Yet another NM Law Enforcement Issue

[joseephuss]

well if you saw the fuzz beating on your mom, would you let it happen?

she was dumb to drive away the first time, not sure why she would do that, it was just a speeding ticket

When was the cop beating on the mom?

 

[Denim Chicken]

You do see a lot of these stories but that's because they make the news at a ridiculously high rate, even if the cops didn't do anything unnecessary. In this case they were absolutely in the wrong. They're there to deescalate a situation, not take it over the top and put lives in danger.

By and large, reporting on police officers is a lot like the "how's my driving" stickers on the back of semi trucks. Nobody calls in to compliment the guy for properly signaling, staying centered in the lane, or moving over for the traffic coming up behind him. People call in to complain about the driver who just cut them off, was driving erratically, or refused to move over for passing traffic while driving 5 mph under the speed limit.

People don't report on all the times where cops do a good job or handle their duties as they should. They report on all the times where cops do something stupid like this.

Yes, any for every one story that you see reported where an officer does something wrong or illegal you can bet there are thousands of others that go unreported.

 

[Longboysfan]

Firing on the minivan full of children is ridiculous, and unforgivable. Short of that, though, that woman--and her son's--behavior is insanely stupid.

The offices who came behind may not have known there were 5 kids in the car only they were evading.
The women - complete dumb ***.

Should have taken the ticket and ended it at that.

 

[Longboysfan]

She also has a history of DWI arrest, although here Lawyer claims that she has no convictions. I mean, there is no question that this women was in the wrong and plain stupid for her actions. Also that she endangered the lives of her children but the officer in questions had no legal justification for discharging his weapon in that situation.

The car could have been used as a wepon against them.

 

[Denim Chicken]

The car could have been used as a wepon against them.

Going in the opposite direction?

 

[Denim Chicken]

The offices who came behind may not have known there were 5 kids in the car only they were evading.
.

So shoot first ask questions later?

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

The car could have been used as a wepon against them.

That's why there are rules for discharging your weapon. If you don't know what the situation is, don't go shooting at Mini Vans is probably Chief among them.

 

[Idgit]

The offices who came behind may not have known there were 5 kids in the car only they were evading.
The women - complete dumb ***.

Should have taken the ticket and ended it at that.

I agree with the latter, 100%. Completely. It's hard to say how the officer came on the scene or what he knew, but there's no cause for discharging a firearm in that circumstance.

 

[Thatkidbob]

That 14-yo kid looked dangerous to me, was big enough to do some damage and he should have never left the car, could have even had a gun on him.

Is this a serious comment?

He's 14. He's tiny. One good punch would put him down.

It's pretty clear he's trying to defend his mom, and more importantly, he is likely acting this way because he doesn't see the actions of these cops as being legitimate.

There are some great, great cops out there, and you have others that are nothing more than grade school bullies looking for opportunities to flex their muscles. These cops seem to fall within the second category.

 

[Tabascocat]

Is this a serious comment?

He's 14. He's tiny. One good punch would put him down.

It's pretty clear he's trying to defend his mom, and more importantly, he is likely acting this way because he doesn't see the actions of these cops as being legitimate.

There are some great, great cops out there, and you have others that are nothing more than grade school bullies looking for opportunities to flex their muscles. These cops seem to fall within the second category.

The kid is not Mike Tyson but plenty big enough to handle a weapon like a knife, gun or baseball bat. I did not mean in a one-on-one boxing match.

 

[joseephuss]

Is this a serious comment?

He's 14. He's tiny. One good punch would put him down.

It's pretty clear he's trying to defend his mom, and more importantly, he is likely acting this way because he doesn't see the actions of these cops as being legitimate.

There are some great, great cops out there, and you have others that are nothing more than grade school bullies looking for opportunities to flex their muscles. These cops seem to fall within the second category.

With the history of his mom that teen probably doesn't know what actions of cops are legitimate. I don't see any good reason for why that kid got out of the car the first time around. Don't see a good reason for him getting out of the car the second time around either considering she was the one who fled the scene and caused the whole scenario to escalate. It was extremely dumb for that one cop to fire off some shots, but that doesn't happen if not for her actions. Everything about this revolves around her actions and her attitude. You could have the best cops in the world on site and she would probably still have been in trouble.

 

[viman96]

I'm really surprised Resisting Arrest was not one of charges.
The driver was 100% in the wrong.
The PO that pulled her over handled it very poorly once things started to escalate.
When backup arrived they should have blocked the van with their vehicles to prevent an escape.
The PO that shot at van should be prosecuted. Suppose any of the numerous bullets were to ricochet off the ground or car parts into the vehicle?

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Yes, any for every one story that you see reported where an officer does something wrong or illegal you can bet there are thousands of others that go unreported.

On the other hand, there are X100 of those thousands where Law Enforcement simply does what is Lawful. We have a problem down here but I don't believe that every Law Enforcement person is bad or guilty. At least I hope that this is not the case.

 

[heavyg]

Im not going to try and defend the officer who fired the shots. But I find it absolutely hilarious that the majority of you are focused on everything the officers did and not the actions of the woman which led to the actions of the officers (right or wrong). If the woman had complied from the start the rest would be a non issue.

 

[CowboyMcCoy]

What a cowardly thing to do. I'm never surprised. And it's not only NM. This kind of stuff happens all over the country.

