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.
Outlaw flashlights and only outlaws will have...well, you know.
< obligatory > 3-day cooling off period for flashlites
Confiscate them all!
Who are beating the flashlights and why are they doing it?
<---This is the "Thumper"
These are obviously ASSAULT flashlights!
What's wrong with letting the criminal "See the Light" (and then see stars)?
An exchange I had while working in corrections:
Citizen: Is that a Club?
Slim: No, it's a Baton.
Citizen: What do you do with it?
Slim: I club people.
We need to pass some Flashlight Control legislation, right now!
Already been done. Now the LAPD just needs to procure a few!
The very reason why cops hold their six "D" cell MAG-LITEs by the front with the handle on their shoulder while you look for your license is so if you make one false move they can crack your skull with it. This is common knowledge told to me by a cop.
"When did you stop beating your flashlight?"
They should stick to using their hardened nightsticks, that's what they were desiged for.
I bet the LAPD only beats the black flashlights. They gotta stop beating up the poor flashlights!
I hope the NAAFL can shed some light on this sore subject. (National Aassociation for the Advancement of Flashlights
We got trained in USCG LEO school how to use a maglite as effectively as possible to make a suspect compliant.
Dang, as the Greaseman would say, a good thorough application of that 6-Cell and the perp will be spittin' chiclets...
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.