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Video of final moments of inmate's life prompts questions from victim's family
WAFB ^

Posted on 01/10/2015 9:01:48 PM PST by TigerClaws

Surveillance video obtained by 9News Investigators shows the final minutes of an inmate's life inside the West Baton Rouge Detention Center.

The sheriff's department claims Ervin Edwards, 38, resisted as officers tried to book him. His family disagrees. After reviewing the video, they believe officers at the jail are responsible for his death.

The surveillance video from inside the West Baton Rouge Detention Center on November 26, 2013 shows Edwards being booked for allegedly disturbing the peace at a gas station. Several officers bring him into a jail cell. On the way there the video shows Edwards' pants around his ankles, his feet and hands are cuffed. He trips and officers drag him into the room.

Minutes later, the officers transport him to another cell. He falls again. Officers drag him inside, face down, still cuffed. Six officers hold him down. One of them pulls out a taser and puts it on his backside. It appears an officer stepped on Edwards' back, another on his head. A minute goes by, and it appears Edwards is motionless, apparently still being tased. Officers begin to leave, but one remains and continues to hold the taser on Edwards for almost another minute. Paramedics arrived 20 minutes later. Edwards was pronounced dead.

(Excerpt) Read more at wafb.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: louisiana
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The man is drugged and out of it. But he's handcuffed and in a cell. What exactly is the point in tasing him?

I was also unaware any taser could administer a shock for a minute, as stated in the story.

1 posted on 01/10/2015 9:01:48 PM PST by TigerClaws
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To: TigerClaws

Damn sadists


2 posted on 01/10/2015 9:10:30 PM PST by yldstrk
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To: TigerClaws

Looks like murder.


3 posted on 01/10/2015 9:15:48 PM PST by D-fendr (Deus non alligatur sacramentis sed nos alligamur.)
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To: TigerClaws

Sure they can. You can continue to hit the trigger.


4 posted on 01/10/2015 9:17:31 PM PST by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: TigerClaws

The article says the autopsy showed he died of acute cocaine intoxication.


5 posted on 01/10/2015 9:28:44 PM PST by Raycpa
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To: TigerClaws

ThugLife by the po-po.

Where are Sharpie and Hymietown? THIS is a crime versus the sham of Ferguson protests.


6 posted on 01/10/2015 9:31:04 PM PST by A Formerly Proud Canadian ((I once was blind but now I see...))
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To: TigerClaws

He was highly intoxicated with PCP and cocaine according to the Coroner’s report. The video isn’t complete. There are breaks in it which don’t show the full incident. The timer at the top is the news channel’s. What video I did see shows the officers struggling to restrain him. He obviously wasn’t cooperating due to the angel dust in his system. I’ll hold my opinion until I get to see the full video, not just some clips chosen by the media.


7 posted on 01/10/2015 9:32:12 PM PST by mass55th (Courage is being scared to death - but saddling up anyway...John Wayne)
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To: Raycpa
"The article says the autopsy showed he died of acute cocaine intoxication."

He was on PCP as well.

8 posted on 01/10/2015 9:32:35 PM PST by mass55th (Courage is being scared to death - but saddling up anyway...John Wayne)
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To: yldstrk
Damn sadists

I agree. Usually I give the police the benefit of the doubt and I know they must have to get a little rough at times, but this is too much.

I've been aware for some years now that there are abuses, and it is a shame that the situation doesn't seem to have improved.

My heartfelt condolences to that man's family.

9 posted on 01/10/2015 9:40:52 PM PST by Aliska
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To: mass55th

I know he was drugged, but ... he was handcuffed and so stoned he couldn’t walk. He was a threat to none of the officers.

Here’s another one (GRAPHIC) of a policeman shooting a guy at a traffic stop:

http://www.worldstaruncut.com/uncut/76554

I have officer friends. I support the police. I don’t, however, support killing suspects but for rare circumstances where the officer or some third party’s life is in immediate danger.

That wasn’t present in the above video on in my original posting.


10 posted on 01/10/2015 9:50:47 PM PST by TigerClaws
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To: TigerClaws

Having worked in uniform in Corrections for 25 years, I won’t second-guess the officers until I know more. For all we know the guy could have been trying to bite one of them, spitting at them, or pounding his own head into the floor, which convicts will sometimes do. We can’t see if he was doing any of that, but it looks to me like he wasn’t lying still for them. It’s certainly easier to control them when their hands are cuffed behind them, and they are placed on their stomach. As far as the taser goes, we didn’t have them so I have no first-hand knowledge regarding their usage. All I know is that people complain when the cops don’t use tasers, and then when they do...they still complain. It never helps when obese people get high and have to be restrained. There’s always the potential for something to go wrong.


