UNR Students for Liberty » Police

Sanctity of Squirrel Life Sunday: Jerk Cop Edition

Barry Belmont — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 16:17:38 +0000

Don’t you love when there’s no consequences for your actions?

Big, important police officer’s gotta show nature who’s boss…

A Policeman’s Duty

Barry Belmont — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 22:27:42 +0000

“It is a policeman’s duty to protect men from criminals—criminals being those who seize wealth by force. It is a policeman’s duty to retrieve stolen property and return it to its owners. But when robbery becomes the purpose of the law, and the policeman’s duty becomes, not the protection, but the plunder of property—then it is an outlaw who has to become a policeman.”

–Ayn Rand

We even made a video emphasizing the point:

Police Brutality Time

Barry Belmont — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 01:07:16 +0000

For those of you looking for a reason to be angry, scared, and depressed:

Oh Thank Goodness the Police Were There…

Barry Belmont — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 17:10:30 +0000

…to completely brutalize an innocent bystander. You know, there are just too many innocent bystanders these days. They walk around, thinking they own the joint, it’s good to know there are police out there who are willing to make the tough decisions to send a few of them to the hospital.

If you haven’t heard about this, this is John McKenna getting the unholy crap kicked out of him. The full story can be read here. It should also be noted that when the police were first asked to explain McKenna’s injuries they said he was kicked by a horse…

Law Enforcement Series: Karolina Obrycka

John Russell — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 19:02:43 +0000

Who: A 125 lb bartender named Karolina Obrycka and a 250 lb off-duty police officer named Anthony Abbate
What: After Karolina would not serve Abbate anymore drinks in the tavern, he became violent and pummeled the bartender to the ground and continued kicking her.
Where: Chicagom Illinois at Jesse’s Shortstop Inn
When: Incident: February 2007. Judgment: June 2009.
What Happened: Abbate said she pushed him first and claimed self defense for the assault. However, Cook County Circuit Judge John Flemming rejected the claim but only sentenced him to a home curfew of 8PM to 6AM and 130 hours of community service. Additionally, Abbate was relieved of his duties and pay but was not formally fired from the Chicago Police Department.
Footage:

Watch CBS Videos Online
Extra:
There were two surveys on the source website:
1) What do you think of the sentence?
It’s too lenient 96%
It seems reasonable 3%
It’s too harsh 1%
Total Votes: 22,236

2) Do you think Abbate would have gone to prison if he hadn’t been a policeman?
Yes 93%
No 4%
I don’t know 3%
Total Votes: 21,375

Source:

http://news.aol.com/article/cop-in-bar-beating-gets-probation/510139?icid=main|main|dl1|link5|http%3A%2F%2Fnews.aol.com%2Farticle%2Fcop-in-bar-beating-gets-probation%2F510139

Law Enforcement Series: Ronnie Holloway

John Russell — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 21:28:20 +0000

Who: A 49 year old schizophrenic man by the name of Ronnie Holloway and a policeman by the name of Joseph Rios III
What: After complying with a female officer’s request to zip up his jacket while he was on a sidewalk, the male driver of the vehicle they were riding in steps out and proceeds to assault him.
Where: Passaic, New Jersey
When: May 29, 2009
What Happened: After tackling Holloway to the ground, it can be seen that the officer began allowing him to stand back up, only to body slam him into the police car. The punching continues until backup arrives. Holloway was arrested on charges of resisting arrest and wandering with the intent to buy drugs. He has filed a complaint and an Internal Affairs investigation is underway. Officer Rios remains on active duty during the investigation, and has made no comment.
Footage:

Raw Footage:

Source:

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local&id=6850726

Law Enforcement Series: McDonalds

John Russell — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 21:57:41 +0000

Who: Two Denver police officers and a drive-thru window clerk at McDonalds
What: Police officers were becoming increasingly agitated as their order was taking an unusually long time to be prepared. Apparently it took so long that one of the policeman thought it would be a good idea to motivate the young worker by flashing his badge and pointing a gun threateningly through his window.
Where: Denver, Colorado
When: May 21, 2009
What Happened: After receiving their food, the police drove off without paying. The officers involved have paid administrative leave while the investigation is taking place. Felony menacing charges have been filed.
Source: http://cbs4denver.com/investigates/denver.police.suspension.2.1049330.html

