February 28, 2009

You Make the Call

There is a rather interesting video released today by the King County Washington Sheriff Department. It shows a 15-year old girl being placed in a holding cell at the Seattle-Tacoma jail following arrest for suspected auto theft. According to the arresting deputy, the girl was “real lippy.”

Upon being placed in the cell she was instructed to remove her shoes. In the video it appears that she kicks one shoe toward the deputies. I’ll let you make the judgment if the deputy's reaction is warranted.



Did you notice the two punches while the girl was face down on the concrete? How about the means by which the deputy lifted the girl from the floor?


A news story about the event is located HERE.

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4 Comments:

Rogue Medic said...

She probably took advantage of him earlier. Now that he has reinforcements, he is just counterattacking. He has obviously read Sun Tzu.

Just a little snarky said...

Police departments all have their own rules regarding how to react to a situation. Throwing an object at an officer is clearly an act of aggression, and may be illegal in some states. In Michigan it's called "battery".

However, generally the officers don't strike a perp, much less an underage, helpless, unarmed perp, even if they have been "mouthy".

But if you worked with the scum of the earth on a daily basis, you'd be wound pretty tight too.

Since the video was removed due to Terms of Use violations, I cannot view it.

Just a little snarky said...

I've watched "Cops", "Street Patrol" (same as Cops), and "Jail", which is after the officers apprehend the perp, and book them. The question is not whether it was right to strike the helpless, unarmed girl, but whether striking her violated the department's rules.

Most of us knows what is right, and fair, but that frequently does not coincide with that the law or departmental rules practice.

Rogue Medic said...

The police and corrections officers regularly have to tolerate abuse. It is part of the job. This is one of the things the average person is generally not aware of. One of the reasons that this deputy, apparently incapable of controlling his temper and his fists, should find another line of work. Perhaps it will be making license plates.

I do not expect to read that many police are defending this deputy, unless there is something extreme that the girl did. If he can't control himself in dealing with her, how might he behave in dealing with a full grown adult?