It is rough to watch: A video from NJ.com shows a man in flames emerging from his burning car after a Sunday night wreck. Police officers then arrive on the scene quickly—and begin kicking him before dragging him away from the flames. The officers apparently thought the man was the same one they had been pursuing in a car chase, but it turns out he was a second driver, an innocent victim who got caught up in the chase. The driver police were pursuing has been identified as 48-year-old Leo Pinkston, and he crashed his car into a utility pole while trying to elude cops after fleeing from a traffic stop. That started a fire that engulfed the vehicle of the second man, now in the hospital with severe burns.
“Our investigators have reviewed the video and we believe with certainty that this man is the bystander from West New York who suffered burns, not Leo Pinkston,” a spokesman for the Hudson County prosecutor’s office tells NBC New York. Friends say the second driver, who has been identified only as a 28-year-old man, had been driving home after work when the accident happened. “This is unacceptable,” tweeted Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop. “We’re IDing officers. We’ll pursue termination + criminal charges as appropriate.” He separately said “the entire pursuit that was previous to that fiery crash had questionable judgment calls from the officers.” Pinkston, also hospitalized, faces charges of aggravated assault and eluding.
It’s Joisey….fuggedaboudit!
If anything, police should be held to a higher standard than that of the public…As it stands now, police can commit crimes with impunity because, in most situations, they investigate themselves…Behavior that would get an ordinary citizen charged, convicted and incarcerated is routinely ignored by “the powers that be” because police are considered to be “above the law” as the “law” is whatever they say it is, the Constitution be damned…
Ever notice that police unions are “fraternal”? This should tell you something. The “thin-blue-line” is a gang, little different than street gangs–at least when it comes to “covering-up” their questionable and quite often, illegal and criminal behavior.
In today’s day and age, “officer safety” trumps de-escalation of force. This, in part, is due to the militarization of the police along with training in Israeli police tactics. This becomes a problem, with the “us vs. them” attitude that is fosters, along with the fact that Israel is a very different place, being on a constant “war footing”, and by necessity, its police tactics are very different.
There are too many instances of police being “given a pass”, even when incontrovertible video and audio evidence is presented. Grand juries, guided by police-friendly prosecutors, quite often refuse to charge those police officers who abuse their authority.
Police officers, who want to do the right thing, are quite often marginalized and put into harms way, by their own brethren…When a police officer is beating on someone that is already restrained while yelling, “stop resisting” THAT is but one reason police have a “bad name” in many instances…this makes the “good cops” who are standing around, witnessing their “brethren in blue” beating on a restrained suspect, culpable as well…
Here are changes that can help reduce police-induced violence:
1. Get rid of police unions. Police unions (fraternities) protect the guilty, and are responsible for the massive whitewashing of questionable police behavior that is presently being committed.
2. Eliminate both “absolute” and “qualified” immunity for all public officials. This includes, prosecutors and judges, police and firefighters, code enforcement and child protective services officials, and others who deal with the citizenry. The threat of being sued personally would encourage them to behave themselves. Require police officers and all other public officials to be “bonded” by an insurance company, with their own funds. No bond= no job.
3. Any public funds disbursed to citizens as a result of police misconduct should come out of police and public official pension funds–NOT from the taxpayers.
4. Regular drug-testing of police officers as well as incident-based drug testing should take place whenever an officer is involved in a violent situation with a citizen–no exceptions.
5. Testing for steroid use should be a part of the drug testing program. You know damn well, many police officers “bulk up” with the “help” of steroids. Steroids also affect users mentally as well, making them more aggressive. The potential for abuse of citizens increases greatly with steroid use.
6. Internal affairs should only be used for disagreements between individual officers–NOT for investigations involving citizen abuse. State-level investigations should be mandatory for all suspected abuses involving citizens.
7. Prosecutors should be charged with malfeasance IF any evidence implicating police officer misconduct is not presented to the grand jury.
8. A national or state-by-state database of abusive individuals who should NEVER be allowed to perform police work should be established–a “blacklist” of abusive (former) police officers.
