Gwinnett County Police Cpl. Gary Miles was fired and Sgts. Chris Parry and Joey Parkerson have not been charged with tasering a Waffle House waiter for fun, but instead will be allowed to resign from their position as police officers.
An investigation showed that the officials used the weapon as a joke on Daniel Wilson, 22. Wilson said that the officers would routinely point the red laser at him if he did something that they did not like — such as playing music on the jukebox that they disapproved of.
On Feb. 16th, Wilson was talking with Parry and Parkerson when Miles came up behind him and stunned him with the Taser — delivering 50,000 volts. Miles insisted it was only a “spark test” designed to “just to scare him a little bit.” Neither Parry, 41, nor Parkerson, 39, reported the incident. There is also an allegation that a fourth officer pointed a Taser at Wilson’s groin on an earlier occasion.
When Wilson asked Miles to apologize for the accidental tasering, he insists that Miles said, “Who says I did it by accident?”
At least thus far, Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter has declined to bring charges against the other officers. However, to their credit, Miles was arrested.
It was also disclosed that the Waffle House was giving free food to the officers — something that should be prohibited by the department. We have seen a series of cases where such expectation of free food has led to problems with the officers, here, here, here, and here. Indeed, officers and food establishments have proven a bad mix of late, here. Of course, prosecutors seem to have the same difficulties, here and here.
Wilson is suing the police department.
There is always concern over police officers being given special treatment in such cases. Officers at times charge citizens for the slightest contact, here and here.
However, there is a series of cases where officers were involved in crimes or abuse but either not charged or given relatively light punishment by their colleagues, here, here, here, here, here, and here, here.
For the full story, click here.
Humm, wonder if any of these officers know anything about the lethal use of the tasers? Seems like the price of the toys have gone up.
Thank goodness none work for the fire department.
People wonder why I was so happy to leave the Atlanta area. Gwinnett County was the classic white flight jurisdiction (running from busing). Now, the whites atre “flighting” from there, too (too many Asians and Hispanics). They clearly got the police dept (and DA) they deserve. I hope the waiter collects enough for a comfortable retirement.
“Wilson said that the officers would routinely point the red laser at him if he did something that they did not like — such as playing music on the jukebox that they disapproved of.”
—
Huh?
This is a classic case of school yard, lunchroom bullying.
All law enforcement officers should be subject to comprehensive, annual psychological testing.
Also, child protective services, in the various states, should be engaged to investigate the domestic situation of ANY officer accused of abusing the public trust or assaulting citizens. Their children should be questioned to see if they’ve been harmed or physically abused in anyway. If they officer has a history of sexually abusing those in their custody, an inquiry into sexual abuse should also take place. Perhaps if they stood to loose their children to the state, they would think twice about being so quick to react with violence.
I would go even further to change our RICO laws to expand it to include law enforcement officers who abuse the public trust. To me, that’s infinitely worse than any drug offense. (A little tongue-in-cheek I know, but you get my point)
Maybe if we started taking their jobs away, their children away, and their houses away, they’ll find a new appreciation for responsibility, integrity and the rule of law. Right now, they have relatively unlimited power (if they “suspect” you of ANYthing, of course)and virtually NO accountability.
I used to respect our law enforcement officers (Oh well…I used to respect the presidency and the Supreme Court too!). Now, I have such a visceral negative reaction. I used to feel like they were helping and protecting us. Now I feel like the citizenry is their favorite punching bag, getting out all of the anger and hate from a difficult childhood.
We deserve better and until we start holding law makers and law enforcers to the HIGHEST letter of the law, then the relationship between the people and the police (and government, in general) will continue to deteriorate until it is us versus them. And that is a horrible place for any society to be.
The worse part is, 90% of the problem, at least in my opinion, stems from post 9/11 training rhetoric. These folks think everyone is a potential terrorist and/or a potential low-life. When you look at the people you work for and whom you’re trying to protect like that, something is WRONG.
Thanks ALL for letting me rant! I get so disheartened by abuse of power. Increasing accountability for law enforcement officers is critical — no one scrutinizes the scrutinizers! Frankly, I think it is reaching crisis levels.
If, as a private citizen, I engaged in this behavior I would be arrested and given time. The police are given weapons and power beyond/over private citizens. If they misuse this, the consequence needs to be what I would receive as a private citizen with the addition of removal from the dept. It was strange, because as I started to read this I thought this violence had a homo”erotic” element to it and then I read they pointed the laser at the waiter’s genitals. I hope he gets a very bid settlement. This must have been both terrifying and humiliating.
George,
I agree especially, with the last paragraph of your rant!
Is this a microcosm to the macrocosm of not prosecuting war crimes? There may be a domino effect, and there may be patterns developing that have significant macro, national ramifications like this microcosm will have locally there in Georgia.
http://blogdredd.blogspot.com/2009/07/fog-of-war-mcwarster-mcnamara.html
“This is a classic case of school yard, lunchroom bullying.”
George cuts to the chase on this and that bottom line is true of all of the links cited in the original article JT posted. There are a sizable number of people drawn to law enforcement who were indeed “school yard bullies” and these people invariably got hired. Like the typical school yard bully they know how to cover up their sadistic bent, just as they did when their victim complained to the principal.
The majority of the people who go into law enforcement do so because they have a keen sense of duty to get the bad guys of society. The system, however, too often rewards the bullies who cover their sadism and get promoted into positions of power. The good officers who complain find their careers threatened or even mortal danger such as the case of Frank Serpico. The bullies inculcate the rookies into their mindset, with the implied threat of career loss if they don’t go along.
