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Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of Michigan Citizens for Science and co-founder of The Panda's Thumb. He has written for such publications as The Bard, Skeptic and Reports of the National Center for Science Education, spoken in front of many organizations and conferences, and appeared on nationally syndicated radio shows and on C-SPAN. Ed is also a Fellow with the Center for Independent Media and the host of Declaring Independence, a one hour weekly political talk show on WPRR in Grand Rapids, Michigan.(static)
Ed Brayton also blogs at Positive Liberty and The Panda's Thumb
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Posted on: October 8, 2009 9:23 AM, by Ed Brayton
This cop is arresting a kid for skateboarding and the kid tells him he's being a "fucking dick." At which point the cop goes way beyond being a fucking dick and tells the kid that he's going to "break your arm like a twig" if he resists - when he wasn't resisting in the first place. And he does it all with a self-righteous lecture too. Video below the fold.
He should be fired. Immediately.
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Comments
What fucking dick made it illegal to skateboard?
Posted by: Owen | October 8, 2009 9:31 AM
I'm so glad I opted out of law enforcement with my criminal justice degree. My continued experience with PDs across the county shows them to be nothing more than glorified high school bullies.
Posted by: Heretic | October 8, 2009 9:40 AM
I sometimes wonder: If we fired all the dicks who abuse their authority from the force, would we have any police officers left? I'm getting so tired of police who think they're entitled to do or say anything they want.
Posted by: magister142@cox.net | October 8, 2009 9:41 AM
And yet another instance of "professionalism" by the Dolton, IL PD:
http://coyotechronicles.wordpress.com/
Posted by: democommie | October 8, 2009 9:43 AM
So I'm curious, is there any follow up to what happened (legally speaking) with the police officer or these kids?
Posted by: doctorgoo | October 8, 2009 9:52 AM
Another sterling example of the American gestapo in action.
Posted by: Rob jase | October 8, 2009 10:02 AM
"You can't play rock and roll music here! This is a high school!"
Posted by: FishyFred | October 8, 2009 10:24 AM
And the obligatory:
He risks his life for your safety, you know. Maybe a little gratitude for this hero who sacrifices day in and day out for the American public.
But don't you worry none, everybody. Sotomayor and Biden have his back.
Posted by: threetorches | October 8, 2009 10:27 AM
"Yeah that's what I used to tell my mom, too when I kicked my little brother."
I got respect for that guy's debating skills. To come up with that response that quickly was pretty good.
Posted by: Jordan G | October 8, 2009 10:45 AM
This cop was gentle compared with a suburban Chicago cop who disciplined a brain injured student at a therapeutic school.
Posted by: Dr X | October 8, 2009 10:53 AM
Disciplined yes, fired no. I don't find his actions that egregious. What the cop did was wrong, but I don't see this as reaching the level of a firing offense, not even close in fact.
Demo's cop @ 4 however should be serving a multi-year sentence in a state prison meant for violent felons.
Posted by: Michael Heath | October 8, 2009 11:45 AM
According to this, it is only illegal to skateboard in SF at night.
Posted by: AL | October 8, 2009 11:50 AM
Of course, fire that cop and then send the power crazed bastard to prison for abusive power. The police in this country are too nasty and weird.... they deal with criminal but they should be able to know the difference between criminals and kids. What a jerk and sick mind.
Posted by: Kathy | October 8, 2009 11:55 AM
I like how the cop starts in to the martyr act as soon as someone requests name and badge number. Still, he was removing a dangerous criminal from the street, you would think the neighborhood might support him.
Michael: To me, threatening to break the kid's arm is a deal-breaker: The cop should be fired and prosecuted.
Posted by: kehrsam | October 8, 2009 12:23 PM
@doctorgoo: I believe the charges were dropped against the kid within 24 hours. Nothing will happen to the officer.
Posted by: Johnny Clamboat | October 8, 2009 12:34 PM
Don't know if you've seen this.
Incredible. I just cannot describe it.
http://www.courthousenews.com/2009/09/23/Family_Says_911_Tape_Caught_Cops_Planning_Cover-Up_After_Shooting.htm
Posted by: jay | October 8, 2009 12:35 PM
Fired? No. He should be suspended and sent to a training session but he was just being a fucking dick. But he didn't hurt the kid and that is the most important thing. This is an opportunity for this cop to learn a valuable lesson which could make him a better cop.
Posted by: Tilting At Windows | October 8, 2009 12:44 PM
#16... I just don't know what to say in response to that article. I've read a lot of abusive cop stories, but that one leaves me speechless.
