Recently, a police officer pepper srayed a 15 year old girl. FOX News's take on the story is an interesting one. I would encourage everyone to view their video and corresponding story before posting. A video that emphasizes the officer's actions, though not the girl's, is also available.

Questions for debate:

1.)Is this a case of police bruality? What evidence leads you to conclude that it was or wasn't?

2.)If you resist arrest, don't obey commands, and attempt to bite the officer, what recourse should the officer have?

3.)Are police obligated to treat mentally ill, drunk, high, or minor citizens different than those who resist out of conscience or choice?

1.)Is this a case of police bruality? What evidence leads you to conclude that it was or wasn't?

Once I saw that the first link was from fox news(link didn't work btw, had to search for it), I watched the second video first so I wouldn't have any bias when I saw the other one. I absolutely do not believe this was police brutality. I've been arrested before, when the cop tells you to do something, it's not a request, he doesn't need to say please, you just do it. He was far more patient than most cops, he told her to what to do 20+ times, he told her what would happen if she didn't do what he told her to do. The video caption said she was pepper sprayed and punched. From that angle, I can't say whether it was a punch, a shove, or just a knee-jerk reaction to being bitten, but as far as the pepper spray was concerned, he didn't even point it at her eyes, which is a good thing considering the first response you feel is to use your hands(which he is trying to restrain) to rub your eyes.

2.)If you resist arrest, don't obey commands, and attempt to bite the officer, what recourse should the officer have?

That's kind of a broad question, every situation is different. In this case, most officers would have had her on the ground with his knee in her back. Instead, knowing she was going to be a handful, placed her in front of the car after she kicked him to make sure it was on camera so she couldn't make some wild accusation afterward. He could've done many things differently I guess, he could've tasered her, he could've broken those scrawny arms in two to get them in handcuffs. I think pepper spray was probably the best way to handle that.


3.)Are police obligated to treat mentally ill, drunk, high, or minor citizens different than those who resist out of conscience or choice?

Typically they do treat them differently, because mentally ill and high people tend to get more violent. As for minors, I'm not sure how to answer it and again it depends on the situation. I'll tell you one thing though, when I was a kid, I would've rather have wrestled with a police officer than have to deal with my alcoholic father at home after he heard I'd been arrested.

No. She's resisting arrest and she bites him. All he does is pepper spray her and restrain her.
Shooting?
No. The cop's job is to protect the peace and get home alive.

ya, the whole hysterics and biting- she got what she asked for- a whole can of whoop butt.

Sorry- I am not usually one to defend the police- but she was way out of control. He showed remarkable restraint I am afraid.

1.)Is this a case of police bruality? What evidence leads you to conclude that it was or wasn't?


No, not at all. The officer used only the force necessary to make the arrest.


2.)If you resist arrest, don't obey commands, and attempt to bite the officer, what recourse should the officer have?

Non-lethal force, just as this officer used. The only one guilty of an assault in this video was the idiot girl.



3.)Are police obligated to treat mentally ill, drunk, high, or minor citizens different than those who resist out of conscience or choice?

I think they have to be trained to handle the situations differently. When you're dealing with a mentally deranged person things can get out of hand and quite dangerous in a real hurry for all parties concerned. So if anything I'd expect police officers to go sooner with non-lethal force like pepper spray when dealing with someone out of their minds.


But, what really bothered me in this thread was the second video you posted, Nebraska. Why did you link to that video? It was very obviously heavily edited to make the officer's actions look much harsher than they were. The person who posted that video obviously had an agenda as well as a complete lack of editing skills. Just watch the time code and you'll see they repeated certain scenes over and over again. Why would you even bother linking to that?

Aquilla

3.)Are police obligated to treat mentally ill, drunk, high, or minor citizens different than those who resist out of conscience or choice?

Nope- they are not obligated to treat those "citizens" differently- the mentally ill frieghten the cops the most- I know this from them telling me this- because often, the mentally ill don't care about self harm and will have no pain threshold, so alot of thier techniques, short of pulling out the gun and killing them, will work.

In fact, we treat the mentally ill and also, women, very differently unfortunately- this officer was obviously far more gentle than he would have been with a 15 year old boy of similar physical stature.

The real problem is that she didn't bite him hard enough. She wasn't able to bite him in an area that would have been fatal. That's the problem I see.

Finally, we have a citizen who is willing to fight for their freedom instead of passively accepting this strong-arm behavior like a sheep. George Orwell's words are more applicable today than ever.

"If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever."

You are joking aren't you? Could you enlighten us on how a police officer should handle a disorderly, high, and resisting citizen? Does the fact that the officer asked her to comply 20+ times mean nothing to you?

I'm not joking. Why does a citizen need to be "handled?" What consitutes disorderly? Because the officer says so. So if I get a Police officer PO'd I'm disorderly and need a good handling. I don't question the action, I question the job. I question a system that finds it acceptable to imprison women. A system that treats humans like animals. I rejoice everytime a cop dies, because I know that's one less person trying to take my freedom.

I attempted to post the video from "both" sides of the story, hence the FOX News link and the latter one provided. I also emphasized in my introductory post that th latter one emphasized the officer's actions, though not the girl's. I was looking for more than one video as things areedited and to have some degree of "balance."

I more than a gree with your analysis of the second video. First, being drunk and high in public is a crime, it's caleld disorderly conduct. We can't have those people walking the streets at a whim, so he was atempting to take care of the situation. Second, battery was commited on her part towards him when she attempted to kick him. The officer was asking her to comply numerous times, and even brought her back into view of the camera. Had he been using excessive force, I'm certain he would have allowed her to take them out of camera view. Third, the girl was clearly resisting arrest by not allowing him to handcuff her, as exhibited clearly when she attempted to bite him. Moral of the story? you can't be brutalized while you are trying to kick, bite, and resisting an officer. You bring the actions of the officer upon yourself. If the officer is in the wrong, sue later and handle it appropriately.