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Did a Chicago police officer go a bit too far when ousting a man from a CTA bus? Chicago Cop Watch thinks so, saying that "the officer neglected to follow CPD protocol during the encounter, which led to a violent altercation. The code requires officers to wait for back-up before engaging in a physical struggle with a citizen during non-emergency situations." And they've got video they believe backs up their statements (language NSFW):
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The stench of City Hall. No, it is not corrupt politicians or unwashed Aldermen.
Piss Poor Plumbin
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Unbelievable...Take his badge and send him to jail.
Ya, let's attack the officer for getting a trespassing drunk off the bus.
I was unaware that "getting a trespassing drunk off the bus" required police brutality
what's more shocking, a chicago cop crossing the line, or a CTA employee enforcing the rules?
I don't get it. It looked like he was just sitting there and not causing any trouble. Why throw him off the bus with no way to get home?
It didn't look like he was being disruptive, so why all the screaming and violence from the cop?
He was resisting arrest. The officer asked him if he wanted to go to jail, and the trespassing drunk just sat there.
Why not focus the attention on the dozen people on the bus that had to sit there, wait for the cop to show up, then watch the trespasser resist arrest?
But he wasn't doing anything. He was just sitting there half asleep. I see lots of people dozing off when I'm on the train. What was he doing that was so wrong?
And if you noticed, there was a guy who asked for the cops badge number and the cop was very belligerent to him for having the audacity to ask such a question.
What would have been the harm in him staying on the bus and then getting off at his stop? And if he was doing something that was breaking the law, he was obviously confused. That cop did not have to beat his face in. That was way over the edge. Does every frat boy who gets drunk on the weekend deserve to get his face bashed in by a cop just for being drunk?
Yet another violent cop to embarrass Chicago to the world!
And I think it puts a lie to the commonly held belief that it's the younger cops that are more violent & the older ones are calmer & more reasoned!
Scooter, it is the older cops that teach the younger cops. In my experience the older cops were able to get by with violence much more than they are today. But I don't think it will ever go away.
No matter what the man was doing or not doing, the cop had no right to slam his head against the window and punch him. If the cop can't properly handle an arrest, then he should have waited for backup.
Jking: There have been studies that show that the majority of brutality complaints are against younger cops. The studies I read about showed that the older a cop got, most got mellower & learned how to handle situations without violence through experience, but but with common sense & persuasion.
This guy is a burned out cop & I'll bet he's also a very heavy drinker off duty & maybe even drinks on the job.
I'll also guess he has or had a very bad marriage & is going through a divorce or a bad after divorce mess.
At the very least he must be removed from the street & contact with the public. He needs anger management counseling, not just for on the job, but for off the job. He's a time bomb waiting to go off, this video may have put an end to that. For the time being anyway!
Wait, just by watching him interact on the job for two and a half minutes, you can tell this cop fits every stereotype you've seen on Law and Order, NYPD Blue, and all other cop dramas over the last decade?
Amazing!
Wait, just by watching him interact on the job for two and a half minutes, you can tell this cop fits every stereotype you've seen on Law and Order, NYPD Blue, and all other cop dramas over the last decade?
Amazing!
Wait, just by watching him interact on the job for two and a half minutes, you can tell this cop fits every stereotype you've seen on Law and Order, NYPD Blue, and all other cop dramas over the last decade?
Amazing!
I have a friend with epilepsy who had a seizure once and was treated this way. This officer should find another line of work. He's too jaded and nasty to be an effective police. I like how the people on the bus felt safe enough to remain where they were (after the passenger boarded, refused to pay, and CPD was called) until the cop started screaming profanities and slapping around an up-until-then non-aggressive offender who could very likely be mentally ill. Good job spreading the good will there, officer. Everyone on that bus, if they didn't already feel this way, will now think of Chicago cops as belligerent, dangerous and best avoided.
Your comment just reminded me of an incident someone I knew had with a cop a couple of years ago. She was out with her friends on a Saturday night but she was not partying like the rest of them. She's not a big drinker at all because she has diabetes.
Well, she's on her way home and this cop takes her in...says she's drunk. But she was going into insulin shock and all she needed was something to eat, but the cop was accusing her of being drunk and refused to let her eat. She kept trying to tell him her situation....that she just needed some food.
Finally she was able to call her mother, who came to the station and got things under control and was FURIOUS with the behavior of the cop.
What's with these cops? Would it have killed him to let her have a frikking cookie? She wasn't some meth addict off the streets...she's a college educated, gainfully employed person who was having fun with her friends. She gave him no reason to be treated like she was a criminal.
NO WAY.
No way is this police brutality! This guy [the drunk hobo] was a fucking smartass, plain and simple. He got punched ONCE. There was a second (black) cop there within seconds.
Look, the rules and the protocol are there to protect everybody, but these assholes just want to nickel and dime some cop because he had to do his job. I bet they also wear Birkenstocks and smell of patchouli.