Law Enforcement Series: Maurice White

John Russell — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 04:39:45 +0000

Who: An on duty EMT worker named Maurice White, and a Oklahoma state trooper named Daniel Martin
What: An Oklahoma state trooper pulled over an ambulance with a patient inside claiming the ambulence refused to yield to the squad car. Even though the paramedic offered to resolve the dispute after dropping their patient off at the hospital, the trooper not only ignored the request but proceeded to escalate the conflict by declaring that the EMT was “under arrest” and grabbed the EMT’s neck as if he were choking him.
Where: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
When: May 24, 2009
What Happened: Due to the footage captured by the cellphone camera, the incident has become quite popular and police have released the dashboard footage from the cop car. The investigation is still underway, and the officer in question is on paid administrative leave. The EMT was reported in saying during an interview, “He’s taken an oath, just as I have, to protect and serve,” White said during a FOX News “Nowhere to Hide” report. “I could not believe that this was happening.” The officer has been difficult to contact apparently, but did say, “I believe this will play out in the end,” he told FOX News. “We should allow the investigation to take its course. I’ll let it go with that. I don’t want to interfere with any ongoing investigations.”
Footage:
Cellphone Footage

Dashboard Footage

Source:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,526128,00.html

http://www.fox23.com/news/local/story/OHP-Releases-Dash-Cam-Video/Nx97Jxe30UydXbkSbkiplw.cspx

NY Police May Now Taser Suspects in Order to Collect DNA Evidence

John Russell — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 23:04:31 +0000

It is now legal for the police in New York to “drive stun” suspects with a taser in order to collect DNA evidence from them. A judgment issued by the New York Supreme Court Judge Sara Sperrazza ruled that the police in Niarga Falls who shocked Ryan Smith into compliance to gather a DNA sample was ruled Constitutional.

Smith was grabbed on the street by two detectives and brought to police headquarters.
He refused to give another sample, objecting to the authority of the court order. He told the officers that they would have to “Tase” him to get another swab.
Police considered holding him down and forcing open his mouth. A Niagara Falls detective lieutenant called an assistant district attorney, who told him they could use the “minimum” force necessary to obtain the sample.
A video shows Smith handcuffed, seated on the floor with his shirt pulled up over his bare shoulders. Police can be heard telling him that the Taser would be “painful and unpleasant,” but he persisted in his refusal, according to the judge.
The officer applied the Taser to Smith’s shoulder area, which caused him to cry out and pull away. The data record for the device showed it was activated for 4 seconds.
“The video recording indicates that the defendant did yell out as if in pain and then agreed to comply with the order,” Sperrazza wrote.
Smith allegedly was unconscious when the swab was taken, and was arrested for refusing to submit to a court order.

“It’s terrifying,” Balkin said. “You should never use force to collect evidence. We’re headed down the wrong way if we’re going to do that.”
Source

Is this how we are going to be treating people who are supposed to be innocent until proven otherwise? If you were wrongly accused of committing a crime (which I think has happened at least once before in history) and the police kidnapped you, handcuffed you, and brought you to a police station where they forced you to give DNA evidence by lifting up your shirt and shocked you with a stun gun until you complied – would this be considered proper administration of justice?

Law Enforcement Series: Kathryn Winkfein

John Russell — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:51:51 +0000

Who: Kathryn Winkfein – A 72-year-old great grandmother
What: She was pulled over for driving 15 MPH above the speed limit in a construction zone where she refused to oblige the officers orders, used abusive language, and became “violent”.
Where: Highway 71 and Bee Creek in Travis County, Texas
When: Incident occurred May 11, 2009, but the footage was released only a few days ago.
What Happened: Deputy Chris Bieze pulled over Kathryn Winkfein for going 60 MPH in a 45 MPH construction zone. During the stop, the women became belligerent and refused to sign the ticket. After becoming irritable the officer told her step out of the vehicle. During this critical time, it seemed the 72 year old grandmother became too hot to handle for the deputy where he then proceeded to tazer her to the ground in a fiery 50,000 volts of glory.
Granted, the women did not sign the ticket and became quite irritable, but do YOU think the actions of the officer is justified?
Footage:

Source:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/31202935/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8094023.stm