Posted on 12/15/2004 12:25:58 PM PST by Lazamataz
LOS ANGELES - The city's police commission unveiled a plan Tuesday aimed at discouraging officers from using flashlights as weapons, except in emergencies.
The proposal comes months after a telvised beating by Officer John Hatfield showed him striking a motorist 11 times following a foot chase. The June 23 incident sparked widespread objection to the use of flashlights as weapons.
"Officers don't mind being held accountable as long as they have a clear policy to follow, and that's what we're providing here," said Alan Skobin, vice president of the police commission.
The proposed policy, to be considered Jan. 11, stops short of the near-total bans on practice enacted in other large cities. It states that flashlights should only be used for light and should only be used as a weapon in very unusual circumstances.
The proposal seems to permit officers to use flashlights to stop violent suspects, said Bob Baker, president of the Police Protective League, the Los Angeles Police Department officers' union.
"We support policies that, at the end of the watch, mean we are going home safe," Baker said.
Ricardo Garcia, criminal justice director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, said the proposal was a good start.
"But I'd like to see them move away from even this permissive a use of flashlight," Garcia said. "On the positive side, at least this will give officers some training on how if they're going to strike with a flashlight to do it. Before this, they could pretty much do anything."
At the time of the Miller incident, the LAPD had no formal policy on proper use of a flashlight to subdue a suspect.
After the beating, Chief William J. Bratton said he would forbid the use of heavy metal flashlights like the one used by Hatfield. Bratton said the department would develop small, lightweight rubber flashlights, which it is still in the process of doing.
The new proposal would require a written explanation and critical review whenever a flashlight is used as a weapon.
Ping for finally addressing the Flashlight Beating issue.
nerf flashlights.
Problem solved!
Just.... damn.
Brilliance!
anybody know a good patent lawyer???
Next on deck: nerf batons.
this is just so defense attorneys can't say "so you beat my poor, defenseless client with a steel pipe officer?"
rather than "beat them with an expandable ,steel baton called an ASP."
Nerf bullets.
That way, Joyclyn Elders will be happy.
Where is the widespread objection to criminals running....?
It's a safety device. Lets you see what you're hitting.
How do you feel about this?
So I take it flashlight beatings can only be conducted curbside? Wonder if the gutter counts.
Mag lites are considered a tactical weapon. Keep one within reach.
Personally, I'd like to see the headline "LAPD Plan to Double Flashlight Beatings."
Well, on the one hand it's a good thing, on the other hand it will be harder for certain people to sue the city.
needs to be in tactical black...
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