Posted on 08/02/2011 11:19:32 AM PDT by Smogger
FULLERTON Surveillance video surfaced Monday of two witnesses describing a fatal confrontation between a homeless man and six police officers.
The video from an Orange County Transportation Authority bus shows a woman and a man getting on the bus shortly after the July 5 incident between the officers and Kelly Thomas, 37, a homeless man who suffered from schizophrenia.
The woman, who appears agitated, gets on the bus at the Fullerton Transportation Center and tells the driver "the cops are kicking this poor guy over there. ... He's almost halfway dead."
The male witness tells the driver that the man, later identified as Thomas, was sitting on a bench when he was approached by two officers and ran from them. "They caught him, pound his face, pound his face against the curb ... and they beat him up," the man said. "They beat him up, and then all the cops came and they hogtied him, and he was like 'Please God! Please Dad!"
(Excerpt) Read more at ocregister.com ...
There’s been a pretty good public outcry here in Orange County. I work right next store in Brea.
You want them to be able to go home to their families at night don’t you?
__________________________________________________________
Cops use this line in training all the time. I have a son that is a cop, I see the attitude a lot. They don’t think they can make mistakes and will defend each other no matter what is said because “we” the people don’t understand the position they are put in of having to make a quick decision.
I say that if a cop can’t take a few punches without killing the fighter he shouldn’t be a cop. If a cop has any attitude other than being a servant of the community he shouldn’t be a cop.
If a child sexual molester is in a position of authority over the child his sentence is much harder, the shame should be true of cop’s crimes. They should know MUCH BETTER than to abuse a citizen.
These things just sicken me.
At least one mod here likes to move threads and delete keywords when the thread is about cops.
KFI has been hitting the story hard.
A thread I posted about a detroit cop killing a little girl was deleted by one of the Admin Mods because it was "inflammatory." I still can't find any rules against posting "inflammatory" threads.
The government is out of control. The police are part of the government. Hence the police are out of control. Makes logical sense to me.
Those are the ones that will get a call out to a dark place late at night one night. Write your own ending.
We citizens must understand that a citizen is a target always.
There fixed it for you.
Indeed.
True miners and policemen didn't make the top ten. The article does some explaining about deaths and dangers.
U.S. police deaths up 14% so far in 2011, report says
"an officer is killed every 53 hours in the line of duty in America -- yet despite the risks, more than 800,000 officers protect and serve their communities."
"in the line of duty" Did I read the first article wrong that not all deaths are on the job but are counted as occupational?
Regardless, I do respect policemen. Nothing you can say will change that.
I've known a few including three since childhood.
I also know that there are men and women who should not be given a badge and authority -- in any job. Especially government jobs.
Convenience store clerks should be on that list.
I mean, for all intents and purposes, they are cannon fodder.
I don’t think a cop should be at risk of taking a few punches to avoid giving a few of his own.
However, I think that police schools and forces do need to look at their training methods to see what needs to be modified to avoid physical confrontations as much as possible.
I work in a convenience store, in an area with a lot of homeless and criminals and I’ve managed to control tense situations by myself, without a gun to protect me or being able to get 5 other cop cars, with 10 cops at a moment’s notice.
Will you provide a reference?
Why do conservative have trouble realizing that?
And the rate of death by assassination for US Presidents is 10%.
U.S. police deaths up 14% so far in 2011, report says
CNN dutifully regurgitates a report from a gun grabbing LEO organization that was a part of the NAPO endorsement of Obama in 2008.
Yes. My reference is in my reply #30. One link. There are of course many others but I will provide only the one link. It seemed reliable though it was through CNN. I used google search and searched for, policemen deaths u.s.
He says that the main attacker of the victim is a former LAPD officer who was shot in the line of duty and lost an eye.
LA would not allow him to keep his job, but he was hired by Fullerton and as always been treated with great leniency.
Like you, I have respect for police officers in general, but these guys have crossed the line.
The military is also part of the government. Should we inherently look upon them with distrust also?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.