Police department criticized after man is hit with baton

[TexasStooge]

By Melody Mcdonald, Star-Telegram Staff Writer

FORT WORTH, Texas - A Dallas lawyer announced Thursday that he will seek a federal injunction prohibiting Fort Worth police from using their batons in the wake of a melee in which officers allegedly struck a man on the head.

"This is the third time this has happened within a year and a half on people who had no weapons and had committed no crime," said lawyer Luis Avila, who was contacted this week by the man involved in the altercation outside a club Saturday.

[Lindaloo]

Let me guess.... this attorney is with the ACLU?!!

[j]

Me thinks you are right Linda.

The bottom line here is the black man whether he was 100 lbs, or 800 lbs...had he went to the ground, put his hands behind his back, and not resisted arrest, would be enjoying a fine catered meal today in the local jail instead of pushing up daisies.

Not trying to sound cold-hearted here, but I have zero sympathy for anyone who resists arrest, and then tries to (or somebody in their behalf does since they are now dead) blame the police for actions they needed to take to protect not only themselves but, the citizens they are sworn to protect.

We need to let the Police do their job!

[streetsoldier]

The tenet I learned as a patrolman was called "Force+1" when necessary.

That is, when met with fists, martial arts, etc., use "one step heavier", such as MACE or a baton, blackjack, etc. depending on the resistance met.

If the suspect uses ANY weapon, be it knife, bat, table leg, etc., the officer must meet it with the next level of force, i.e. his/her service firearm.

And, if the suspect is armed with any firearm, multiple officers (preferably with supervisory personnel present) must respond with enough firepower to make it NOT "worth his while" to do anything but surrender.

And, behind all this, the officer must do whatever he or she can to TALK the perp down, rather than use deadly force...the last thing any cop wants. You see, the AUTHORITY of having a firearm is by far outweighed by the RESPONSIBILITY inherent in its use.

And we were told, once trained and commissioned, to put it on and "forget you have it"...unless you have NO other option.

Any questions?

[stormchazer]

You ignore the Polices Instructions....you going to get beat upside the head. Are we going to ask the Police to hug those that won't follow their instructions?

[GalvestonDuck]

Me thinks you are right Linda.

The bottom line here is the black man whether he was 100 lbs, or 800 lbs...had he went to the ground, put his hands behind his back, and not resisted arrest, would be enjoying a fine catered meal today in the local jail instead of pushing up daisies.

Not trying to sound cold-hearted here, but I have zero sympathy for anyone who resists arrest, and then tries to (or somebody in their behalf does since they are now dead) blame the police for actions they needed to take to protect not only themselves but, the citizens they are sworn to protect.

We need to let the Police do their job!

Actually, J, the article Stooge posted is about a different case that happened in Ft. Worth, not the case in Cincy where the guy was acting irrational in the restaurant and with paramedics, and then tried to tackle an officer to the ground.

Apparently, the officer in this case hit someone on the head (once?) with his baton. I agree with, however, in both cases, that people just need to chill and cooperate.

[azsnowman]

Well said Bill!!!! I've only been on the WMAT PD force for about 2 months now and in just that short period of time, I've had to use the Mace once and the Taser once........both times were absolutely deemed necessary as both suspects were on Crystal Meth and/or cocaine. The one incident that I had to use the Taser, a 16 yr. old female subject, 5'2", 105 lbs. hyped up on coke...she had 2 of us, my size, 6'4", 250+ lbs, flinging us around like rag dolls, needless to say, one hit from the Taser...........


Dennis

[Stephanie]

At the rate we are going, these restrictions we're putting on the police force are really preventing them from doing their jobs.

I believe that their are some over-zealous and prejudiced people on the forces throughout the country, but that is truly the minority. New Jersey has been in the spotlight FOR YEARS of racially profiling motorists. The NJ turnpike is one of the roads of choice for drug trafficking, but it seems that the majority that are pulled over are black or Hispanic.