A cop explains the facts of life to a television reporter before arresting him for, well, reporting:
Freedom. It would be a great idea, hmm?
-- Badtux the Sovok Penguin
1 day ago
Friday, October 31, 2008
4 comments:
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Badtux, you know I used to be a cop, and that -- generally -- I think they're decent people trying to do a miserable job. In this case, however, based on the video, this cop did more than "cross the line." He seems hell-bent on creating a police state. This cop needs to be fired, arrested, tried, convicted, incarcerated, and barred from every being involved in law enforcement ever again. This cop is the kind who gives all cops a bad name.
ReplyDeleteIt's particularly sad seeing an African-American police officer abrogating the civil rights of a reporter.
Well, you know how it works. The city suspends the cop, the police union files a grievance, the police civil service review board finds in favor of the cop, and the cop goes back on the street. If this was a rookie cop still in probation it'd be different, he'd be out on his butt faster than you say "banana split", but he apparently has 17 years in service. Ain't nuthin' short of a nuclear blast getting his butt kicked out of the Newark PD.
ReplyDelete- Badtux the Realist Penguin
I think a situation like this would be enough to fire anyone, regardless of how much service time he has in. If it's a "he said, he said" case, the union might have some wiggle room, but with the tape catching his every move and word, there isn't much a union can do except say, "yeah, we want a police state," which would go over too well in Newark. Listening to the mayor of Newark in these videos (and a couple of others), I think this cop may well be on his way out.
ReplyDeleteIt's not the mayor's call to make, it's the civil service board's call to make, and the civil service board rarely votes to fire an employee who has more than a few years of service unless the employee has a documented history of multiple instances of improper behavior. In most cities if you have 17 years of service and don't have a documented history of improper behavior you pretty much have to *murder* someone to get kicked off the force -- and even then it's not guaranteed. (I'm thinking of one local case in particular there, if you're interested I'll pull out the details for you).
ReplyDeleteThe most this cop will get is mandatory "anger therapy" and "re-education" sessions. That's just how it works today. Seen it too many times, too many cases. The only time I've ever seen a cop fired for one of these Youtubed incidents is in cities/counties/states where there is no civil service board, where the mayor/county administrator/governor *does* have the power to fire cops. But that's not Newark.
- Badtux the Cynical Penguin