Federal prosecutors say they will review an incident in which a Seattle police officer punched and seriously injured a handcuffed, intoxicated woman, after King County prosecutors said Friday they won’t charge the officer.
Emily Langlie, spokeswoman for acting U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes, said her office will look at the June 22 incident involving Officer Adley Shepherd for a possible federal criminal civil-rights violation.
The decision comes after King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg announced that his office would not seek a state felony charge against Shepherd, 38, a nine-year department veteran, for punching Miyekko Durden-Bosley in the back of his police cruiser.
This case is a little different than what we have all seen lately on the news.
For one the woman lived, and two the cop that injured her is black not white.
However even though race may not the issue this time around the unnecessary use of force most certainly is an issue.
Just take a look at the video of the arrest. (Punch is at the 2:50 mark.)
It is clear from the tape that the woman, was intoxicated and being quite disruptive.
However it is also clear that the police officer struck her in anger and NOT because he was trying to subdue her or in fear of personal injury. She had her hands locked behind her back for fuck's sake.
And once again there is video to prove that something terribly wrong happened, and STILL the Seattle prosecutor did not do his job.
That has to make ALL of us wonder just how many miscarriages of justice are happening every day where there is no video and nobody ever even knows they happen?
Yes cops need to be outfitted with cameras. That is step one.
But then when prosecutors see on those tapes that the police did something like this, they need to respond appropriately. THAT is step two.
These cops that create harm like this need to be hung - whether they are black or white. Cops throughout the country are not helping their cause - they would be the last people I'd call for help! I'll call friends and/or family first!
ReplyDelete"hanged"
DeleteAnd many of us don't believe in the death penalty, even hanging, even for a cop who punches someone in the face.
12:47 PM I wasn't equating the hung/hanged/hanging to just the cops that punch a woman in the face. I'm relating it to cops that beat their wives, girlfriends and women they arrest. And, most especially the cops that kill people (of the minorities) who are unarmed and defenseless.
DeleteCops are protected by those on their force - to include their management - for their bad deeds. It has to be stopped! They need to pay the consequences just like the rest of us!
People use to respect them, but the majority do no longer. Sad, but true!
Sorry, I don't support the death penalty for any crime or behavior whatsoever. The answer to institutional violence isn't more institutional violence.
DeleteOK, you are anti the death penalty! What are you FOR in correctly the cops in these communities throughout our country? I'd be interested in hearing your response!
DeleteThere are a ton of penalties from docking pay to suspension to the whole range of legal penalties we are all potentially subjected to if we assault or otherwise harm another person...probation, imprisonment, etc.
DeleteAs far as the institution goes, If there is a culture of corruption or violence or if an agency supports violence among their officers either through lack of training or outright encouragement, then we deal with the agency itself. And, again, there is a range of possible penalties, all the way from training to suspending or firing supervisors/chiefs depending on the extent of the corruption or culture of violence.
The answer isn't either nothing or the death penalty.
And, of course, they need to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
DeleteOutfitting them with cameras is the best idea so far. I think a lot of police in our country arrive with attitude that inevitable become liabilities for police departments. It also is the case for military police. A certain type is drawn to this job and it seems to be universal.
ReplyDeleteCops are also known to beat their wives or girlfriends! I've had two girlfriends that were married to cops and both were beaten. They finally got out of the marriages but could not disclose to their husband's police force higher ups because the other cops protected the beater! Screwed up police forces throughout the country!
ReplyDeleteLet's be clear that men of all professions are known the beat their wives. Police officers, though, may be able get away with it easier for obvious reasons.
DeleteCops - above all others - should know how to reign in their attitudes and anger. Especially when handling women they are arresting, their wives and girlfriends.
DeleteI am disgusted how the others in the police forces protect them! I've been around the wife beating (done by a cop) and it made me lose total respect for the city police force in my town!
My sister is married to a police officer. Not once has he mistreated, raised a hand even jokingly, never brought his service weapon home, has no personal gun in the house whatsoever. I'm sure it happens in all professions, but we're painting all cops with a wide brush, and that isn't fair either.
Deleteand you are sure of all this
DeleteI've said it many times on many threads. Check cops for steroid use. Police officers today have a Rambo complex. Tight shirts, big arms, bullet proof vests, bald heads and a cock of the walk demeanor. Whatever happened to the citizen officers?
ReplyDeleteUnder what circumstances can you justify punching any handcuffed suspect in the face? They handcuff their hands behind their back so no way to defend.
ReplyDeleteAnd a woman to boot?
I can't imagine any reason why this cop isn't being indicted for this.
Well, it's not entirely true that being handcuffed makes someone defenseless.
DeleteIn this case, the woman kicked the officer, hard, in the face. However, the officer did not need to punch her to subdue her or protect himself. All he needed to do was back up out of the way of her kicks.
I think he punched her out of frustration and anger and because he was just kicked in the face. It was a reaction. But as a police officer, he just can't act on those impulses.
Anon @ 12:44 PM, some skeptics have said that the cop, realizing the interior cab camera probably recorded him punching the woman, put on an act, hamming up a jaw injury that didn't exist.
DeleteFrom the story in the Seattle Times: The video — which has not been publicly released — does not clearly show whether the kick struck Shepherd, although he can be heard saying, “She kicked me,” according to the documents.
The Washington State Patrol found that it was not clear whether Durden-Bosley’s kick connected with the officer, even after the video was enhanced by the FBI and a private video company.
Shepherd and Durden-Bosley were both treated at Harborview Medical Center, where State Patrol investigators later served a search warrant for medical records.
After the kick, Shepherd is heard on the video saying, “My jaw is jacked,” and complained of soreness in his jaw and a shooting pain in his face. However, the records obtained from Harborview showed “no obvious injury.”
I hope re training and adding cameras will help weed out the bad cops. This woman was belligerent, mouthing off and drunk, but that was no excuse for this level of violence, she was cuffed and outnumbered.
ReplyDeleteSomething's got to change, and fast. I don't care if they were both the same race, she's a human being, if the cops present couldn't arrest one woman without using force, they should have backed off and called for backups with cooler heads.
Someone mentioned upthread the possibility of possible steroid use and it made me wonder if they're tested for it at all.
Indeed, handling obstreperous drunken people can be troublesome. I think cops should be allowed -- in order to not be tempted to get belligerent and abusive themselves -- to wrap these kinds of perps up like we do angry kitties. A drunk arriving at the station wrapped up like a burrito should be no problem at all.
DeleteA member of my family was attacked in his house by a drunken "guest" of his girlfriend and his orbital smashed. His eyeball sunk into his head and he was nearly blind. The repair was difficult and painful. He can no longer read. I wonder if the young mother is visually handicapped henceforth.
ReplyDeleteThe reason the back seats of police cars are designed like cages is so they can shove people in there and lock the door. If they try to kick out the windows they pull them out and put on ankle and waist restraints to prevent that. Why can't these wussies put a smallish woman in the back seat without punching her? Try putting an IV in a confused, drunk or high person acting like this, in fact she was rather mild. Two nurses could subdue and restrain her without much trouble. They just want to punch people. There is a big problem with the cops being sexist in that area. I was in a fender bender in Pierce County next door and the cop refused to even write down my side of the story. I called the Lt. to complain, so they got a female officer to call me and say he was fabulous, yada, yada, yada. I said, no he is not he clearly has issues with women. Then a few months later he was documented with photographs people walking by took of him watching porn on the computer in the cop car he was sitting in right at the front entrance to the Puyallup Fair with kids going by. This prompted me to contact the Lt. for the, I told you bastards comment.
ReplyDelete