Houston police reaction to a burglar

[ethiostar]

I don't know if this has been posted already. I don't know anything about the background story (what the kid did to the police before making a run for it) but the video is...ummmm....well see for yourself.

Ignore the commentary by the guy who video taped the incident.

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/video?id=7936353&syndicate=syndicate&section

 

[MonsterD]

Wow that is bad, not sure how it would be justified, but it should have been tried in a court not public opinion, too bad they did not wait until after a trial of the officers to show the video.

 

[Hoofbite]

All of those officers should be behind bars. They should be in prison for a lengthy sentence.

They are entrusted with being some of the most upstanding citizens that we can offer and should be held to a higher standard when committing stupid acts like this.

 

[vta]

too bad they did not wait until after a trial of the officers to show the video.

What does this statement mean? I never watch video's with sound while at work, so I have no idea, aside from them beating the crap out of that kid, has happened.

That said, it's amazing that some people truly never learn. Never get it together and just learn from everything that has shaped our current society and just show some kind of restraint.

 

[vta]

All of those officers should be behind bars. They should be in prison for a lengthy sentence.
They are entrusted with being some of the most upstanding citizens that we can offer and should be held to a higher standard when committing stupid acts like this.

And worse, they make it much worse for their fellow officers who are honest and upstanding. Stupid ****s.

 

[MonsterD]

What does this statement mean? I never watch video's with sound while at work, so I have no idea, aside from them beating the crap out of that kid, has happened.

That said, it's amazing that some people truly never learn. Never get it together and just learn from everything that has shaped our current society and just show some kind of restraint.

The mayor was upset that the news station played the video before they could make a case against the officers in the video. When this aired it made it more difficult to present a case for trial against the officers. I wish too they had held it off until the proper procedures could have taken place because all the evidence and testimony should occur before the actual judging takes place.

Who knows but it still could proceed, I think I remember in court cases that they had to search very hard to find proper jurors that had no knowledge of the case so it could be done fairly.

 

[vta]

The mayor was upset that the news station played the video before they could make a case against the officers in the video. When this aired it made it more difficult to present a case for trial against the officers. I wish too they had held it off until the proper procedures could have taken place because all the evidence and testimony should occur before the actual judging takes place.

Who knows but it still could proceed, I think I remember in court cases that they had to search very hard to find proper jurors that had no knowledge of the case so it could be done fairly.

Cool, thanks.
Now a days, that's just not the reality though. Everyone has something that can record an incident and ship it off to someone else before the incident is even over.

 

[cowboyeric8]

Wow, that was unbelievable. The kid had clearly given up.

This reminds me of the video of the Dallas police officer who wouldn't let the Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats go visit his dying mother-in-law after he ran a stop light.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Well, doesn't look like Houston has changed much. Every since I was a boy, Houston Law Enforcement has been pretty hardcore.

 

[Go Big D!]

Wow. The kid should not have been beat like this. It's awful.
He also should not have been committing burglary and fleeing.

Now the cops will be put away, as they should be.
He'll end up with beaucoup dinero and learn nothing in the process.

A sad story all around.

 

[hairic]

Wow, that was unbelievable. The kid had clearly given up.

This reminds me of the video of the Dallas police officer who wouldn't let the Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats go visit his dying mother-in-law after he ran a stop light.

Reminds me more of this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9llvTQn8v-c (gave up a couple seconds before being slammed) or more like this for the group beating with vehicle catalyst: http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2009/05/birmingham_police_beating_vide_1.html

In that case, the cops could have been beating a guy who had already died. Now that would have been embarrassing.

Info:

The cops aren't going to spend much time in jail if convicted and won't be felons.

Felony charges were sought, but the grand jury only returned the lesser charges (official oppression, class A misdemeanor: up to $4k fine, 1 year jail).

The four awaiting trial have pled not guilty and have been fired. Three others not charged have also been fired. There were 12 involved total that received disciplinary action of some sort.

Opinion:

The people of Houston better get prepared to open their wallets to that kid for their poor cops' behavior. Anyone on the forum should be sure to set aside ~$0.01-$1.00 in their budgets for him. A pic of that kid's money would be lolworthy and help alleviate my boredom for a couple seconds as well.

Also, what those cops did was felonious.

If I:
Repeatedly kicked the head of a teenager, prone, not protecting himself: Attempted murder or aggravated assault.
Repeatedly kicked a teenager's testicles, prone, not able to protect himself: aggravated assault, maybe even sexual assault (spread his legs to gain access).
Get four others to help me out: Aggravated assault for all of us.

Relevant statute that defines when the kid and any bystanders could have resisted his arrest legally with force (they should expect to be illegally killed in response, though, so it's not advised, just legal):

(b) The use of force against another is not justified:

(2) to resist an arrest or search that the actor knows is being made by a peace officer, or by a person acting in a peace officer's presence and at his direction, even though the arrest or search is unlawful, unless the resistance is justified under Subsection (c);

(c) The use of force to resist an arrest or search is justified:

(1) if, before the actor offers any resistance, the peace officer (or person acting at his direction) uses or attempts to use greater force than necessary to make the arrest or search; and

(2) when and to the degree the actor reasonably believes the force is immediately necessary to protect himself against the peace officer's (or other person's) use or attempted use of greater force than necessary.