I'm not sure he hit his head against the window at the 1:00 mark. I think cops who do abuse people should be in trouble but this just isn't it a good case. In my opinion, the guy does stand up in a threatening manner towards the cop.
Police brutality is horrible but this guy probably didn't even need an ice pack.
According to the bus driver he didn't pay and wouldn't get off the bus. You can't tell on the video if he reeked of alcohol or not.
It doesn't matter if he didn't need an ice pack, cops are not allowed to punch people...
Are you sure about that? Cops can use force to subdue people. Newsflash: Cops can and will kill you if you mess with them.
Cell phones recording video are great- but I have seen much worse with my own eyes. Nothing to see here....move along.
@HCE That reply was supposed to be @sherlaura
First off, for those who didn't pay attention, the reason the cop is there is because this guy apparently got on the bus, didn't pay, and then refused to get off.
Then, after the officer arrived, he still refused to get off. There was a full 40 seconds of dialog before the officer even laid hands on the guy. I'm also not sure the initial shove put his head into the window either, but if it did, it probably had more to do with the guy being drunk as a skunk, than the cop's force. "...slams" is a bit exaggerated.
I do think the passenger stepped into the officer in a potentially threatening way and certainly didn't cooperate under any circumstances.
I think the officer went a little overboard punching him near the end (if he punched him...can't say for sure)...but he was justified in doing so. Police routinely punch people who are resisting arrest.
Overall, did he step over the line? Probably a little. Brutality? Not even close.
Also, nice passive-aggressive move at the end. "God, I can't wait to get home and blog about this, but I'm definitely not going to say anything while it's going down."
I agree, the officer should have tried to first offer the obviously fine example of society some flowers and a hug. Maybe have offered to buy him a cup of coffee.
If you watch, when the cop "punches" the offender, the offender's hand is curled in a fist and is clearly struggling to reach the officer's face. Sherlaura, please tell me where it says "cops are not allowed to punch people." His actions are pretty much in line with the use of force continuum which says that physical force, including striking, is a reasonable action in response to a passive resister who fails to respond to verbal commands, it is completely reasonable when the person is actively resisting (which he is seen doing on the video).
I wish this person who "monitors the police" had filmed the individual getting onto the bus and refusing to pay his fare. I'm sure he was nothing but to friendly to the CTA driver. I also like the fact that he is arguing the cop screwed up by not waiting for backup before engaging the offender.
I must say, without any sarcasm, that I'm glad the Chicagoist didn't use a title of "Another Chicago Cop Beats Helpless Man."
No, I am not a cop.
"...are pretty much in line with the use-of-force..."
Quite frankly you are wrong. In a less-than-lethal control situation an officer is duty bound to engage in control methods that are reliable- any deviation is clearly open to criticism. When applying force one has to account for many many variables the fewer variables involved the safer both the officer and the suspect are.
In this case the officer most likely would not have had to engage in aggressive control tactics if he would have waited for his backup who were just outside of the bus. Even if he were forced to engage in a control situation risk would have been minimized due simply to the number of professionals involved.
I had that thought, why was the cop alone in this situation? Not too long ago a cop was shot on the Belmont bus in a fight with a disturbed woman who grabbed his gun. This cop should not have been alone on that bus.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2039911/posts
So is the issue that he used excessive force or that he was too quick to handle a situation by himself that could produce more unknowns for the officer to handle and then lead to a need for force?
Should he have waited? Yes. But for how long?
He grabs the guy's arm. I don't consider that aggressive given the situation. I don't know if I'd say that he then slammed the guy's head into the window, seems like that is as much to do with the drunk. The guy then stands up, from there, anyone can make their own interpretation of what happens. Did he get confrontational in the face of the cop? Did the cop not give him enough time to exit the bus? We can all monday morning quarterback this and both sides can argue their points.
I still don't think this is excessive force.
The police officer clearly makes the situation worse by losing his temper, and thus losing control of the situation. He starts swearing and grabbing at the man in a way that doesn't work towards a peaceful or safe solution. What if the guy had had a gun or a knife, the cop could have very easily provoked a violent response.
Sadly, people have come to accept this kind of casual cruelty, especially towards the poor, the homeless and the mentally ill. See pretty much every episode of "Cops" ever broadcast.
Who cares? Try paying your fare and not breaking the law if you don't want to deal with the cops! The cop gave him several chances to avoid charges and simply get off the bus, and the stupid asshole responds by threatening and attacking the cop.
Cops have a difficult job. It is easy to say they should have done this or that when you view a situation from a video, with no danger and plenty of time to think about what you would have or have not done. I for one am glad we have people like this willing to put their lives on the line to maintain law and order. If they act slightly outside the handbook now and then, so be it.
And the guy who takes the video, whether he realizes it or not, depends on cops like this to keep him safe. He'd be back in Naperville with his Mom in two seconds if the city became too dangerous.
