Around here, the fire department is also the paramedics and the rescue squad. In DC, they basically roll whatever is the closest to a medical emergency to get someone with some kind of first aid training and a radio on the scene as quickly as possible. The EMTs take over when they arrive. It is also common everywhere to roll a “fire truck”, which is also a rescue squad, to any car crash so that, in case it turns out that someone is trapped in the car or fuel has spilled, they have someone on the spot quickly to deal with it. They send police to medical emergencies on the street in case they turn out to be needed. The idea is that the first information coming in might not be complete, so they send everything and sort it out on the spot.
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Does this concept apply to law enforcement officers?
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They really should have called Zach.
of course it does. the cops obviously are assholes, but she doesn’t just get to walk.
also, this headline is complete bs. the girl didn’t just ‘fall off her bike,’ and get pepper sprayed, there’s more to it than that. i think this is a good example of the media shaping the narrative.
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an adult who had just committed a crime and was resisting arrest in the same way that the girl was
But the girl was not resisting arrest was she?
Given the tone of the rest of the post, it is pretty easy to interpret this as a rhetorical device, whereby the following is being argued and assumed as true (begging the question) at the same time:
a) This is a reasonable response to certain situations
b) Had the girl been in said situation this would have been OK
c) Her behavior was consistent with the way you would expect a criminal to behave in a similar situation.
This could be easily represented as a Venn diagram where the common link is the behavior, forcing a causal relationship between a teenage girl and a criminal.
Of course, even if you assume that’s true, then this would only prove that the behavior shared here is a human, not a criminal response and that the handling of the situation by police is not (as the commenter stated) a reasonable response to an adult who had committed a crime. (Another thing that was assumed and argued as true)
It can be read more charitably, but it’s kinder to the poster to assume he knows what he’s trying to say.
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Some areas really need warning signs:
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they were likely the closest paramedics available.
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Here paramedics and firefighters are one and the same. It’s a common model, but I shouldn’t assume it’s the same everywhere.
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You’re right- there’s more to the story.
She was a minor with a brain injury that made her physically incapable of being able to make informed decisions. That’s the bit you’re missing, here. She’s a child in need of help (and she’s not able, because of said head injury, to be able to make any sort of informed decision).
edit for spelling
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Yeah, the USA.
Or at least that’s what I taught my children. Whatever you do, don’t call the cops, it’s far easier to deal with thieves, muggers and crazy people than it is to deal with cops, because cops are armed and don’t suffer consequences from their actions. And if the cops show up on their own, treat them just like large dangerous dogs - show respect and not fear, and don’t make any assumptions about whether they will or will not be nice to you.
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Sure. Many of the people I shook hands with at my aunt’s funeral this weekend were both EMS and firefighters.
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I saw a young women behave as if she distrusted and feared police interaction. The police were more than happy to reinforce her view.
Some points
No one is required to obey an unlawful order.
A cop who tried to illegally arrest of detain you is guilty of false arrest. A criminal act.
The assault she has been charged with was a result of her defending herself from an attack by a criminal.
The marijuana - I have a hard time with that one since it was found post arrest. The arresting cop was already committing criminal acts without regard to public safety or his sworn oath of office so it would not be a stretch to imagine him also illegally planting evidence.
The criminal assault and abuse of a person in custody was observed by several other cops on the scene yet none of them stopped the criminal activity and instead participated. This shows us that such behaviour is SOP for this department which should IMO lay the blame squarely upon the chief of police. State police should arrest the chief and every officer involved until an investigation is completed and a court determines their guilt.
Sure, that’s what should happen but we all know that it will not. We all know the cops will suffer no real repercussion for committing crimes in full view of the police. We also all know that we are being policed by criminals. Yet, we keep electing people in to office without demanding change. We only demand that change via protest instead of at the ballot box.
Get rid of your current DA. They are likely corrupt. Get rid of your current mayor and any other elected official that has police oversight. That, not protests, are the way to effect change. But please keep protesting, it keeps the issue in the news. Just try to get the message out that our ballot box is the only place we can actually create change.
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The incident is depressing, but the comments here are also super depressing. Just really hateful, vile, and counter to progress and rational discourse. On this page you have a bunch of people who basically agree on everything, but if someone steps out of line even a tiny bit from “the accepted way we respond to these”, then it’s instantly the jump to hate, to lazy shortcuts, stereotypes, and the demand to silence the heretic.
It’s pathetic, and its enforced by aggressively terrible, side-taking moderation.
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Simpler explanation: she’s black, they’re cops. I’ll give her parents the benefit of the doubt here, and go with the theory that they’ve taught her to avoid police so as to avoid death.
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Wow, I suppose since I posted here, then what I said was vile and counter progressive in your view - unlike your comments which really offered a great alternative view on this arrest that we all need to consider. Right? Oh… nevermind.
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She was fleeing the scene, refused to give her information and then fought tooth and nail against the officers. Do you know why? The part this author left out was she was holding marijuana. That is she why she tried to flee. How convenient that the dialog keeps changing from news article to news article. The pepper spraying was over the top and not necessary. If the officers had let her go and she died or caused another accident then people would be up in arms that the cops didn’t do their job. The bottom line for people of all skin color is don’t fight the police and do what they ask. She did herself no favors acting all nuts like she did. She was a threat to everyone around her, including herself. How do you de-escalate someone that crazy? You strap them down and give them a sedative. Unfortunate for the officers that was not an option. What she exhibited was pure hysteria.
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This topic is temporarily closed due to a large number of community flags.
They do! And they still get shot. You really should pay attention to how often this happens. And having marijuana shouldn’t be a death sentence. Ever. For any reason. Especially not a child.
The sexism is a nice touch.
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