The woman issued (what she thought?) was a grave insult. The officer received (what he thought?) was a grave insult. The woman received (what she knows was) an attack and the officer issued (what he knows was) an attack. This is poisonous congruity.
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That’s not how they do it. What used to happen is this: the court would look at the case and decide if the conduct was violating someones right. (step 1). Then they would look to see if there was another case with all the same facts (step 2). If step 2 fails, then they are not liable. Now the courts are allowed to skip straight to step 2 without judging step 1. Which means that they never establish precedent for a particular behavior violating someones rights. So next time the exact same thing happens, step 2 still fails.
Of course if forced I am sure courts could find all sorts of ways to draw a distinction between two cases to avoid finding officers liable. But at the moment they usually don’t have to.
One more thing to remember. Qualified immunity only applies to civil lawsuits. There are separate protections that keep police officers from being tried and convicted for criminal actions such as assault. Both need to be addressed.
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This bastard needs to lose his job immediately and then he needs to go straight to jail for assault for at least one night to make the point very clear and give him a criminal record
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They’ve kind of already started:
“The Miami-Dade Police Benevolent Association said the officer hit her with an ‘open-hand slap’, also known as a ‘diversionary strike’, the Miami Herald reports.”
So…the term “punch” is what we’re going to debate here? I don’t think they quite understand the key issue…
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The pig thought that glass fist punch was going to knock her down but it didn’t quite work out for the pig, she wasn’t having any of it.
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Exactly. “Relieved of duty” is nothing. Abusive cops need to be fired, barred from ever working in law enforcement again, and face criminal charges for their acts just like any citizen would. They need to be held to a higher standard than anyone (except maybe politicians, but that seems even less likely).
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It’s not a “mistake,” it’s an assault.
We don’t have to teach kids “be very careful around firefighters, because they are human too and if you make them angry they might use one of their fire axes to split your skull open like a watermelon.” Nor do we regularly allow firefighters to keep their jobs after using their fire axes to split civilians’ heads open like watermelons.
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You’re going to need to kick some more Republicans out of the senate to get that passed.
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What a statement by the PBA. You can see there was no “open handed slap” he straight up clocked her with a closed fist, upper cut. Making these excuses is why the PBA, Police Unions and Police force itself cannot be re-habilitated. They are all compulsive liars and protectionist at all cost.
I hope that cop doesn’t have kids because kids respect ZERO boundaries in arguments and one day he’ll end up punching them and say “they were asking for it”. Failing to recognize only in his protected little cop bubble does that shit logic fly.
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Drinking mayonnaise out of the squeeze bottle? Dancing without rhythm to songs from hospital dramas?
Nah, it’s the dressing up like a fascist and punching someone for no reason.
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I don’t know, I couldn’t stand watching that video any more to verify. But the point is, that is SO not the point. So what if he punched or “open hand slapped” her. The video is so clear that it was done with force and without physical provocation on her part, aside from “getting up in his face.” It was NOT self defense.
The discussion should be about that HE is a trained “public safety officer” paid from the community chest and should be held to a higher standard. If I struck someone like that I would be cuffed and likely charged. I certainly wouldn’t have a bevy of cops rushing in to tackle and handcuff the person I just struck. Argh!
(Because I know internet communiques are notoriously misinterpreted - I’m not mad at you, just fully frustrated at the situation in general.)
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That was my point exactly. It’s the PBA’s shitty excuse. Not mine.
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This is aggravated assault. Charge him, arrest him, and put him in jail.
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Sadists choose their victims with care, and they prefer victims that can’t fight back, which is why spouse/child abuse is common.
Since “resisting” is a “crime”, the cops have a larger pool of victims to chose from.
Personal experience - steroids definitely made a mild power struggle in my childhood into full on abuse. When the steroids stopped, so did the abuse.
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Hmm… well, my N=1 says steroids or even drinking are absolutely not required for abuse, nor is “sadism”.
The plural of anecdote is not data.
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So, how many times has a black person been called the “n” word to their face and not “punched someone aggressively” in the face?
With all the cases of police brutality happening, and on video, I think we’re beginning to see that whit PO’s have a lot less self control than black people who’ve endured this crap for decades.
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I am sad to hear of your personal experience with abuse, and glad to hear that removing steroids from the equation alleviated the situation somewhat.
I also had two friends snorting coke and possibly taking steroids since they both went to a gym in the same time, and one of them in particular, the “worst one”, was truly obsessed with physical and sexual efficiency. The “best one” of them already had a story of highly demanding parents, not that they were abusive, but really close to that. After being dumped multiple times by his former girlfriends for violent behavior (we learned this much later) he found a really strong woman he didn’t want to lose, so one day she told him something like: “you choose that shit, or you choose me”, and he did the right thing: now they’re married with kids and we still phone each other during holidays.
The “worst one” however, although being regarded by me as my best friends for decades, one day started snorting coke and possibly other stuff which in some time literally turned him into another person. Actually I had seen some of these side effects before on “the best one” too like when we were in a car trip during which he became ultra aggressive to every other car driver he happened to cross paths with; i cant’ forget those eyes and the rage he unloaded onto everyone but me.
But the “worst one” one night acted like a psychopath. No, actually much worse than that. I’ve never ever ever seen anyone, including horror films, saying words loaded with such violence and hatred, this time directed to me.
Luckily by that time I had read enough to know what was going on and why, so I didn’t react until we parted ways, and that night was the last one I saw someone who I had considered my best friend for 30+ years.
That shit can turn anyone into a bomb, and surely makes one 100% unsuitable for wearing a badge and carrying a gun; we better deal with that problem before it’s too late.
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But they can get in OUR faces, scream and yell at us, and the second we step back or return or whatever, we get decked, pinned to the ground, and then they beat the shit out of us while yelling “stop resisting.”
You are victim blaming her.
Police should be able to de-escalate. We trust them with more power and responsibility than your average citizen, they need to behave with the professionalism that comes with that trust. If the woman didn’t break a law by “getting in his face” or whatever, there was no need to use force.
Even if she DID break a law by getting in his face, THERE WAS NO NEED TO USE FORCE.
STOP. VICTIM. BLAMING.
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Thank you for sharing your story (and I know it may be only one of many). I mean that genuinely, without mental reservation or purpose of evasion. Your story helps me to understand why you have such a personal mission and enthusiasm for ensuring that police are not using drugs that are known to enhance aggressive personality traits and often violent behaviors.
I’m glad to hear that one of your friends made the right choice and gave that shit up. I’m sad to hear that you lost a friend of 30 years (but also glad you were wise and experienced enough to navigate a fraught circumstance skillfully).
This is where I think you run afoul of the sensibilities of many bOING bOING readers, myself included.
In the US, cop culture has been toxic for a long time. It’s systemic racism; it’s entrenched “us vs them”; it’s a legal system structured to literally let them get away with murder; it is, at its core, a job that attracts authoritarians and people with a desire to punish.
Should every cop in the US be put on a random drug testing schedule, and should that test include steroids (and anything else known to cause volatile mood swings) 
Absolutely yes 
But insofar as violence by cops, especially violence directed toward persons of color, women in general, or anyone LGBTQ+ goes, in the US, the notion of their behavior being exacerbated by drugs comes across as a sideshow at best, a distraction and an excuse at worst.
Again, I thank you for sharing your deeper story. It has helped me understand why you keep coming back to these threads on police violence with your message and experience of drug abuse, despite being smacked down pretty hard sometimes by the BBS community.
I value your opinion, even if I disagree, and I’ll have a better understanding of what informed it going forward.
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