I'm sorry, that's just not a reasonable response to this. A police officer acting out of anger and with undue force endangers his fellow officers and citizens. The people on the bus were scared, not of the surly, intoxicated man, but of the cop screaming obscenities and manhandling the guy. He put them at risk, again if the guy had been armed or grabbed for the cops gun, and acted irresponsibly. We deserve better from law enforcement.
I'm not defending some belligerent jerk who refuses his fare, but it's not a choice between giving him a free pass and letting a police officer run roughshod.
Amen. I'ts the cops behavior that would have scared me, not the non-paying passenger. I've been on public transit with plenty of drunk hobos, theyre more annoying than scary uaually, they generally keep to themselves anyway.
The cop decked him. Not a good police move. Yeah he deserved it but if this cop is still living in 1980 when that sort of stuff was ok then maybe he should retire.
Can't tell if it's brutality from the video, he didn't really slam his head against the wall and perhaps the guy was preparing to assault the office before he got punched.
Not criminal behavior by the officer, but he gets a shitty performance review for poor handling of the situation and letting anger get the best of him.
Most importanly, I LOVE THAT CELL PHONES RECORD VIDEO! It'll help usher out the old school anything goes cop mentality that gives good cops a bad name.
The cop's temper did not help the situation at all. This is like hitting and yelling at someone for doing something wrong.
In the words of the late George Carlin: "They ought to have two new requirements for police officers, intelligence and decency."
More reason for me not to like police officers.
I'm going to bookmark this page so I can link it next time somebody on here complains that the police aren't doing enough to prevent crime.
The man didn't pay, resisted any attempt the officer made to defuse the situation, and he was supposedly intoxicated - anybody that sides with him in any way, shape, or form is a dope.
You guys have got to be kidding.
The cop was totally belligerent and clearly lost his temper. He seemed more intent on winning a one-on-one argument than protecting the general peace of the bus. The cursing? Repeated provocations of "do you want to fight me"? I'm no prude but hearing that from a person with his stature and authority is frightening.
Officers are supposed to exercise patience and restraint. The opposite is on display in that video.
And the bit at the end reminds me of my own run-in with the CPD. One night a couple of years ago I missed the "NO TURN ON RED" sign at some six-way intersection on the northside while driving home some drunk friends. After being totally denigrated by the officer-- you would have thought I had been traveling three times the speed limit by his tenor-- I asked for his name and badge number. The guy shot me an incredulous look then threatened to take me to the station if I had any other questions.
this is sickening. the cop is clearly getting off on it (how many times does he repeat "you wanna fight?") and was in no way justified in using force. i think i heard him say "get your hand down" but the man clearly posed no threat to the officer. i hope this video gets used in the trial the way the NYC critical mass case used youtube video. also, just pointing out: white officer, black victim. not that that's been a trend or anything.
Well first salute to the brotha that got his badge number and video taped it. The drunk should haved gone to jail, but lets forget about the violence for a moment. A cop gets on the bus and starts cussing "get the F*ck up", etc, etc, etc. Uhm what about some professionalism infront of tax payers, Yea dude we know you're a jimbo type bad ass, but save it for the cop bars to impress badge bunnies like Jimbo and Street. We need a movement for cops to be professional but agressive. I think professionalism is more intimidating actually.
p.s I like how Street equates the arrival of a Black officer with support of a cop who clearly crossed the line
Honestly, how long was the bus sitting there waiting for the cop to show up? Then the cop takes his time to politely get the guy off the bus and even tells the guy that we will see about getting you on the next one. Any reasonable person is going to get impatient after awhile.
Could it have been handled better after a certain point? Probably, but this guy didn't want to get off the bus and would likely have to be removed by force. The punch might have been excessive, but grabbing a cop is generally not a smart move.
I think this is a bad case to argue over.
Chicago cops don't have the best record, and there are some things that happened when I wrote for Chicagoist that I would have condemned them for, but this isn't one of them.
The bus driver probably asked the guy to leave repeatedly before bringing a cop on board. The cop asks the guy to leave several times before grabbing him and trying to remove him. The drunk resists and gets pushed around. Correct me if I'm wrong, but are there other ways to remove a drunk other than asking for him to leave and then being physical?
This isn't the shooting in San Francisco, the Abbatte beating, or even the cop who tackled the Critical Mass rider in New York. This is everyday police work.
Surprise, if you break the law and then resist arrest, you are going to get roughed up.
It's always amazing to me how many people can pass judgement on a cop like this when they've never been in a situation like this, and they haven't spent the last 20 years dealing with this kind of crap day in and day out. He lost his cool, but maybe he's earned the right to a little slack? But no, every freaking victim out there is just looking for someone to sue and punish.
did anyone else notice that the video conveniently skips at about 1:22? The cop calls for backup and all of a sudden the passenger's fist is right by the officer's head...
seems like there is some missing footage between when he calls for backup and when the officer says "you're getting off the bus and you're going to jail." It would explain why backup seemed to arrive so quickly.