9. Most people are unaware that police have special “rules” that prohibit them from being questioned for 48 hours. This allows them to “get their stories straight” and makes it easier to “cover up” bad police behavior. Police must be subject to the same laws as civilians.
10. All police should be required to wear bodycams and utilize dashcams that cannot be turned off. Any police officers who causes a dash or body cam to be turned off should be summarily fired–no excuses. Today’s body and dash cams are reliable enough to withstand harsh treatment. Body and dashcam footage should be uploaded to a public channel “on the cloud” for public perusal.
11. All interrogations must be video and audio recorded. Police should be prohibited from lying or fabricating stories in order to get suspects to confess. False confessions ARE a problem in many departments. Unknown to most people, police can lie with impunity while civilians can be charged with lying to police…fair? I think not…
12. Any legislation passed that restricts the rights of ordinary citizens, such as firearms magazine capacity limits, types of weapons allowed, or restrictive concealed-carry laws should apply equally to police. No special exemptions to be given to police. Laws must be equally applied.
Police work is not inherently dangerous…there are many other professions that are much more dangerous.
A little “Andy Taylor” could go a long way in allaying fears that citizens have of police.
That being said, I have no problem with police officers who do their job in a fair, conscientious manner…however, it is time to call to task those police officers who only “protect and serve” themselves.
Greetings,
You covered all the bases minus Asset Forfeiture. That, too, must come to an end. Allowing the police to run around stealing property from the public has to stop.
The guy with burns is still alive – cops are improving already.
My first impression was that they were trying to put out the flames.
With their feet?
Seems like they need some more specific training about handling people on fire if they were.
“trying to put out the flames.”
With the first kick to his chest and the second to his head??
How could anyone glean from that video that those assholes were “trying to put out the flames.”???
Same here, but after watching it a couple more times, I saw that the flames appeared to be out when the fist cop arrived and gave him a kick.
I don’t get it! I watched the video one time! One Time!!
How anyone could come away with even an initial judgement that these cops were just trying to put out flames just blows my mind!
I mean, for fucksake, can you not clearly see what took place in the video???
They stomped that poor bastard!
he deadpanned
You make great syrup, but you gotta keep it out of your eyes. Then notice how carefully they move him away from the flames…not.
That awkward moment when your sarcasm is so advanced people actually think you are stupid…
I know, right?
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It’s like a National Geographic documentary entitled: Fire Beasts of the Night
If they’d start hiring people to be cops that had more than room temperature IQ’s I’ll bet the copfuk situation in this country would improve substantially. As it is they all appear to be inept, ignorant, roided up Barney Fife’s. There was a reason Andy only gave him one bullet and made him keep it in his shirt pocket.
Maybe b/c my psycho ex-son-in-law is one of the boyz in blue, i’ve gone full 360 on my take on these public servants over the past decade. First I thought they were donut munching over-weaponized meter maids, then I thought a few might be even human, now I’m back around to original viewpoint.
Even though I mistrust the lot of them now, in their defense, please consider how lovingly and carefully they drug him off the sidewalk over the curb into the street. I know if it were one of their own that had just barely escaped, on fire, from a burning vehicle, they too would want their scorched ass drug around like that.
It’s comply or die, in the land of the free.
Since American cops receive Israeli-style training, we are all Palestinians now…
http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2017/06/08/facebook-patent-reveals-plans-to-collect-footage-through-cameras-without-users-knowledge/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social
I am so tired of “former cops”, “retired cops”, “current cops” swearing all through their posts about how patriotic they are and how great they are for the populace and the cities when their diction alone should be enough to warn you away from believing a single word that comes out of their mouths, let alone their actions and how they treat people.
The amusing thing is that a few times a year, out of the THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of cops in the US you get one cop to give a kid a ride to school or help someone out for a feel good story on the news, but statistically it seems 15 to 20x greater to get threatened, harassed or shot. ( I would say its even greater than 15-20x but I am being conservative)
Cops ROB the cities of their tax dollars claiming they are protecting the populace when it was ruled they have no obligation to protect the populace. They walk around with scumbag/boot-thug authority, drive drunk and flash a badge to get “professional courtesy”, treat the entire populace like they are criminals and actually are an Incorporated (as all cities are) security force, much like a Walmart, but they carries guns and get complete impunity to the law. They are as Unconstitutional as it comes and were the entire economy to collapse….well look to Venezuela as to what you could expect from the “protect and serve” bunch.
