There is another claim of excessive force and abuse against officers with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) after two officers who were allegedly caught on surveillance camera (shown below) slamming a nurse, Michelle Jordan, 34, on the ground twice after a traffic stop. Not only is the basis for the action in doubt, but the two officers are shown giving each other a fist bump afterwards.
Jordan was talking on her cell phone while driving and was pulled over. If true, that is a perfectly justified pullover and reckless conduct by Jordan.
After she pulled into a parking lot of a Del Taco restaurant, however, things went from bad to worse. The security tape shows the officers pulling the 5-foot-4 inch registered nurse from the open driver’s seat and then slamming her on the ground. She is then yanked to her feet for a pat down. Then for some reason, she is slammed to the ground for a second time.
She was later booked for resisting arrest and later released. We have seen various cases where abusive arrests are followed by charges of resisting arrest (here and here and here and here and here and here).
The identity of the officers is not known but one was a 20-year veteran of the force while the other was a probationary officer on the force for 10 months.
The video not only raises questions of excessive force and false charges, but tort liability. There is no evidence of Jordan resisting, though the camera is at some distance. That could lay the foundation for assault and battery charges as well as false arrest.
Here is the video:
Source: NY Daily News
Makes one wonder (at least with the 22 year ‘officer’) how many OTHER times has this happened with this same ‘officer’…multiply that times the number of cops in the LAPD…looks like we have a real problem here.
It is time for both of them to find another line of work, with NO pension. It would be outrageous for the older cop to get a pension for his abuse of citizens. THAT will cause other cops to sit up and take notice that they should not do likewise.
Wanna called them “Leos” and not “Pigs”? Fine with me. Leotards. Leo Retards. Law Enforcement Officianados.
A series of letters says it all: LAPDKLANSMEN
I read the training officer of 22 years has been placed on leave pending the investigations…..
Raff,
They got caught this time…. Alabama used to do this all the time for confessions……
I understand that all interviews that lead to a confession are being taped for corroboration these days….. I think I read this in a defense article….
Just off the press Both officers have been transferred to somewhere else WOW aren’t we all impressed with that… Let me say.. I was law enforcement … never never did a bad word hurt me or make me want to slam someone… these officers should be fired… there are good cops and bad cops and those ones that wear that badge that think they are God ruin it for all the good out there…. its sad… I say a pic and a recording speak a thousand words…. The dept out there needs to clean it up…. send them back to Human Diversity Class… learn how to act… and speak to other in public…. just saying
Bron, nothing she said to those officers justifies, under the law or otherwise, their conduct.
If your that big of a hot head, you should not be allowed to wear a badge.
rafflaw
1, August 30, 2012 at 1:41 pm
—————————-
that’s good to hear. I’m guessing they are the exception rather than the rule….
——————–
——————–
Bukko Canukko
1, August 30, 2012 at 1:43 pm
I work as a nurse in a hospital psychiatric ward, and I get sworn at all the time, threatened with murder, etc. But I don’t go body-slamming my patients, or even cursing back.
——————————
ditto….as a nurse I had my share of ‘out of control’ patients…I have been hit, spat upon, other nastiness….but it would never have entered my mind to do anything aggressive towards a patient….especially one that was not in control of their emotions. I get that police see crazy more than nurses do but this was a 5’4″ woman with a vocabulary deficit….these boyos need more than discipline, a different career choice perhaps…
I work as a nurse in a hospital psychiatric ward, and I get sworn at all the time, threatened with murder, etc. But I don’t go body-slamming my patients, or even cursing back. Why? Because I’m a professional, not a thug. Meeting attack with attack is not helpful. I am under better control of myself than the patients are. And lastly, I KNOW I’m in control. I don’t need to prove how tough I am, because I know inside. Cops like these brutes don’t have that sense of manliness or control, even though they’re wearing the weapons, so they have to prove to themselves over and over that they’re tougher than some foul-mouthed motorist that they pulled over. What pathetic little men they are. When a patient swears at me, it makes me feel more manly by keeping my cool and smirking back at them, because I know they do not have the power to control me when they try to push my buttons. Sometimes I get to push a syringe of Loxapine into their butt if they’re banging their heads into a wall or it’s 0300 and they’re screaming loud enough to keep the other patients awake, but that’s another story…
Woosty,
Actually the ARDC in Illinois which is reponsible for attorney discipline includes non-lawyer citizens on their hearing panels.
Truthfully, the State has given so much power to Police to do what they want when they want too, if it was not for cell phone taking pictures, this would have been sweep under the carpet.
I don’t get how swearing at or arguing with the cops is “resisting arrest” as the witness talking seems to think it was….so far as I know “freedom of speech” is still allowed. Course, if LAPD is as sexist as it is racist, that likely WAS the real issue, how dare that ‘little lady’ use bad words and not be all sweetly submissive?
Dude, those cops are such tough guys. I mean, I see how big their penises (or is it penii?) must be. This video shows me how badass they are. I am afraid of them. I would never go to LA because it is full of manly men with badges and big sticks, I mean dicks.
bettykath
1, August 30, 2012 at 12:40 pm
Why do the police departments get to investigate themselves? It’s a conflict of interest.
—————————
I guess the same could be said for lawyers…..
Good thing Maria Shriver wasn’t treated like this when she was ticketed for the same offense.
David, When your hands are cuffed behind your back, you have no way to defend your face against the asphalt.
Why do the police departments get to investigate themselves? It’s a conflict of interest.
E Simms, good point, but in this case the evidence of her bruises, and asphalt rash speak clearly of her harsh takedown.
Why was she pulled from the car in the first place? Talking on her cell phone was good for a ticket. Is it also something for which you can be arrested? I don’t understand anything except a ticket. Was there a warrant out for her arrest? Did she take a swing at a cop? I thought it wasn’t against the law to bad mouth a cop, which she may have done. The streets just aren’t safe anymore due to cops.
I agree that the officers had no justification for shoving her to the ground in the first place, but the officers’ actions may look worse than they actually were due to the quality of the video. If you look at the traffic in the background you can see that it is very jerky. This indicates that the video has very few frames per second. Fewer frames per second results in action that looks faster and more violent than it really is.
Here’s a “nanny cam” case from Miami a few years ago:
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2006-06-15/news/NANNY15_1_muro-missing-frames-tyco-fire