A McKinney, Texas police officer has been suspended pending review after the posting of a videotape where he draws his gun and manhandles a group of teenagers outside of a pool party. The officer has been identified as Cpl. Eric Casebolt and he is shown being verbally and physically abusive toward young people who are not clearly doing anything unlawful.
The pulling out of the gun is a rapid escalation in a call over a dispute between a mother and a girl at the party. The McKinney Police Department’s Facebook page states that officers responded to a “disturbance” at the Craig Ranch North community pool at 7:15 p.m. It added that the juveniles at the scene “do not live in the area or have permission to be there.” It further says that people failed to respond to orders and officers struggled to “gain control of the situation.”
Casebolt,40, is a 10-year-veteran and serves as a vice president of McKinney’s police union. He received an award for “Patrolman of the Year” in 2008. The Washington Post reports that he is an instructor at Executive Self-Defense and Fitness and has a website that heralds his “ strong working knowledge of human behavior” and “experience in the use of all levels of force.” As is often the case, people have collected various pictures of Casebolt though the one dressed as an Indian chief at a party seems to be the favorite. That is part of the reality of the world of social media today.
Do you consider this level of force to be justified?
@rcocean
Oh yes. I have some personal knowledge of this. A few years ago when I was a teenager, I used to sneak into a redneck-y type bar. There was a big confederate flag hanging up on the wall which should have been a clue. On the rare occasion when a black person or two would walk in, and stay, the manager would put on a certain David Allen Coe song, and darn if the black patrons just didn’t decide to up and leave.
It’s been about 10 years since I have been there, but I suspect it still going on. Since then, I have known my share of bartenders, and bar people, and have had conversations with them. They are pretty direct about it. Too many Blacks will kill a good bar in no time.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
And all that cuss in’ is so becoming of the officer
Well, sometimes you need to communicate in the language that your suspects will understand. If they were Hispanics someone should be fluent in Spanish. Communication is important.
😐
DBQ – there is a technique called ‘verbal judo’ or ‘verbal jijutsu’ which is used by officers to take control of a situation. That is what the officer is trying to do, take control of the situation. Me, I have a “teacher voice” it helps me take control of a group. Once I start talking, everybody else quiets down.
… And all that cuss in’ is so becoming of the officer. Not to mention the pullin of a loaded weapon on unarmed teens.
/smh
But sometimes knowing more is irrelevant to the question we need to answer.
When you already have determined the “answer” to the question (Who is a big bad meanie?) who needs facts? They might just muddy up your preconceived answer.
DBQ – You nailed it out of the park!
Amazing how many people refuse to hold the idiot kids responsible for their actions. They are all saints…
Darren,
Take another look at the video. Pay particular attention to the guy in the blue shirt who rapidly approached the officer as the officer was attempting to take control of the girl in the bikini (who was clearly resisting).
I see the guy in the blue shirt reach his left had around to the small of his back. -That’s when I see the officer draw his weapon. –To me, if the officer saw what I saw, I think drawing his weapon was an excellent response. –The manner of approach on the officer, combined with the reaching behind the back, prompted what I would call a valid response…not a justification to employ deadly force, but surely warranting a ready response.
The most annoying thing about this videos is we never get the whole story until way late. Usually, the MSM aren’t interested in telling both sides are even telling us the context. No, its just another story to push the left-wing narrative. White racist cop vs. innocent black kids at a “pool party”.
Hmmm. Maybe the 911 call sounded like this. . .
blacks. . .static. . .creatures. . . scratchety static . . .lagoon. . .
And the cop thought. . .
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/mt/assets/culture_test/creature%20black%20lagoon%20large%20615.jpg
???
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Gee, just a little while ago some white guy almost got stomped to death by a bunch of teenage girls who were jumping up and down on his car. Several of the princesses are behind bars charged with attempted murder.
Maybe, the policeman was right to draw his gun when he felt threatened by several rambunctious youths.
“That is why many clubs start playing country music.”
So if you don’t want black customers just play Hank Williams. LoL
rcocean – convenience stores have found that playing classical music and classical jazz keep kids from hanging out at their stores.
The intervention of the community police is the only thing that stopped this situation from spiraling out of control. They stepped in to stop a bad situation from getting worse. When you push people enough in their own homes you might not like the reaction you will get.
The police have a choice. They can step in and try to control the situation and be vilified by the cop haters and the criminal lobby. Or they can just drive by and turn a blind eye to the situation until the homeowners and taxpayers take matters into their own hands.They can just drive by and let them do what they want. Let them continue to play the obscenity laden rap music and fight in the street. I bet there was underage drinking and public urination. All quality of life issues that the cop haters want to gloss over. Let outsiders come to your private pool and party in a place that you maintain with you own contributions and fees because……………I don’t know why.