Why the flying fuck don't we have harsher penalties for cops who abuse their power when doing shit like that, than for run-of-the-mill criminals? They're supposed to be the good guys, they're supposed to know better. They're the ones whom we have to submit to the authority of. Failure to uphold that trust should have catastrophic consequences.
Sigh... oh well. Guess if I should ever decide to go on a homicidal killing spree, I'll see about getting me a job at the local sheriff's office first. That way, IF I'm convicted, it'll probably be knocked down to time served.
Posted by: David | October 8, 2009 12:53 PM
A friend of mine who grew up in the city I used to work in once said to me, "Every bully and punk I knew in high school is now on the police force here." Anecdotal, and probably an exaggeration, but it is consistent with my idea that the problem with some jobs is that the kind of people who want them may not be the sort of people who should have them. (Take GW Bush and the presidency, for example.)
Posted by: JimV | October 8, 2009 1:20 PM
@18 - David, the Phx story is hard to read. But there is no evidence that the cop did anything other than make a huge mistake in the heat of the moment. The attorney (who stands to make $$$ if he wins) has one version of the story maintaining that there was a coverup. While it may be true, the 911 tape does not prove it from what I could tell.
"they're supposed to know better" does apply in many of the cases such as the one Ed is posting on here, but the Phx case was a split second decision gone wrong. The only way to "know better" would be to not chase assailants into houses. In fact most cops probably would rather not go into a house after someone... but it is the job society gave them. I know you will disagree.
Posted by: Rich | October 8, 2009 1:20 PM
@20, Rich, the statement "'That's all right. Don't worry about it. I got your back. ... We clear?'" doesn't necessarily prove a cover-up, but the fact that the recording catches the cop admitting he didn't know where the homeowner's weapon was (not to mention the fact that he probably wouldn't have seen it at all, coming up on the homeowner from behind) seems to contrast with his later statement to the IA officer "that Anthony had pointed his gun in his direction, 'in the 'ready' position,'"
So it's probably not a big police conspiracy--just a cop who screwed up and who is now lying to cover his ass.
Posted by: Rorschach | October 8, 2009 2:21 PM
Rich -
Are you fucking insane? From the link:
Just dragging him through the house, in front of his family and dumping him on the patio is bad enough. This is more than a mistake - this is fucking brutality - about as bad as it can get. I don't give a fuck if it was the actual intruder - that is fucking insanity.
And then apparently they wouldn't even let the family know his condition, much less see him.
Cover up is the least of the problems with this fucking bullshit. They treated that man and his family, far worse than any criminals should be treated.
Posted by: DuWayne | October 8, 2009 2:32 PM
According to the local news, the kid's charges were thrown out when he appeared in court the following day, and the cop involved has been placed on desk duty while they investigate the incident.
Zach Stow, the one who was arrested, is considering filing a complaint.
Posted by: tacitus | October 8, 2009 2:37 PM
I'm not sure on this one. What the cop said was stupid and threatening. On the other hand, based only on the video it sounds like the guy was enforcing the law, was going to give these kids a break, and one of em popped off like an idiot. I don't know about San Fran, but there are places where cussing at a police officer in the line of duty is illegal. Maybe that's not a good law, but if it applies here, the cop would have been within it to react with a ticket or choose not to give the break he originally intended, or whatever. I don't think he should be fired based purely on this one incident.
Posted by: DarkSyde | October 8, 2009 3:56 PM
I was stopped by police in SF last December and cited for violating the Traffic Code by skateboarding on a sidewalk. This led to 2 court dates - one in February where the cop didn't show up, and a re-schedule in July where the cop did appear to dismiss the charges.
Why would he do that? Because there is no Traffic Code any more.
In July of 2008, the San Francisco Transportation Code went into effect which "supersedes the former Traffic Code in its entirety." Not much gray area there. In the new Transportation Code, the only mention of skateboarding is language that bans riding on Muni platforms and the like (Section 10.2.50(h)). It may have been an oversight that the old skating ban didn't make it in - but the law is the law.
I was actually aware of the correct law when I had my run in, however the police had no interest in my side of the story even when I pointed out that the pamphlet they showed me as proof of the statute was dated 2006.
The code has since been updated as of June, 2009 to ban non-motorized vehicles from sidewalks in business districts (See section 7.2.13 at http://www.municode.com/Resources/gateway.asp?pid=14143&sid=5) and after sunset.
In spite of the cop's claim simply to be enforcing the law, the law had changed and he was ignorant of it (removing the skate stoppers is another matter entirely). There is no city or county-wide ban on skateboarding. In fact the city is actually trying to promote non-motorized modes of transportation.
There's very little to gain by provoking an officer, but it's a real shame when they don't know the very law that we pay them to enforce.
Posted by: robmo sf | October 8, 2009 4:51 PM
Is there a law against skateboarding? If so, then the law is stupid and unjust, and the cop was being a dick. If not, then the cop was not only being a dick but committing a crime in attempting to enforce a nonexistent law.
Is there a law against calling a policeman a dick? No, there isn't, any such law would be unenforcable due to being unconstitutional.
Is there a law against threatening physical violence against a person who poses no danger to you? Yes, there is. The cop violated this law, and should be not only fired but arrested and thrown in jail.
Is there a law against arresting a person under false pretenses (such as claiming he resisted arrest when in fact he did not)? Yes, there is. The cop violated this law, and should be not only fired but arrested and thrown in jail.
Posted by: phantomreader42 | October 8, 2009 4:59 PM
DuWayne,
One can be skeptical of both the police investigation AND the homeowners account. I do find it hard to believe that the cops figured out they shot the wrong guy, and then proceded to parade him down the street on the hood of a police cruiser. Again, it may be true and if so I hope they have a witness and win. If it isn't true, then it is turning a tragic mistake into police brutality, which are two very different things.
Posted by: Rich | October 8, 2009 5:32 PM
Rich -
I don't give a damn if they thought he was the wrong guy or not, paraded him down the street on the hood of a cruiser or not. If they didn't leave the guy where he lay and called paramedics, they seriously fucked up. If they brought any body riddled with bullets, out in front of the family, they seriously fucked up. If they also threw him on the hood of a bloody cruiser, that is just icing on a major fucking police brutality cake.
Even if it was the intruder - it doesn't make doing anything but calling a fucking EMT the right thing to do. The last thing they should do, is traumatize the family, by dragging a bullet riddled body through. And they shouldn't be moving someone who is still alive - for that matter, even if the guy was dead, he shouldn't have been moved until he had been examined.
Posted by: DuWayne | October 8, 2009 5:55 PM
Did you miss the bit in the video where, not only did a number of people accuse the policeman of kicking the kid, but where the policeman admitted he had done so? (3:05 onwards)
Also, I don't see the part where the policeman read the kid his Miranda rights before placing him under arrest. I thought they were required to do that in the US?
Posted by: Armchair Dissident | October 8, 2009 6:29 PM
AD -
They don't actually do that on the street - they do that during processing...Least ways, that is how it has been whenever I have been arrested.
Posted by: DuWayne | October 8, 2009 6:43 PM
Anyone else notice that the SF cop forgot something important?
"You're under arrest. You have the right to remain silent . . ."
Or am I just behind the times?
Posted by: JPS, FCD | October 8, 2009 10:21 PM
He should be suspended.
And then hit with a bat until candy comes out.
Actually, I'm starting to think there's a serious case for instituting public corporal punishment for corruption and abuse of government authority.
Posted by: Azkyropth | October 8, 2009 10:41 PM
It's the kid who needed corporal punishment, IMO. A long time ago.
And the officer explained that he wasn't kicking the kid into the car, but pushing him with his foot. It would be interesting if there was a video of that piece of it.
-Rusty
Posted by: minusRusty | October 8, 2009 11:56 PM
who pushes someone into a car using their foot????
Personally I call that kicking, and yeah the kid might have been a bit of a pain, but the cop is supposed to be the adult in the situation and he STILL did threaten to break the kids arm
Posted by: Kim | October 9, 2009 3:43 AM
Some of these responses are just mind boggling. The kid in a low voice says in surfer dude style "you're being a dick" or words to that affect. Yet some of you think that justifies the cop threatening physical violence against him? Wow. The cops behavior was obscene and uncalled for.
Posted by: David | October 9, 2009 9:18 AM
Back in the 80's one of my friends was driving through the town that he lived in and got pulled over--for going 37mph in a 35mph zone. As the cop was writing him a ticket for "speeding" he mumbled, sotto voce (but not sotto enough), "of all the fucking cops in the world, I get Barney Fife.". The cop heard him, made him get out of the car and lean over the hood where he was frisked and then threatened him with arrest. Needless to say my friend was taken a bit aback by the process. Same cop, two years later, shoots a "prowler"--who happens to be the pregnant wife of the homeowner. Fortunately, she was not badly wounded (if there is such a thing) and he was, finally, booted off the force.
Posted by: democommie | October 9, 2009 9:40 AM
Regardless of the cop's actions, skaters should stand up and demand respect through respectable behavior. Mouthing off to a cop doesn't help the cause.
Posted by: Skatessentials Skate Site | November 3, 2009 11:58 PM