11 posted on 01/10/2015 10:12:38 PM PST by mass55th (Courage is being scared to death - but saddling up anyway...John Wayne)
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To: mass55th

Don’t confuse these Fergusonites with reason, rationality or objectivity.


12 posted on 01/10/2015 10:13:12 PM PST by ifinnegan
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To: mass55th

Okay, whatever he did before what we see here, he’s handcuffed and in a small cell. Why not just unhandcuff him and leave him there in the cell to sober up?

Charge him with whatever crimes he’s committed, but don’t tase someone for a full minute.


13 posted on 01/10/2015 10:35:38 PM PST by TigerClaws
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To: TigerClaws

Can’t ever give anyone the idea you’re okay with lese majeste, I suppose. Though in some way it could be damned if they do, damned if they don’t. What if the convulsing prisoner harmed himself while they were waiting for him to come down from his drug trip. Would they then be liable to lawsuit for that?

It does seem to me that POSSIBLY a tranquilizer dart could prove of use in situations where a taser is not doing much. Sometimes there are risks. We see one engagement here, not a larger policy or if there was even an attempt at a larger policy.


14 posted on 01/10/2015 10:39:34 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: D-fendr
Looks like murder.

Execution. That's what it was. No other word for it IMO.

15 posted on 01/10/2015 10:55:45 PM PST by usconservative (When The Ballot Box No Longer Counts, The Ammunition Box Does. (What's In Your Ammo Box?))
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To: TigerClaws
The cell is probably 6'x 8'. They shouldn't be taking the cuffs off of him until he was willing to lay still and comply. If he wasn't struggling with them, there would have been no need for them to hold him down to begin with. He was on cocaine and PCP, and was picked up because he was disturbing the peace at a gas station. It would be nice to see a video of that, plus what occurred when the cops arrived to apprehend him. He was probably cuffed at that time. There's also no report on what he was doing in the police car on the way to the station. I'm sure if this goes to the grand jury or trial, this info will be introduced.

The effects of PCP are as follows:

"Physiological effects of PCP include a slight increase in breathing rate and a more pronounced rise in blood pressure and pulse rate. Respiration becomes shallow, and flushing and profuse sweating. At high doses of PCP, there is a drop in blood pressure, pulse rate, and respiration. This may be accompanied by nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, flicking up and down of the eyes, drooling, loss of balance, and dizziness. High doses of PCP can also cause seizures, coma, and death (though death more often results from accidental injury or suicide during PCP intoxication). Psychological effects at high doses include illusions and hallucinations."

Most important: "In a hospital or detention setting, they often become violent or suicidal, and are very dangerous to themselves and to others. They should be kept in a calm setting and should not be left alone."

Drugs.com

16 posted on 01/10/2015 11:02:31 PM PST by mass55th (Courage is being scared to death - but saddling up anyway...John Wayne)
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To: mass55th

Perhaps it was police attempting alone a situation that really ought to have had medical supervision.


17 posted on 01/10/2015 11:06:54 PM PST by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
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To: HiTech RedNeck
"Perhaps it was police attempting alone a situation that really ought to have had medical supervision."

Too bad it wasn't until the coroner's report came out that they found out about the types of drugs he was on. Look how many times people are locked up because they are drunk, and end up either choking on their own vomit, or hanging themselves. Before I went into Corrections, I worked as a Safety Officer in a NY State mental hygiene facility. That was back in 1980. Back then we used to get drunks sent to us by the hospital. They'd end up in the emergency room, be examined by a doctor, then ordered into alcohol & rehabilitation at the psych center. They used to fight us tooth and nail once they found out they were going to the nut house saying: I'm not crazy...I'm just drunk.

18 posted on 01/10/2015 11:18:50 PM PST by mass55th (Courage is being scared to death - but saddling up anyway...John Wayne)
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To: Pelham

full of crap meter redlining on this thread

Lucky for them I’m dog tired


19 posted on 01/10/2015 11:30:55 PM PST by wardaddy (glenn beck is a nauseous politically correct conservative on LSD)
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To: mass55th

Oh yeah, it’s all us, not the cops who manhandle people. ok.


20 posted on 01/11/2015 2:34:54 AM PST by Shimmer1 (Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity. MLK)
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