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
I was recently pulled over by an officer Brandon Ridgeway in oklahoma city while taking my son’s friend home at 1am after their movie was over and I was pulled over for what the officer said was a tail light and was detained for over an hour, frisked, given drunk test etc etc…I dont drink I dont do drugs, I pay my insurance and current on everything have zero on my record and the officer told me that was what was strange is that he has never met a good citizen and then told me we were fishy going home so late, and threw me in the back of his patrol car and proceeded to question my children for 45 minutes and the friend had to call home and the officer talked to his parents asking if I had kidnapped him or if he was a runaway I was stowing! I was appalled! Scared my children to death that their stay at home mom who does nothing outside of take care of my kids, I dont even have girls night once a year with my friends..Im a very boring person I guess, but thats how I chose to live my life…and the officer said he couldnt find anything on me which is suspicious and i told him why is that bad? he then yelled at me and said your nothing but a no good mother having your kids out at 1am and i said we were not “out” out we just got in the car to take him home thats all…i started to tear up and he yelled at me and asked why i was so nervous and I said bc your yelling at me and he then gets into my face and said no no thats not it, why do you hate police, I said I dont then he screams “ma’am I could get you for obstructing justice, no blinker, no brake light (at first it was a tail light) and eluding police officer” and I said WHY I did nothing of those things!!! then after an hour he said he would let me go IF i got into my car and told my kids that cops are good people and here to help people…..after he yelled at the kids earlier and telling them they better fess up whats really going on bc we are wasting their time….and the kids told them exactly what we were doing was taking a friend home and he didnt like that answer nor could he find alcohol or drugs or any previous record on my record so I guess he decided to finally stop harassing us and let us go without even a warning! I called the cheif of police who then told me that there are dash cameras on every car and he saw what happened and apologized…now everytime we pass a cop my son has panic attacks…bc the cop was yelling so loud that several houses flipped on lights to see what was all the yelling….it was a nightmare!!! I have lost all my faith in the police, I know some are very good people but to take the risk of finding who those are I steer clear of them all together! OH AND we took in our car to get the tail light fixed the next day and there was never any light on the back end of my car that was ever out or malfunctioning…nor did I ever turn or use a blinker and those were not broken as well….so all the lies the officer listed of wrong doing were completely fabricated by him to stop us and treat us very very bad…as I was sitting in the back of the patrol car I was in shock that this was happening….I wasnt scared bc I knew I have never done anything but scared after he made up lies what in the world would he try to charge me with a false charge bc the cop is always believed….thank god for cameras!!!!
I would file a formal complaint about this so called officer, and make damn sure he is off the force. This needs to be publicized if he is not fired.
I used to know a doctor, a neurosurgeon, who was known for his lead foot and bad attitude. He was pulled over by a deputy sheriff going WAY over the speed limit. The deputy was going to cut him some slack and cite him for only 15 MPH over the speed limit until the surgeon said, sneeringly, “You know this car cost more than your house.” The deputy then cited him for the full amount the radar recorded over the speed limit. He had been going in the neighborhood of three digits. About two more miles an hour and it would have been a mandatory arrest and the car towed. Cost the loudmouth a very hefty fine. When he told about the old meanie deputy at the nurses station, it was all the other doctors and nurses present could do to keep from laughing out loud.
Nick S, I do not follow your comment: “At least this wasn’t racist..sexist maybe, but not racist. I’m singing Monty Python’s, “Look on the Bright Side of Life.” ”
Are you suggesting a sexist assault is somehow morally less reprehensible than a racist one?
@bettykath “Why was she pulled from the car in the first place? ”
Good question. I hate to admit it but I have had a few tickets over the years. The police, DC, Maryland, VA, invariably tell me to stay in the car.
I wonder if this was part of on the job training – the experienced cop wanting the new one to show his stuff? Most of these slammings seem to be don to much smaller people. I’m thinking of the kid in the subway station who was slammed to the ground.
Good enough reason to shoot a cop… but only in the legs
Why is the district commander the only one to be demoted? It seems that the LAPD has a historic systemic problem amounting to the same thing in police practice as habitual criminal activity is in criminal practice. Perhaps demotions of all personnel directly above these officers reaching right up to chief would be in order. Then, these “superiors” from their new lower vantage points might take more interest in the quality of their personnel and what they are doing in the field.
we can’t have radar detectors but they can control your camera.
just wait until the next time one of these brave boys in blue are in an emergency room. word gets around.
It occurs to me that if they can keep a “smart phone” from taking pictures, the same technology can also be made to delete photos and videos remotely. As I said, I do not have a smart phone, and this is just another reason to not reconsider my position.
Raff, I was hoping a lawyer could tell me that, If I have a right to photograph police or any public person how could it be legal to not allow it by disabling the technology? I know that the possibility will be considered when the tech rolls out.
OS, I’ve read that some of the book-readers are downright malicious. If you get into its programing code to add your own reader programs to improve their versatility that the readers self destruct, won’t work at all- android based readers as I recall.
raff, they can do all kinds of things with your device. I have read of them deleting whole books from Kindles and iPads when there was some kind of copyright dispute.
I don’t have a smart phone, and that is one of the reasons why. As for taking pictures, I doubt the ghost of Steve Jobs will shut down any of my Canon cameras. The only way they will delete any of my books is if they break into my library and steal it.
OS,
Good news. Maybe these officers will be held accountable.
Lotta,
That is startling news about the device disabling phone cameras. How can it be legal?
I bet these devices will become mounted in every police cruiser as soon as they hit the market.
From BoingBoing:
“Apple granted patent for location-based camera phone disabling”
“On Tuesday, Apple was granted a patent that could prevent photos and videos from being taken in particular locations. Other restrictions include forcing the camera to go to sleep so it cann’t be used at all:”
http://boingboing.net/2012/08/30/apple-granted-patent-for-locat.html
The fallout at LAPD has been swift since this has become one of the top stories on the Internet today. Here is a snip from the story on ABC:
Source: http://abcnews.go.com/US/lapd-investigates-officers-forceful-stop/story?id=17117761#.UD_7SyLSKSo
I am very thankful for the fine people who are police officers in my town and am very grateful that these guys are not among them.
In a more civilized time we’d publicly name these “men” for bashing a woman. We’d also arrest them since force against this woman can hardly be justified. Alas we are in the world of protect the government from its citizens with most judges and public administrators carrying the water.
Sorry, having trouble posting the second comment- here are just the links:
http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-12-05/news/30476833_1_armored-vehicles-military-equipment-police-forces
Check out the program mandates and the January newsletter- “If your agency is interested in obtaining an armored vehicle,…”
https://www.justnet.org/other/excess_fed_prop.html
More links for above comment. These are from Justnet, The Website of National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center, operated by a grant fro the Federal Government. It’s an interesting site, well worth looking through.
This is an article on the Federal surplus equipment program for local police (1033- general program and 1122- drug specific programs):
http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-12-05/news/30476833_1_armored-vehicles-military-equipment-police-forces
The police are militarized and used on a city, county and state basis in the way the army would be used in a smaller country to suppress and oppress the citizens IMO. We don’t need to wait to see Federal troops in the streets to realize that there is an authoritarian relationship between the government and the citizens.
Soon there will be real-time , seamless integration of personal and law enforcement information integrated with CCTV tracking. Already the police are using military equipment (Sound canons, APC’s, aircraft, etc.) to stifle protests and for general use. The government makes this equipment available to local LEO’s. All of the folks worried about seeing martial law with Army troops rolling into their downtowns are missing the boat, it will look just like it always does with the local police leading the charge
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/08/08/new-york-police-launch-high-tech-camera-surveillance-system/