Thanks for posting. From the report:
"Later Joswiak field tested the green plant material which was positive for marijuana."
Not sure what is meant by “field testing” marijuana, but I gather if he did it a little more often he might not be such a violent man.
Has the “Christ, what an asshole” already been applied to this one?
If I were the Police Chief/Captain: If I didn’t see anything beyond just the first 5 seconds of the video, I’d already have seen enough to terminate the officer.
It is wholly unacceptable to speak to a citizen in that manner. I could warrant approaching someone with weapon drawn, but even then I would expect my officers to use a firm and calm tone with clear instructions.
As I said…just the first 5 seconds would already cost him his job in my book. Everything AFTER the 5 seconds is CRIMINAL.
Law enforcement needs to be reminded they work for us. They are here to protect us.
“Stop Resisting Arrest!!”
Yeah, the unions are a good thing – but they also protect the bad ones. And they are powerful enough that they make it difficult to get rid of them for ‘minor’ offenses even if you know 100% that these minor offenses mean that if they are running around not caring if people know – there are much worse.
In my city, there are 5 review boards that a bad officer may see that can all dismiss them from the Chief’s review board…a citizen’s review board…internal affairs. And two others that I can’t find in my notes here! I’m trying to get onto one of these boards but it requires getting a nomination from someone (mayor, councilman, police union, citizen’s group…etc). And right now, just working with the good officers to do what I can (i.e., spent two hours in a narcotics overdose class with citizens and officers last night…actually still have my Narcan in my backpack!)…
If you want to stop this sort of thing from happening in your home…do like I’m doing…get training to work as a citizen with public safety organizations and make a difference. My city is a leading city involved with community policing – but it doesn’t mean it isn’t without problems. I hope that I can help fix this with my involvement…who knows.
I sorta think the partner didn’t want to get shot.
Also, officers fail to the level of their training.
He has been trained to go off. His partner has been trained to disengage when that happens.
No different from any other dysfunctional family or street-gang dynamic… well, aside from the right to be violent without consequence.
That’s a criticism of many unions. i.e. teachers unions.
On the one hand they are practicing worker solidarity and protecting the workers, but they do so with sort of blinders on. Which means once you are in fully with a Union its like digging out a tick if they need to get rid of someone. Granted that is the purpose if they are just trying to cut back the work force, but when it’s to get rid of someone bad (criminally, or just a horrible worker) they don’t really seem to ever do anything other than just do what they always do with out thinking if that is the right way to go about it or not?
People don’t act like this as a one off. This is not a sudden one time violent outburst from an otherwise calm collected individual, can we agree there?
So, IMO, the pensions of bad-asses (like this guy) with badges are not earned, as they are working under false pretense. This guy does not work for the people, he should lose his pension. to make an example of him. To guide him to an opportunity to humble himself, for which i would not hold my breath.
The police are terrified of the wrong things. The most dangerous people on the road are the ones trained to apply violence, and comfortable doing so, excessively and in public at that. They are armed, have badges, and no good guy with a gun is in the right to stop one.
What is the check on their behavior?
What would work? That’s why the pensions.
In future, LEO pensions should be contingent on not feeling entitled to, and not actually perpetrating a violent assault on the citizenry, while at work.
If that guy were not in uniform, he’d be in stripes for that. Because he is in uniform, he qualifies for SUPREME public benefits, the undeserved default respect we try to show LEOs, AND he gets to bill crazy overtime hours… all this while other people are hungry for work. HUNGRY.
How about they keep the pensions, but not one of them makes more than 60K? Here in MA the best paid public employee is an officer who goes to court, He bills 4 hours for every 20 minute session he attends. last year he was >400K
Thats the union for ya. Unions are great, BUT that’s not how they’re supposed to work.
We can’t retroactively take away pay. Would you like your employer coming in and stating that they didn’t hit the goals they wanted and therefore they need you to cut them a check?
Pension is earned with every single paycheck you get. It is a part of your salary. It should be beyond reproach.
Not for this asshole – but for everyone else. There should be no precedence in taking it.
That said, I wouldn’t care if he got fined enough that he had to mortgage his pension away – but that would be on him to do this. I don’t care how the money was paid.
You an I have no argument in that he should have to pay for his actions – I just don’t think the knee jerk reaction of allowing compensation to be taken away retroactively should ever happen. Because once it does – it is going to affect folks like you and me. There are already companies that are allowed to gamble on pension funds – money these companies do not own and are not hurt if it goes away. I personally think this should lead to individuals going to jail for this.
I say this as someone that works for a very blue university in a mostly red state…every year, some fuckwad like Mike Pence tries to take away our previously promised pension that we expect because it is part of our salary, but seems like a good source of money for fiscal conservative fuckwads like Mike Pence who have no idea what fiscal conservatism means. It scares me every time we find a way to slide on pension rights…and I will defend it here.
Again, the guy needs to be fined…maybe to where he needs to pay a monthly fee that is equal to his pension. I’d be all behind this.
Sickening, shameful. Will encourage more people to be wary of law enforcement of any kind, even to their own detriment. The vicious circle of spiraling distrust will only lead to more and more extreme abuses, escalating to #$% knows what level. It’s time for all police departments to step up, do the right thing, and do everything they can to break the cycle and rebuild trust.
Maybe officers like this should just be disarmed, and allowed to be non-gun officers. Serving in whatever capacity they can be useful after being emascu…… disarmed.
England seems to find plenty of uses for unarmed LEOs. Maybe not adrenaline charged work, but that’s probably best for some officers.
Glad to see the ACLU publicizing these videos. Is it just me, or are others’ social media feeds increasingly peppered with police assault footage? In any case, I’m glad I’m a card-carrying member of the ACLU. And you can too: https://action.aclu.org/secure/become-freedom-fighter-join-aclu?
That sounds fortunate, as some folks are just increasing peppered with police assault.
It looks to me like they’re making great use of the $24-million-plus they took in starting the weekend after the presidential election.
I’ve had angry cops screaming in my face before. They never expect me to say “Officer, please stop escalating the situation” but I do, which invariably leads to them escalating. Then I get to say “I was raised by a career Naval Officer, your rhetoric isn’t going to achieve your desired effect here today, Officer”. That usually gets them to back it up a bit and change tactics.
They make threats, I encourage them to follow through.
But you know what, I am a rich white guy. No millionaire but likely a 10%er. The fact that LEOs know I can afford a lawyer is what keeps them in check around me.
I feel really shitty that not everyone can challenge LEOs to their face the way I can, and do.
Hope they make similar use of the hundred bucks I just gave them.
When the police start getting murdered. This will be why.
Just read this. Cops are out of control.
https://www.google.com/amp/www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/white-st-louis-police-officer-shoots-off-duty-black-officer/
That’s seriously fucked up. I thought it was quite bad enough when the guy who calmly announced that he had the right to carry got sentenced to death for it. This is a whole other level…
It’s a shame the off duty officer was not wearing his thin blue gang colors.
How is firing ones own gun such a first resort for these people? How is it that their feels matter, and the citizens feelings never can?
is it because Black Lives Matter so darn much?
Oh please, he didn’t even murder him. What good is an investigation going to do?
A social worker in one police thread pointed out that she goes and talks to all the same people police do, with no gun and no backup.
