Town]

I just watched it as well. I am not taking the cops side, but we have no idea what the whole story was. This man could have been warned multiple times for whatever he was doing. Or not. It seems like there had to be something that caused these police officers to react the way they did. I just don't know. No one should be beat that way, I feel. But it kinda goes to show if you are doing what you are suppost to be doing you will not find yourself in the position this man found himself in. I think drunk or not if a police officer told me to do something I would do it. So, I see both sides of this. The police officers, and the public.

[senorpepr]

I didn't know that there was ANY Public confidence and trust left in the NOPD after Katrina-or anyone in authority in that city and State for that matter.

Steve

Was there any public confidence even before Katrina?

[Miss Mary]

Linda's very close to the situation down there, so let's give her the benefit of the doubt. She's probably more in the know than the rest of us.

That said, I saw the video and it made me sick. I don't care if these policemen have been working 12 hour shifts for 5 days straight, show come compassion. The man was drunk. Elderly. Wasn't even armed.

We've had police brutality right here in my own hometown. While I want to see criminals apprehended, tried and convicted, somewhere along the line, it does seem like less violent people are still treated like hard core criminals. And that's just not right. Again, it's happened in my own city and it's just wrong.

Mary

[sunny]

Some may find this hard to believe - but not ALL NOPD are bad cops. We have many good and honest police officers. Officers who just want to protect their city. I don't know the complete circumstances of this event - yes I saw the news before I drove into Baton Rouge this morning. But if any of you think life is easy down here right now, just come on down and see for yourself. It ain't no picnic - I can tell you that.

[Windy]

Linda's very close to the situation down there, so let's give her the benefit of the doubt. She's probably more in the know than the rest of us.

Er... huh? She was there? Heck, we've all seen the video -- unless she was there on the scene and saw what transpired before the camera rolled, I don't think she has any special insight into this. Certainly not enough to justify it by telling everyone that black people do bad things, too.

Some may find this hard to believe - but not ALL NOPD are bad cops. We have many good and honest police officers. Officers who just want to protect their city. I don't know the complete circumstances of this event - yes I saw the news before I drove into Baton Rouge this morning. But if any of you think life is easy down here right now, just come on down and see for yourself. It ain't no picnic - I can tell you that.

I'm with ya there. Actually, I hope the hammer doesn't fall too hard on these cops. Yes, they need to lose their jobs and yes, they probably need a short stint in jail -- but they've also been through a whole lot over the past few weeks, and psychologically, something like that is bound to really mess with you. The guy who slammed abd gut-punched the reporter is a good example -- I doubt that's something he would have done pre-Katrina. It doesn't make it right, but they deserve a little judicial consideration for the fact that they stuck it out through Katrina (instead of quitting) and that they've been through hell and are now trying to readjust to normalcy.

[arkess7]

i just think the cops are MAJORLY over-worked and over-stressed and they are flipping out on people....i just saw it on the news and that cop was punching that 64 year old man in the face at least 4 or 5 times before the horse got in way of the camera.......that is just TOTALLY UNCALLED FOR....that is police brutality at its finest...

[GalvestonDuck]

Linda's very close to the situation down there, so let's give her the benefit of the doubt. She's probably more in the know than the rest of us.

Er... huh? She was there? Heck, we've all seen the video -- unless she was there on the scene and saw what transpired before the camera rolled, I don't think she has any special insight into this. Certainly not enough to justify it by telling everyone that black people do bad things, too.

She saw it and survived it as well. It's called "Katrina."

[sunny]

Some may find this hard to believe - but not ALL NOPD are bad cops. We have many good and honest police officers. Officers who just want to protect their city. I don't know the complete circumstances of this event - yes I saw the news before I drove into Baton Rouge this morning. But if any of you think life is easy down here right now, just come on down and see for yourself. It ain't no picnic - I can tell you that.

I'm with ya there. Actually, I hope the hammer doesn't fall too hard on these cops. Yes, they need to lose their jobs and yes, they probably need a short stint in jail -- but they've also been through a whole lot over the past few weeks, and psychologically, something like that is bound to really mess with you. The guy who slammed abd gut-punched the reporter is a good example -- I doubt that's something he would have done pre-Katrina. It doesn't make it right, but they deserve a little judicial consideration for the fact that they stuck it out through Katrina (instead of quitting) and that they've been through hell and are now trying to readjust to normalcy.

That's the thing, Windy. There is SO much more than meets the eye with what is going on down here. I'm afraid that if I say too much, this will get out of hand. But just trust me on that one, there is more going on down here, and the media will only show you what they WANT to show you. I could tell you stories that would make your skin crawl. Not just stories heard through the grape-vine. Stories from the horses mouth(s).