Cont: The behaviour of US police officers - part 2

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Skeptical Greg said:
mgidm86 said:
Just watched the Tyre Nichols' video and some discussion and interviews. One cop field-goal kicked him in the face while he was on the ground. Lined it up, changed angles a bit, and wham.

Few minutes later baton-cop comes along and maybe breaks his arm, jabs him in the gut. On and on it goes.

These cops know they are on camera they just think they can get away with it. How many do?

Just not sure what else to say. Running out of words.
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Thanks for the report.
I can't stomach watching it..

I have never got the images of the Rodney King Beating out of my head.

You would think we would have come further than this by now.
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Agree with all three points
 
My elderly mom sometimes asks me to explain things she sees on TV, she can get confused with too much information at once.

I sincerely had trouble explaining this to her. How do you explain something when you can't find the right words. "They beat the guy to death." "Why?" I don't know.
 
EMTs

"Davis said her assessment is that the EMTs “failed to render proper care.”" CNN

"Paramedics appear to show up on scene about 10 minutes into the video. Roughly 23 minutes pass from the time Nichols appeared to be subdued after the beating before a stretcher arrives on scene." CNN.

In the Tyre Nichols incident, there were also two EMTs that were suspended fired, possibly for the delay. What was going on in the subsequent 13 minutes? I did not watch much of the video.
 
Discussion: With these real-time videos available, the traditional "fear for my life," "resisting arrest," etc. coptalk won't fly this time. What possible defense can these cops offer? Will this be plea-bargained? Will one/some testify against the others?
 
Bob001 said:
Here's a question: What kind of person commits murder while he's wearing a camera that records it? All five of these guys thought they were untouchable.
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I suspect they have beaten people in the past, in the name of them supposedly resisting arrest. Scream and shout at someone, frighten them, panic them and the fight or flight reflex kicks in and then the police think they have a resist arrest on their hands and I think in many cases, they do not realise they caused the situation.

In this case, the suspect died. I suspect the other times the suspect did not die and they were able to pass off what happened as resist arrest.
 
alfaniner said:
I imagine police stations around Memphis are securing their properties. Fencing and whatnot -- for what good it will do. I only heard a blurb about the Scorpion unit but I expect the spillover of blame to be significant.
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Unfortunately, that will make violence by police even more likely. They will feel even more under threat and justified in their use of force.

Those cops think they are the good guys.
 
On one of the bodycam videos it appears that the cop actually took the cam off and covered it up, but you could still hear the sound. I wonder what the punishment is (if any) for defeating the purpose of a bodycam?
 
Meanwhile, elsewhere, the beat goes on.

2 police officers charged with kidnapping, beating handcuffed homeless man


Two former south Florida police officers handcuffed a homeless man last month and drove him to an isolated area where they beat him unconscious, prosecutors alleged.

According to Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, Hialeah city officers Rafael Otano and Lorenzo Ofila, who have since been fired, were responding to a disturbance at a bakery shortly after 5 p.m. on Dec. 17, when they encountered 50-year-old Jose Ortega Gutierrez, a homeless man who often roamed the area and was familiar to the officers.

Ofila, 22, allegedly handcuffed Ortega Gutierrez and placed him in the back of his marked police car, said Fernandez Rundle and claimed surveillance footage from the area provided no evidence that supported detaining him.

Instead of booking Ortega Gutierrez into the local jail, Ofila and Otano, 27, allegedly drove him six miles, with their emergency lights flashing, to "an isolated and dark location, against his will," Fernandez Rundle said at a news conference.

Once there, the officers allegedly threw Gutierrez, who was still handcuffed, to the ground and beat him, she said, noting that Gutierrez later testified he woke up alone, un-handcuffed, and bleeding from the head.
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Bob001 said:
Discussion: With these real-time videos available, the traditional "fear for my life," "resisting arrest," etc. coptalk won't fly this time. What possible defense can these cops offer? Will this be plea-bargained? Will one/some testify against the others?
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In the original police report, the incident was described by saying that "a confrontation took place."

Just a mere confrontation, that's all....
 
TheGoldcountry said:
My elderly mom sometimes asks me to explain things she sees on TV, she can get confused with too much information at once.

I sincerely had trouble explaining this to her. How do you explain something when you can't find the right words. "They beat the guy to death." "Why?" I don't know.
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I do wonder about the pernicious influence of fraternities and hazing rituals.

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www....ichols-murder-charged-cop-29077329.amp?espv=1

ETA different version of same link

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/us-news/tyre-nichols-murder-charged-cop-29077329
 
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The Memphis Police's Scorpion Unit and the Nazi's Einsatzgruppen. Both are examples of what happens when so called elite units of tough guys are created and tasked with eradicating a perceived problem.

The members of those units think they are on a crusade, to do good. In their minds they are heroes who do no wrong. That is why members of the Scorpion unit could beat a man to death, knowing they were on camera, without thinking.
 
I wonder how much this could have been covered up if it wasn't for the security camera video. Presumably this video goes to a separate organisation than the police body cameras which I guess are not automatically reviewed.
 
Planigale said:
I wonder how much this could have been covered up if it wasn't for the security camera video. Presumably this video goes to a separate organisation than the police body cameras which I guess are not automatically reviewed.
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FWIW, they did not actually "beat him to death"
They beat him- and he later died. Both involve a level of criminality, but are definitely different. They did stop hitting him after he was subdued- and before he was dead.
 
So, let me guess what the defense arguments in the trial are going to be:

Tyre Nichols died because of
- overdose
- some precondition
- stress
- exhaust fumes

:(
 
Distracted1 said:
FWIW, they did not actually "beat him to death"
They beat him- and he later died. Both involve a level of criminality, but are definitely different. They did stop hitting him well* after he was subdued- and before he was dead.
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*Correction based on mgidm86's report as I don't want to watch what is effectively a snuff video
 
Nessie said:
The Memphis Police's Scorpion Unit and the Nazi's Einsatzgruppen. Both are examples of what happens when so called elite units of tough guys are created and tasked with eradicating a perceived problem.

The members of those units think they are on a crusade, to do good. In their minds they are heroes who do no wrong. That is why members of the Scorpion unit could beat a man to death, knowing they were on camera, without thinking.
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We have seen this historically. Police departments, often with the tacit approval of city fathers, form “special units” that are tasked with cleaning up a specific perceived problem like gang activity.
We saw this in LA, for instance. We had such a unit here in St. Louis.. The “street corner apprehension team”. And this “Scorpion” unit. (What a great public-relations name!)

These groups are often given carte blanc to “do what’s necessary” with little or no oversight….. Until things go seriously bad.
 
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