Sec. 9.32. DEADLY FORCE IN DEFENSE OF PERSON.

(a) A person is justified in using deadly force against another:
(1) if the actor would be justified in using force against the other under Section 9.31;

Sarcasm:
The kid on the ground needs to be charged with felony assault of an officer. Did you see him repeatedly attacking those officer's boots and hands with his face, calves, back, and testicles? Can't get away with that when it's on video, kid.

 

[DasTex]

Don't commit robbery.....then this doesn't happen.

I know it won't be popular, but I really have no sympathy for the guy.

 

[theogt]

Notice how they managed to make sure that they were BEHIND the police cars, so there wouldn't be any police car cameras viewing the beating.

Without that security camera, no one would know.

 

[WoodysGirl]

Should've known the ambulance chaser would be part of this video. *smh*

This is one of those situations where two wrongs don't make a right.

The little boy was wrong for trying to burglarize a home, but once he surrendered, the cops should've cuffed him and that would've been the end of it.

But nope, they had to get their Rodney King on and got busted. Sucks all they got charged were misdemeanors.

 

[Rynie]

Don't commit robbery.....then this doesn't happen.

I know it won't be popular, but I really have no sympathy for the guy.

This is about the dumbest statement I've read. Yeah, he shouldn't have been doing robberies, but what those cops did is:

A). A completely different situation than the robbery itself, so really saying "don't commit robbery and this won't happen" has no relavance here. In most cases, even MURDER the suspect doesn't unlawfully get the **** kicked out of him when being taken into custody.

B). The cops still have a responsibility to uphold the law. They can't arrest him for breaking the law, and then break the laws themselves by ATTACKING this individual.

So stupid.

 

[Teren_Kanan]

All of those officers should be behind bars. They should be in prison for a lengthy sentence.

They are entrusted with being some of the most upstanding citizens that we can offer and should be held to a higher standard when committing stupid acts like this.

Sure they should be punished.

But saying they are entrusted with being an upstanding citizen?

I don't see how we can expect more from police officers than any other person at a job.

At what point are they expected to be upstanding? These are people who are overworked, crappy paid, and generally lacking any higher form of education. It's not exactly hard to become a cop.

When you have the type of job that college drop outs end up in, you can't expect so much from them.

What needs to be held to a higher standard, are the requirements for becoming a cop. One that doesn't let bottom feeders in like our current police system does.

My really good friend Kaylie is a cop. Love her to death, but she basically flunked (drunk) herself out of college. She has very little self esteem and is just not the type of person who should become a cop.

She goes to an academy for less than a year, and 6 months after graduating, she's a cop.

And she's probably a better person than the average person who becomes a cop.

Some police agencies don't even require ANY college. Just a HS Diploma or GED.

Knowing how easy it is to become a cop, just makes me lose any sense of holding them to a higher standard.

They are just regular people like us. Most of them got the job cause it's easier and cheaper than going to college for years.

 

[arglebargle]

Gee, wouldn't that recording get you charged with a crime and possible ten year sentence in Illinois, and various other places around the country?

Hmn, the force of the blue is strong....

 

[joseephuss]

Don't commit robbery.....then this doesn't happen.

I know it won't be popular, but I really have no sympathy for the guy.

I don't think it has anything to do with having sympathy for the burglar. It is not being able to trust these specific cops. You are right that in the vast majority of cases if you don't commit a robbery then this stuff won't happen. I just wouldn't trust these particular cops if I got pulled over for going 5 mph over the speed limit. They appear to have some issues.

 

[Danny White]

Don't commit robbery.....then this doesn't happen.

I know it won't be popular, but I really have no sympathy for the guy.

The police are not appointed as "judge, jury, and executioner" to mete out punishment as they see fit.

You are innocent until proven guilty, and for the police to be dishing out street judgement for those who they deem guilty is a dangerous precedent.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Crazy Stuff.

What some people who think it is ok forget is...This type of thing actually takes the onus off of the law breaker and turns those that are to enforce the law into law breakers as well.

What this also does is continue to reinforce the division between some neighborhoods and the law...to the point that they will not help the law when the law needs help (as in being a witness or helping in investigations).

It also makes it more dangerous for the cops out on the street due to these bad feelings towards them.

The shame of it all is that there are always some good cops out there that unfairly get grouped with the bad ones due to this type of thing.

Think if you lived in that area or was around that area when it happened. Seen the boy lay down and give up and still the cops kept beating the crap out of them.
Down the road if there was a crime in your area that those cops needed help with and came to your house to ask if you seen anything happening or knew where so and so was...would you want to help them after you seen them doing that kind of thing. Chances are your view of them would be skewed and again that sucks for the good cops that work their butts off every day to make the community safer.