George also correctly cites 9/11 as a contributor to a Police State mentality, here in America. Every mindless pundit and politico who stated on TV that day and in the months following “That now, this changes everything” empowered the
advance of the American Police State. Stupidly, they didn’t realize that this trite falsehood actually gave victory to the scum who perpetrated 9/11. This should have changed nothing in the sense of our being a Country of Laws, that are
adherent to the rules and principles of our Constitution. The best way to know who is a false patriot is usually in their
self-serving proclamations of love for this country, while having no understanding of what this country stands for.
Had it been known these officers should have been fired for the ongoing threats to Mr. Wilson prior to the tasering, since those alone represented an unacceptable breach of their authority.
Mike S. and Dredd,
I do think you are both correct, as is George, to link this to 9/ll “changing everything”. We are accepting incredible restrictions on our freedoms and an ever tightening police state, while saying very little. This is a dangerous trend and it will be (and already is) a disaster for this nation. This is domestic “blowback” and like the international version, we will pay dearly for it.
All that comes to mind is when “Spider” got shot in the foot.
Seamus: “All that comes to mind is when “Spider” got shot in the foot.”
All that brings to my mind is the movie Convoy.
I think it was an excellent start that the officer in question was actually arrested. I would have preferred to see a better follow through but I still see it as a spark of hope.
this is what happens when police go into restaurants instead of the take out window.
who’d have thunk that working at a waffle house could be so dangerous?
don’t these officers have real crimes to solve?
How is this for a change of pace:
Wallet Found in Central Park Tree 27 Years After Theft
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31759024/ns/local_news-new_york_ny/#storyContinued
’9/11/’ may have been the excuse, but from all appearances the Patriot Act was written and ready to roll out even before that terrible day arrived and there were plenty of us expressing distaste over where it would all lead pretty quickly, if you recall.
In the early aftermath, there were plenty who had freshly voted for Bush or who were maybe not surprisingly, at least, willing to let him ‘rule’ from a position of fear, than were prepared to shout him down for an obvious lack of understanding of what this country is supposed to stand for, in the first place.
Plenty of people were just as wary of the new guy in office and how he got there as were over what was being done about the attack and we did speak up. Millions more have caught on in the meantime.
I will always regret having nothing additional showing in the history books, besides the recent election, if indeed that’s how the entire Bush fiasco turns out. Eights years of constitutional heartbreak, ill-conceived war, and a fiscal morass to match? For what, exactly?
I encourage people, again, to remain personally engaged and to continue contacting their representatives and to think ahead to 2010!
I used to have respect for law enforcement, but I’ve read too much over the years to trust them anymore. It saddens me that those officers who are only interested in doing a good job have to be tarred with the same brush as these bullies.
9/11 did change everything. Thanks to fear mongering by those in power, and the fearfulness of the American people, the terrorists have won. If we can’t change direction (I’m looking at you Mr. President!), America will never be the same again.
Those who tortured must be brought to justice.
Those who authorized torture must be brought to justice.
Those who subverted the constitution must be brought to justice.
If we fail to do these things, America will never regain its liberty. Watergate taught the authoritarians that there are no consequences for executives who subvert the constitution. Now we’re just driving the point home.
Once is a precedent, twice is a pattern and thrice is policy.
Officers seem so bored nowadays… getting fired and jailed will get some of them the excitement back in their lives. I feel another flowerstorm gathering.
@Rich – You think only cops in Atlanta are like this?
@George – “All law enforcement officers should be subject to comprehensive, annual psychological testing.” If they did this, they’d have to replace the entire force annually.
Outside of NYC, none of this has gotten worse post-9/11 — it was already like this. Everywhere. From small towns on the biggest cities. It’s like the Stanford prison experiments — Give a guy a gun and a badge, and even if he wasn’t already, he’ll become a predatory dbag with anger management issues.
Cops are bullies. There are exceptions, but everyone would be wise to understand that they generally are bullies who are smart enough to have joined a police force so they can beat people, Taser people and shoot people with impunity.
In many ways they resemble inner city gang members. You must treat them with ‘respect’, which to them means acceding to every stupid thing they ask you to do.
Perhaps only police with an IQ over 70 ought to be armed. That would cut down the number of killings and Taserings by a factor of 10.
Cops are modern day Nazi’s and a lot of them are on steroids.
Die you bastards.
We’re inching closer to a police state, if we aren’t already there. It’s truly frightening.
A number of years ago I made some inquiries into the unsolved homicide of a friend. While initially admitting that the cold-case had been mishandled, the police later became overtly hostile when I continued to pursue the matter. It’s now clear to me who runs this country, especially in the wake of 9-11. May God help us, if we’re unable (or unwilling to try) to turn back the tide.
Published on Wednesday, March 4, 2009 by CommonDreams.org
Memos Provide Blueprint for Police State
by Marjorie Cohn
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/03/04
As an aside, there’s a pretty powerful, policy group known as the LEIU — the Law Enforcement Intelligence Unit. I believe that they receive public funds, but are FOIA-exempt, as I understand it.
We have, to the best of my knowledge, sixteen different intelligence agencies. How is it that the right hand ever really knows what the left is doing? It’s no wonder that our liberties have been seriously undermined.
Let’s hope that it isn’t already too late to restore what has been degraded to an extreme degree.