There is a disturbing case out of New Mexico where police fired into a van full of children after the mother tried to drive away from officers. As shown on the video below, an officer stopped Oriana Ferrell on a routine traffic stop only to see her drive away. What followed was a chase, smashing windows of the van, and the shocking decision of an officer to fire into a vehicle with kids in the backseat.
First and foremost, it should be noted that Ferrell had violated a host of laws. She fled the scene, engaged in a high-speed chase, resisted arrest, and police say that they found two marijuana pipes in the car. However, it is the discharge of the weapon that shocked many of us.
Ferrell was originally pulled over for going 71 miles per hour in a 55 miles per hour zone. She argues with the officer who goes back to his car only to see Ferrell drive away. At this point, he is aware that there are five children in the car aged 6 to 18.
He then pulls her over again and yells at her to get out of the van. When she refuses, he tries to force her out. When her teenage son gets out to confront him, the officer pulls his taser and the teen goes back into the car.
He tells her that she will be charged and to get out as she argues with him. She inexplicably insists that she did nothing wrong and “didn’t run away.” She gets out of the car and the officer tells her to face the van to be cuffed. After she locks herself back into the van, the officer takes his baton and starts to break windows even though he knows that children are seated inside. The flying glass constitutes an obvious threat to the children and this is the first serious breach that I can see. I do not understand why they do not immobilize the van or why he decides to break the window next to the children rather than the driver.
As he is smashing the windows, she drives away. That is when another officer fires three shots directly into a van filled with children. It is a shocking use of force with no concern for the children inside the van. At this point, Ferrell is only accused of a minor traffic stop, leaving the scene, and resisting arrest. There has been no weapon or attack on the officer. Yet, this officer put three slugs through the back of a van filled with children.
Ferrell then leads the police on a 10-minute chase before turning herself in. The New Mexico State Police have not removed any of the officers from active duty.
Ferrell was charged with five counts of abuse of a child, aggravated fleeing an officer, resisting an officer, reckless driving and possession of drug paraphernalia. The abuse of a child is interesting given the fact that it was the officers that fired into a van full of children. Moreover, it is not clear what the basis is for the charge against her teenage son for battery of an officer.
As the video below shows, there was ample reason for an arrest, but the excessive force used by the police is very disturbing and warrants a full investigation. The officer firing the weapon could have killed three children with this unjustified use of force. The police had multiple cars and could easily stop a minivan without resulting to the use of potentially lethal force.
What do you think?
Kudos: Michael Blott
raff,
The camera setup in the video posted by J.H. at 11:10AM is far more than the average person needs or wants. Most of the rear view mirror cams can be installed quickly and easily at home. You may only need help if you want to hide the power cord. Many of the rear facing cams work wirelessly, so no direct connection with the DVR unit is needed. Here is a little video my daughter and I watched the other evening. She likes this one, saying it has everything she needs or wants. This video was made in England. The unit reviewed is designed for a left hand driver, so the lens won’t swivel quite enough for a right-hand driver. The unit demonstrated is not one of the full-featured ones.
Swarthmoremom,
My husband loves the NM green sauce best. We made our first attempt at cooking tomatillo sauce a couple of weekends ago. Not bad–we’ll work on it.
Really too busy to get to involved in this discussion but new mexican food is a favorite topic of mine. When making these enchiladas the quality of the corn tortilla is also something to consider. You can make the best sauce but if you have a manufactured tortilla that tastes like cardboard it wont be nearly as good. Have been to New Mexico many times and prefer to eat the green chile when I am there.
OS,
that is one fancy camera set up. Is that something you can install yourself?
nick,
the women was very nervous and obviously frightened by the officer(s) and I can’t imagine why?! The police have edited video before and they may be more incriminating actions that they deleted. If there are bullet holes in the car, it would be hard for the police to deny that shots were fired at it.
raff, I did not see that she was afraid, but that she was more pissed off. The title of this issue is NOT supported by the facts. There is NO mention of bullet holes being in the van at all. So the title Police fire into a Minivan is either a lie, or a deliberate attempt to prejudge the case by making a statement that is NOT supported by the facts.
I expect better from most of the people here.
Gene,
P.S. NM style is my husband’s favorite too. I’ve only been to NM once to attend a wedding. We stayed at the Hyatt Tamaya–where the reception was held. What a great place!
Thanks, Gene! I’m going to make copies of your recipe for my daughter and myself.
Elaine,
I know several variations, but here’s the basic recipe I shares with Blouise (I think).
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon flour
1/4 cup chili powder*
2 cups chicken stock
10 ounces tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt
In a medium saucepan heat oil, add flour, smoothing and stirring with a wooden spoon. Cook for 1 minute. Add chili powder and cook for 30 seconds. Add stock, tomato paste, oregano, and cumin. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cook for 15 minutes. The sauce will thicken and smooth out. Adjust salt and pepper. Optional: run through sieve to smooth.
*If you want NM style (my favorite), don’t use store bought chili powder. Make your own. Take 6-8 New Mexico chilies (although I usually toss in a couple of guarjillo chilies as well), stem and seed them, and toast them in a skillet just enough to get the oils to release. Pulverizes them in a blender with:
2 tablespoons whole cumin seeds
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
The basic recipe remains the same, but the flavor and heat can be widely manipulated by changing the variety of dried chilies you start off with. I’ve done it with store bought chili powders, custom blends of various dried chilies (like ancho, cascabel and arbol works well) and straight single types (guarhillo and NM work well this way), but that basic recipe gives good results no matter how you select the chilies.
If you want to go old school, you can start the roux with lard instead of vegetable oil, but honestly, the chilies are so dominant in the flavoring that the extra calories and cholesterol from using lard really (IMO) don’t merit the slight flavor boost.
Sorry…..meant missing….
Hey nick…. What cha doing today…. Aren’t you supposed to be packin for a huge trip…. Why don’t cha….
Dredd, If you were a crooked cop don’t you think you would have edited out the shooting and breaking of the window. I know cops lie, cheat and steal. I have told a prosecutor to not put a cop on the stand because I knew he was going to lie. I understand cops, and their games very well. I just don’t think they edited this based on the aforementioned smoking gun[literally]. This incident in real time was almost certainly 20 minutes, minimum. I have shot and edited thousands of hours of video. There is so much a jury or viewer wants to watch. Unedited surveillance video is VERY boring. News media have 2-3 minute segments unless it’s a disaster or huge story. Just what do you think could have been on the video that was more incriminating than the shooting and beating out the window??
Dredd,
Interesting about the kissing dash cam videos…. Some departments take the step to have them now stored on a central hard drive and no one can disable them….. Some officers are equipped with lapel cams….. I heard that if they attempt to disable or conceal the cam they are subject to immediate discharge…. Of course there might be extenuating circumstances…. I am sure….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOnmer3OK90
Don’t leave home without it.
I am considering installing dashcams in our cars. Youngest daughter has been agitating for one for quite some time. I checked with my insurer, and no luck on getting a discount. However, they are getting cheaper, and even top-end units are less than $300.
The one I want has two HD cameras, one pointing to the front and one to the rear, and they have night vision capability. It also has a built in G-meter, and if there is a measurable impact, the camera locks out that section of video on the SIM card so it cannot be overwritten, thus preserving evidence if needed. Built in GPS measures speed, direction of travel and exact location.
Rear-view mirror cams have a couple of additional advantages. First of all, they are inconspicuous. Second, it is higher on the windshield, so has a better view.
“Editing police video is a matter of course.” -Dredd
Yep.
http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2009/05/birmingham_police_beating_vide_3.html
by Erin Stock — The Birmingham News
Excerpt:
“Hoover’s police chief confirmed Thursday that his department turned over to the Jefferson County district attorney’s office an edited version of a police chase video that left out footage of five Birmingham police officers beating an unconscious suspect.
Chief Nick Derzis said a Hoover investigator received a copy of the dashboard camera video from Birmingham police and copied a portion that pertained only to a Hoover officer being hit by the suspect’s van for use in prosecution, Derzis said.
That tape only showed a Hoover officer being hit by the suspect’s vehicle, Derzis said. Such editing is standard in investigations, he said, and the original video was returned to Birmingham police.
District Attorney Brandon Falls said Hoover police failed to disclose that the video was edited. But Derzis says a Hoover detective told prosecutors prior to Anthony Shannon Warren’s trial date that there was more on the original tape.”
Thanks for the link to the Balko/Reason article, Dredd.
From the link:
Radley Balko | Aug. 12, 2010 5:06 pm
“Last year, Birmingham police beat an already-unconscious driver after he crashed during a high-speed police chase. One officer turned the dash camera off in mid-beating. The police department then gave the district attorney’s office a version of the video with the police beating edited out.”
Thanks again, Dredd.
RE: editing of videos by prosecutors:
(Video Help). Editing police video is a matter of course.
On the origin of edited police videos:
(When Police Videos Go Missing).
Blouise,
I had to get to bed earlier than you. I’ve got a two-year-old to take care of all day.
*****
Gene,
I want the recipe for the red enchilada sauce. My daughter LOVES Mexican food!
*****
Annie,
The cake is really moist–and it’s easy to make.
Nighty night all!
A certain person appears spewing venom from other venues and that SAME DAY a warning is issued about bringing in baggage and getting personal. Add that to the FACT that what you are spinning does not comport w/ my communication, where I was thanked for my contributions, twice, and I just have to call “bullshit.”