You can see what happens when the cops step back because they will be arrested for doing their job. Even if they don’t do it perfectly or in a way that satisfies the fantasy lives of the social justice warriors. That response is being tried out right now.In Baltimore. It is happening right now before your very eyes.
Oh yes, it would’ve been so much better if some of those people there were packing heat.
Sarc/
I have no opinion on whether the cop(s) overreacted or not since as pointed out we have only a snippet of the actual event. Relying on “eye witnesses” and narratives of those who are perpetually aggrieved…..is a fools game as we have found out in the Ferguson circus.
At some point, people are going to realize that the police are unable to help them. The police are not going to be able to “police” or do their job. If they do their job (disperse the trespassing disruptive kids), the police will be vilified. If they don’t do their job the people are going to be left on their own to keep order in their own homes and on their own property.
The results of this will not be very pretty. At least…..this time….the people did call the police. Next time they might be calling on Mr. Remington.
You have to protect yourself, if the powers that be can’t or won’t. It is a war out there people, whether you want to participate or not.
When I was kid hanging on the corner this kind of thing happened all the time. We might be talking and laughing and drinking or even trying to sing some piss poor do-wop and the cops would roll up and disperse us. Often no usually not so gently. A kick in the ass or a bop in the noggin was a common thing. Common sense policing. People had to sleep. We didn’t care. We were young and full of piss and vinegar and the only thing that concerned us was what we wanted.
The cops were there to keep the lid on and let the people who paid the freight enjoy their life with out a bunch of knuckleheads disrupting their lives.
Max – I wondered if he tripped and just rolled with it, or why the tumble?
Here is the USA Today link that Nick referred to where the journalist experienced a few police simulations. It is really interesting to have a glimpse into police training.
Obviously, we need to ensure that the system works when there is an allegation of police misconduct. It needs to be fair to the cop and the alleged victim, and we need to have confidence that wrongdoers are punished and removed from the police force where appropriate, and that the innocent are cleared.
So I’ll be curious to see how this plays out. I don’t want politics or threats to muddy the water. I want to see how the system actually works.
http://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/nation/2015/05/29/26653951/
bigfatmike
You are correct. I will never get used to unqualified, misinformed individuals, with a predisposition to condemn what they don’t understand or fully comprehend. I will never get used to those, who are the first to cry for police assistance, making snap judgments based upon little, if any, solid facts. Damn right I don’t get it. If GETTING IT, means making the absurd rush to judgment that you have, without an understanding of the actual events, then call me guilty. I don’t get it.
Obviously, it’s how you live your life. Good luck with that. You have obviously gotten used to it. Enjoy.
” I will never get used to those, who are the first to cry for police assistance, making snap judgments based upon little, if any, solid facts. Damn right I don’t get it. If GETTING IT, means making the absurd rush to judgment that you have, without an understanding of the actual events, then call me guilty. I don’t get it. ”
You are the one who claimed that ‘ condemning the officer, without knowledge as to what conditions and behavior existed, prior to the tape rolling, is irresponsible.’
At first that sounds plausible. Knowing more is usually better than knowing less. But sometimes knowing more is irrelevant to the question we need to answer. Sometimes we have all the facts we need to reach a conclusion. AS I pointed, out as a point of law, breaking the law, disobeying a lawful order, or dis respecting the officer are not sufficient to justify the application of force.
I pointed out that sometimes videos show us enough to know that as a point of law the officer has used excessive force because there was no resistance at the time of arrest.
I like facts. I think there is a real difference between balls and strikes and that we have an obligation to recognize that difference. We have an obligation to call a strike when it occurs.
But it is clear some commenting here just don’t like dealing with facts. They can’t stand the idea that a video can show conclusively that some officers abuse their authority and apply excessive force. Sometimes videos show conclusively that officers apply force when there is no justification for force at all.
Some commenters try to trump up irrelevant facts as though what happened minutes or hours before can ever justify a beating. Well, what happened before cannot authorize summary justice in the form of a beating. That is a fact. It remains a fact regardless of how much we may think the citizen deserved his comeuppance.
What you have here is community policing in action. The members of this community called the police to stop a situation that was spiraling out of control. A group of non-residents were congregating at a private pool to enjoy rap music, drinking, fighting and all of the pleasures that residents of this community wanted to forego by moving there. It is not sufficient if you try to move away from the party. They will insist on bringing it to you.
The police were called to put an end to this activity before the natural progression would lead to further mayhem. Perhaps they are fond of their CVS and Quick Mart and didn’t want to see them burned to the ground.
Not everyone wants to live in Baltimore.
If you can watch the original video with that officer arriving on the scene… Nice tuck and roll. Impressive entrance dude, but why?