"Admeeral Boooorda co-mitted soooiciiide for less."
Posted on 12/08/2005 8:24:59 PM PST by Former Military Chick
SAN FRANCISCO - A police officer who produced videos parodying life on the force was suspended Thursday after the mayor and police chief blasted the vignettes as racist, sexist and homophobic.
Officer Andrew Cohen, 39, said he was suspended for posting inappropriate and unauthorized pictures about the department on the Internet.
"I don't know what's going on," Cohen told The Associated Press. "I've never been in trouble before."
Cohen is one of about 20 officers expected to be disciplined for video clips that Police Chief Heather Fong called "egregious, shameful and despicable."
The skits featured uniformed and plainclothes officers making fun of Asians, blacks, women and gay and transgender people, Mayor Gavin Newsom said. He was particularly offended by a scene showing a white officer in a patrol car running over a black homeless woman.
"It is shameful, it is offensive, it is sexist, it is homophobic and it is racist," Newsom said. "We're going to make sure that it ends, it ends immediately."
The video spoofs were shot over more than a year for a Christmas party, Cohen said. Most of the officers involved, including a captain, worked at the Bayview Station in the city's roughest section, an industrial area with a large minority population and high crime rate.
The department's internal affairs division launched an investigation after the videos were discovered on Cohen's Web site, Inside the SFPD. Other city commissions also were assigned to look into the matter.
Cohen said Fong asked him to meet with her Dec. 14 and he will eventually have a hearing before the Police Commission.
The department did not release the names or ranks of the officers.
"I'm sorry they did it, and I'm sure they are sorry they did it, but do not confuse these videos with how these officers perform in the real world," said Gary Delegnes, president of the San Francisco Police Officers Association. "These were meant as comic relief, parodies of police work."
Cohen's lawyer, Daniel Horowitz, said his client was slandered by officials who drew attention to the matter and took the videos out of context.
"I think they wanted to be the poster children for the politically correct attitudes in the city and they misrepresented the contents of the tapes," Horowitz said.
He added that the videos, which have been pulled from the Web site, were not insensitive, although some of the content was sophomoric.
Newsom's spokesman, Peter Ragone, disagreed. "Perhaps Mr. Horowitz is the kind of lawyer who thinks that a white police officer running over a black woman is something to laugh at. We think he stands alone."
The real question is: Did the videos portray San Francisco Police Officers mimicking acts which would be felonious if actually conducted in real life?
If those filmed were just clothed as generic police officers, then it will be difficult for SFPD to win on this one.
If the videos showed uniformed SFPD officers with SF insignia etc, then these officers are really in
career trouble.....unless the publication of the vids on the internet was inadvertant.
I hope the officers win this one, as I know the black humor often shared by police officers. When you are under the gun as an officer day in , day out, comic relief is often the only way to handle all the violence, tragedy and suffering one sees on the job. I am sure the officers meant no harm by it.
In uniform? I think so.
The publication of the videos on the internet was definitely not intentional, although it's still unclear how they got there.
Internal Affairs. The modern version of KGB apparatchiks.
I'm assuming you know I was using sarcasm earlier.
And Howard Stern is given 500 million dollars for the same type of thing.
These guys are getting the royal shaft.
Really getting the royal shaft.
That's right. Fight the power! Don't let the man get you down. Power to the people!
:) HA!
Watch the video on the link to answer your question. Looks like the "homeless" in question starts to get up and give the cop hell after she was "run over".
These guys are screwed. Most PC cop corps in the nation led by an affirmative action hire. All 20 will be thrown under the bus faster than you can say, "Boo!"
"This is egregious, outrageous, bodacious, fallacious." —Jackie Chiles
He is way overpaid. :)
gotta be the same cohen
Gastric Nuisance hates the PD,,,
the current Police Chief , Heather Fong, is a 25 year paper pusher promoted to Chief last year after the latest police scandal over a bag of fajitas and a beating of 2 citizens by 3 off duty cops,
the DA won't prosecute cop killers for killing a policeman in cold blood last year, and doesn't support the death openalty in any case
Yeah San FReakcisco is in great shape,
if you're a criminal.
Something else banned in the name of tolerance. Gotta love it. :)
Perhaps the fembot police chief should also try to get Howard Stern off the air. His show features stuff like police running over homeless every day. (Oh, he did get kicked off of radio ... NEVER MIND)
Moral of Story: Never appoint a police chief named "Heather".
I've seen some of the videos today on TV...........to me, I think the Chief over-reacted. It was done in fun. The "running over of the homeless woman" was all staged (obviously). It was all fine. All about blowing off some steam.
I hope all Officers are reinstated and this all blows over.
My Grandpa (former SFPD) would have chuckled over all this hot air.
"I'm assuming you know I was using sarcasm earlier."
Absolutely. I just feel sorry for the officers. Been there.
(Hardest job on the face of the earth.)
I found a source for vid clips from the video spoof:
http://www.ktvu.com/video/5489702/detail.html
I'd agree. Especially in today's political correct, liberal run cities and county governments.
I'd say soldier, sailor, airmen and marine is second hardest, especially considering we're terrorizing innocent Iraqis in their own homes.
I thought the spoof was hilarious. I don't see the problem. Oh...wait...I'm not liberal. Nevermind.
:)
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