…as a disclaimer… nope, never had a run in. not so much as a traffic ticket even in the rare occurrence that I have been pulled over. And truly I dont give a shit about your brothers, sisters, cousins, twice removed who is a cop and how nice he/she is… I will never trust an entity that will actively push to subvert your constitutional rights at every turn.
I see that the cops & the union are saying they really were trying to put the fire out. If you tell a lie often enough…
http://www.weaselzippers.us/343113-jersey-city-mayor-wants-cops-fired-after-they-saved-a-burning-man/
The time is not yet but is fast approaching.
Bide your time, find where these hero’s in
blue reside.
If and when things start falling apart and these
hero’s take to the streets to keep law and order,
you hit their families at home.
It will be war people and you have to realize that
it was they that forsaken their families first by
choosing to live by the sword.
A truly free society does not need to be governed by
his fellow man let alone be shaken down and terrorized
to comply by a bunch demons dressed in blue
Drunk ? 15 years old? stupid ? agent provocateur?……. I’m going with drunk and stupid as fuck before you even started drinking
I’ve never understood why cops are so violent with suspects that attempt a high speed car get away. Half of the cops joined just so they could have car chases. This guy made their dreams come true and they beat the shit out of him? I’m surprised they aren’t whispering to the guy when cuffing him that they’ll arrange to allow him to escape just so they can do it again.
They did not do anything wrong and even if indicted,they will not be convicted.
They were acting upon the belief that the man might be armed and once he was secured he was dragged away from the flames.
If he’s reacting from a couple love taps then he ain’t drawing a gun which is a genuine concern with someone so apparently intent on escaping. That said, fuck ups (wrong guy) should have consequences so I rule demotions for the perps and a 7 figure settlement for the victim, case closed-Neeeeext!
I forwarded the video to a buddy of mine who is a retired cop/trainer and who now teaches crime scene investigation at a police academy.His reply is below.
“If an officer or officers are kicking a non-resisting man on the ground, they are using excessive force. But for the life of me the video is shot from a distance and I can’t say 100% that the guy on the ground was non-resistant. The trouble with just a minute or two video is there’s no context. Did the guy prior to fleeing and eluding point display a firearm. Was he reaching under a shirt or into his pocket and the officer was instructing him not to do so? Can anyone tell from that video alone? If there were body cameras or a body recorder on their uniforms it would be much more clear. But yes just looking at the video it looks like excessive force. Excessive force is using more force than required to arrest an individual, control his/her movements, or end threats or use of force by the individual. The courts should give the benefit of a doubt to an officer making a split second decision. That said, a compliant non-resistant subject should not be kicked.”
Your buddy needs to get his ass kicked by the cops for no reason, and with no consequences. Note the starting assumption that the victim of this police brutality must somehow have been a ‘perp’ who may have brandished a gun before fleeing. He was an innocent bystander, victimized by the criminal fleeing the cops, and then victimized again by the cops. And when he does get a seven figure settlement, the perpetrator cops won’t pay a penny of it, and I guarantee they don’t do time for this vicious assault which any non-cop on video running up to a man on his knees and kicking him would.
I hate cops. I have never waivered from that.
It will probably have to come to this…
“And how we burned in the camps later, thinking: What would things have been like if every Security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain whether he would return alive and had to say goodbye to his family? Or if, during periods of mass arrests, as for example in Leningrad, when they arrested a quarter of the entire city, people had not simply sat there in their lairs, paling in terror at every bang of the downstairs door and at every step on the staircase, but had understood they had nothing left to lose and had boldly set up in the downstairs hall an ambush of half a dozen people with axes, hammers, pokers, or whatever else was at hand. The Organs would very quickly have suffered a shortage of officers and transport and, notwithstanding all of Stalin’s thirst; the cursed machine would have ground to a halt . . .”
– Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago