Reserve soldier gets pushy, cop slaps him down
- Thread starter AMonger
- Start date
Good question. No arrest was made for a crime. It looks like the cop did move a step closer. As previously stated it was bad police move to not deescalate. Don't think it was assault though by officer to step closer. Then the kid gets even closer and appears wanting to fight. At this point it is a split second reaction to take him down because of the officers possible belief that the kid will do bodily harm. This threat was mainly created due to the cop stepping forward instead of keeping his distance and to verbally deescalate the situation. The cop created such a small window or small margin for the guy,( and him) who was already agitated ,and made it more likely that he would make the wrong move.
jaminjim
Veteran Expediter
I think the point is that the cop made no attempt at all to diffuse the situation, not only that but he did his best to escalate the whole thing. He acted like a punk. Then used his badge to try and intimidate someone who called for his assistance. Then after he (the cop) made an unnecessary step toward the kid to show him who is in charge he punched the guy in the face for doing exactly the same thing as he did. All this while he had a 250 pound cop as backup. The Cop acted like a school yard punk.
I just wonder what the cop would have done if it had been an armed citizen? Do you think he would have taken the same approach? Or do you think he might have shown a little respect.
AMonger
Veteran Expediter
I don't think he did. But even if he did, it was in response to the kid's actions. If you're being belligerent and/or disorderly, and a cop objects and takes a step toward you, the appropriate response is to stop what you're doing. If you aren't doing anything wrong, don't stop what you're doing but certainly don't chest bump the cop. Bad things will happen if you do.
AMonger
Veteran Expediter
This part is probably true, but the kid did make that wrong move.
AMonger
Veteran Expediter
Punched him in the face? I don't think that's at all what he did. The camera is moving around so much, it's hard to say. But I don't think there was an actual punch. He just took him down.
And it wasn't the same thing. The kid made physical contract, which is definitely over the line.
Definitely an argument in favor of concealed carry and against duty to inform. And someone who would chest bump a cop under a situation like this shouldn't have a gun. This was incredibly stupid.
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jaminjim
Veteran Expediter
If you read Turtles link they said he punched/slapped the guy. If the guy did chest bump the cop I agree that he was stupid for doing so. But I'm thinking that the cop relished the situation that he clearly caused.
It's amazing to me how people can see very different things in the same video. To me, it's clear the cop took the first step in an alpha dog intimidating, menacing posture, which has been noted is one of the definitions of assault, a crime. The reaction of the kid was to effect a similar posture to indicate he was not going to lay down and roll over submissively. I saw no chest bump. The video doesn't show that at all. It shows possible evidence of contact, but none whatsoever of who initiated it. The officer absolutely sucker punched the kid, not because the officer believed the kid was about to do bodily harm (even if it was a straight-up chest bump, it's hard to believe that a Marine was fearful of his safety because of it), but rather to show the kid who was boss. The repeated statement of the officer being a Marine, as if that trumps the kid being a soldier, only reinforces it.
I have a feeling that if the kid had said, "I'm a citizen... know who you're talking to, bro," that the cop's response would have been, "And I'm a cop!" as if a cop trumps that of being a citizen. This was clearly a situation of the cop wanting to make sure the kid knew who was boss.
The kid had just been beaten a few minutes earlier, had his stuff trashed, and was further frustrated by a 45 minute wait for help. Instead of calming the situation down, the cop escalated it to a brand new situation. The cop stated that he wasn't on the kid's time watch, and took great exception to the kid being mad at how long it took the police to arrive. The problem with that is, as soon as the kid called the police, the police were, in fact, on his time watch to protect and serve, which this cop didn't do.
I know if it were me and the cop kept repeating that he was a Marine, at some point, when he and his partner took their knees off my chest, I would have told him to act like it. Officer Darden, the cop, escalated a non-violent situation to physical violence without even trying to see if he could resolve the situation differently. Darden’s behavior would be perfectly acceptable in a military environment, perhaps even expected. But he was on duty as a cop, not a Marine, and he used physical force against no perceived threat (at least nothing a Marine should be threatened by) while telling the kid not to do what he just did himself. This was all about, "You'll do what I tell you to do, and you'll like it!" Totally unacceptable. The bottom line here is the cop punched the kid because the kid complained about response times.
This video was leaked by someone in the Vallejo Police Department, and it would be very surprising to find out it was leaked because this was an isolated incident. The letter (PDF) accompanying the leaked video indicates a systemic problem in that department.
The video certainly tells a more complete story than the official police report, but at least the police report is honest and accurate, if not the entire truth. Incidentally, nary a mention in the report of the kid initiating physical contact, chest bump or otherwise.
I have a feeling that if the kid had said, "I'm a citizen... know who you're talking to, bro," that the cop's response would have been, "And I'm a cop!" as if a cop trumps that of being a citizen. This was clearly a situation of the cop wanting to make sure the kid knew who was boss.
The kid had just been beaten a few minutes earlier, had his stuff trashed, and was further frustrated by a 45 minute wait for help. Instead of calming the situation down, the cop escalated it to a brand new situation. The cop stated that he wasn't on the kid's time watch, and took great exception to the kid being mad at how long it took the police to arrive. The problem with that is, as soon as the kid called the police, the police were, in fact, on his time watch to protect and serve, which this cop didn't do.
I know if it were me and the cop kept repeating that he was a Marine, at some point, when he and his partner took their knees off my chest, I would have told him to act like it. Officer Darden, the cop, escalated a non-violent situation to physical violence without even trying to see if he could resolve the situation differently. Darden’s behavior would be perfectly acceptable in a military environment, perhaps even expected. But he was on duty as a cop, not a Marine, and he used physical force against no perceived threat (at least nothing a Marine should be threatened by) while telling the kid not to do what he just did himself. This was all about, "You'll do what I tell you to do, and you'll like it!" Totally unacceptable. The bottom line here is the cop punched the kid because the kid complained about response times.
This video was leaked by someone in the Vallejo Police Department, and it would be very surprising to find out it was leaked because this was an isolated incident. The letter (PDF) accompanying the leaked video indicates a systemic problem in that department.
The video certainly tells a more complete story than the official police report, but at least the police report is honest and accurate, if not the entire truth. Incidentally, nary a mention in the report of the kid initiating physical contact, chest bump or otherwise.
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