 

[joseephuss]

What a cowardly thing to do. I'm never surprised. And it's not only NM. This kind of stuff happens all over the country.

You are right dumb people like this woman do this kind of stuff all over the country.

 

[Denim Chicken]

Im not going to try and defend the officer who fired the shots. But I find it absolutely hilarious that the majority of you are focused on everything the officers did and not the actions of the woman which led to the actions of the officers (right or wrong). If the woman had complied from the start the rest would be a non issue.

Everyone has pretty much agreed that the woman was in the wrong, but it is ignorant to absolve such a gross escalation and negligence for human life; so I'm not sure what your finding so hilarious.

 

[CowboyMcCoy]

You are right dumb people like this woman do this kind of stuff all over the country.

No, I was talking about the criminal cops and their thin blue line, etc.

 

[BigStar]

You do see a lot of these stories but that's because they make the news at a ridiculously high rate, even if the cops didn't do anything unnecessary. In this case they were absolutely in the wrong. They're there to deescalate a situation, not take it over the top and put lives in danger.

By and large, reporting on police officers is a lot like the "how's my driving" stickers on the back of semi trucks. Nobody calls in to compliment the guy for properly signaling, staying centered in the lane, or moving over for the traffic coming up behind him. People call in to complain about the driver who just cut them off, was driving erratically, or refused to move over for passing traffic while driving 5 mph under the speed limit.

People don't report on all the times where cops do a good job or handle their duties as they should. They report on all the times where cops do something stupid like this.

There were 800,000 sworn police officers in the US in 2010. You could get 100 events of varying inappropriateness per day for the entire year and you'd have about 4.5% of the national police force giving the other 95% a horrible reputation. While that would give you far too many acts of misconduct, 95 out of 100 guys not behaving in that manner is pretty good. Get rid of the offenders and move on with the guys who do things the right way. Part of the problem is, once a person has secured a government position of any level it almost takes divine intervention to actually get rid of them. What you have a system who's hiring standards are likely a little lower than should be, but who's criteria for termination are entirely too high. You simply can't get rid of the bad eggs fast enough.

While I agree that this sort of even should never happen, the reporting in general is incredibly biased and really is a disservice to the honest and hard working police officers who handle their job like a professional day in, and day out.

Was the driver in the wrong for driving away? Of course. You're an idiot for arguing a ticket even if you are entirely right because you are in a no-win situation and will only worsen your current predicament. If you have a legitimate gripe with the ticket, handle it as you should even if the means to do so are entirely to inconvenient, more often discouraged by the cost to fight it, and the process is mostly unnecessary.

That said, the officer here had the entire wrong approach after she took off and then stopped. First off he should have had backup. Any time a routine stop ventures outside of the realm of "routine", there should be another officer at the scene to help moderate both the citizen in question but also the officer involved. When the woman takes off, the cop probably got a hefty dose of adrenaline and since he's all amped up when the lady finally stops his first move is to open her door, start screaming and try to pull her out. He should have called for backup and waited not only to allow the situation to mellow a bit but also because he's putting himself into a position he cannot handle. He can't control the passenger side of the vehicle and luckily for his sake it was a car full of children and not a car full of grown men with bad intentions.

Had he waited, the other officer would have pulled up and observed what looks to be just a routine traffic stop. Of course he'll be aware that it isn't because he's been called out there to pursue a fleeing vehicle but I think it's safe to say his nerves are going to be a little less on edge than those of the guy who was actually chasing after the van. They approach the care together and none of the kids sneaks out the passenger side, turning the entire scene into a complete circus. The cop was literally in over his head at this point because now he has two people with whom he needs to gain cooperation from and he's splitting his attention between the two by chasing after the kid. To top it off he starts clubbing the window on the side of the car where the mother isn't seated and where a handful of kids are just sitting there watching it all unfold and this isn't even the worst part of the whole situation.

The worst part is Barney Fife shows up and without having seen how it all unfolded and possibly not even aware of who he's shooting towards starts shooting at the car full of children.

Just a dumb situation made by possible by poor decisions on both sides of the fence. Was the lady in the wrong for driving off? Absolutely. That doesn't mean that the cop is defaulted into the "right" position. There's a right way and a wrong way to handle any situation and he handled this one poorly. He took on a situation that was beyond his control and when chaos ensued he resorted to beating the hell out of the van while another cop who was late to the party went straight for his weapon.

All one has to do is go onto YouTube and type in "police beating/assault" to see how underreported the negative stories are detailed. Police investigation, then nada, etc. The above article was filmed via the police cam but many cell phone videos are available to show how recurring this problem appears nationally and are hardly "over reported" as you stated.

Police Officers are held to a HIGHER standard...what part are you'll not getting about that? If they can't cut it or are just ex athletes or military veterans with limited options (more likely the case) with an adrenaline addication and authority complex, they are not the glorified "modern cowboys" that cops and cop lovers want to assume. They don't get rewarded for simply doing their jobs....

 

[joseephuss]

No, I was talking about the criminal cops and their thin blue line, etc.

You don't think she did anything wrong? The cop who fired his gun was definitely in the wrong, but the officer who initially pulled her over didn't. She acted poorly and put herself, her kids and others in danger. If not for her behavior this entire incident doesn't occur. She deserves 90% of the blame and the cop who shot his gun gets the other 10%. The cop who pulled her over to start didn't do anything wrong.