Posted on 10/09/2005 12:13:05 PM PDT by pitinkie
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - At least one police officer repeatedly punched a 64-year-old man accused of public intoxication, and another officer assaulted an Associated Press Television News producer as a cameraman taped the confrontations.
There will be a criminal investigation, and three New Orleans Police Department officers will be suspended Sunday, arrested and charged with simple battery, Capt. Marlon Defillo said.
"We have great concern with what we saw this morning," Defillo said after he and about a dozen other high-ranking police department officials watched the APTN footage Sunday. "It's a troubling tape, no doubt about it. ... This department will take immediate action."
The assaults come as the department, long plagued by allegations of brutality and corruption, struggles with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the resignation last month of Police Superintendent Eddie Compass.
The APTN tape shows an officer hitting the man at least four times in the head Saturday night as he stood outside a bar. The suspect, Robert Davis, appeared to resist, twisting and flailing as he was dragged to the ground by four officers. Another officer then kneed Davis and punched him twice. Davis was face-down on the sidewalk with blood streaming down his arm and into the gutter.
Meanwhile, an officer ordered APTN producer Rich Matthews and the cameraman to stop recording. When Matthews held up his credentials and explained he was working, the officer grabbed the producer, leaned him backward over a car, jabbed him in the stomach and unleashed a profanity-laced tirade.
"I've been here for six weeks trying to keep ... alive. ... Go home!" shouted the officer, who later identified himself as S.M. Smith.
Police said Davis, 64, of New Orleans, was booked on public intoxication, resisting arrest, battery on a police officer and public intimidation.
Davis, who is black, was subdued at the intersection of Conti and Bourbon streets. Three of the officers appeared to be white, and the other was light skinned. Defillo said race was not an issue.
Three of the five officers involved were New Orleans officers, and two others appeared to be federal officers. Numerous agencies have sent police to help with patrols in the aftermath of Katrina.
Under normal circumstances, it takes unusually offensive behavior to trigger an arrest on Bourbon Street. But New Orleans police have been working under stressful conditions since the hurricane.
Officers slept in their cars and worked 24-hour shifts after the storm. Three-quarters lost their homes and their families are scattered across the country.
Many officers deserted their posts in the days after Katrina, and some were accused of joining in the looting that broke out. At least two committed suicide.
Conditions have improved - officers now have beds on a cruise ship - but they don't have private rooms and are still working five, 12-hour days.
Compass, the police superintendent, resigned Sept. 27. Despite more than 10 years of reform efforts dating to before he took office, police were dogged by allegations of brutality and corruption.
On Friday, state authorities said they were investigating allegations that New Orleans police broke into a dealership and made off with nearly 200 cars - including 41 new Cadillacs - as the storm closed in.
I have to admit your post 115 makes some very good points.
One 'Aw, sh|t!" wipes out a thousand 'Atta-boys'.
I learned this in a career in nuclear power. The police have yet to learn it. They are bankrupt of their credibility-capital with those whom they "Serve and Protect." See http://www.cicp.org/
We can tell the media to step back, get out of the way etc. when performing out jobs. I've seen it done and I've seen them comply. Just because you have a camera in your hand doesn't give you the 'right' to be in my way.
If you want to step back and film all you want, that's fine.
This Pravda reporter thought he'd be a national hero to get picked on by the po-po.
"This sounds too much like the Rodney King deal.."
Exactly. I lived through that one and it's aftermath.
This one is shaping up nicely for Mr. Davis. The police assaulted a cameraman who apparently properly identified himself. This was clearly wrong. So one can imply that the cops were out of control and that the treatment of Mr. Davis was also excessive. The pictures of him bleeding in the gutter - while the police are attacking a cameraman will be powerful with the right lawyer and the right jury.
Whether the police were right or not, Mr. Davis is due for a big payday. I hope he manages his money a little better than Rodney Kind did.
First, you know absolutely nothing about me or how I do my job so your first statement is ridiculous.
Second, I admit I didn't see the tape. My point, although I haven't probably come out and said it is: I don't believe everything the media does, prints or shows on TV.
Lastly, you are correct, cops enforce the law, they do not dispense justice. But, cops are human beings and most of the time they are in control of themselves, even when they have idiot media people around them just begging for an opportunity to get their little bit of sensationalized video on national news.
Thank you, Thank you very much (best Elvis impersonation)
I can hear the Bronx Cheer from the rest of the peanut gallery.
oh, and I was on Court TV last week, testifying in a murder trial. how 'bout that?
Nearly famous. hahahahahahahaha
You've also claimed you have the authority to 'order' people to stop engaging in lawful activities you don't like.
I've asked you twice to provide the Statutes which grant you such authority and you have been unable or unwilling to do it.
That makes me deeply suspicious of your suitability to have a badge and a gun. I don't think I'm out of line with that.
L
What'd I tell ya? see 129. We're all evil revenuers.
hahahahaha
Yeah, and in 5 more years I'll be weened off the public trough and into retirement. Fishin' at 50. Ah, life is good.
LOL. The NOPD has such a long history of corruption and goon behavior that I will give the AP reporter's account over the NOPD anyday.
I may have never seen you do your job, but by your posts here, I really don't need to to know you disregard the law.
But, cops are human beings and most of the time they are in control of themselves,
So it's OK for a cop to lose control, but if an average citizen does, they get tased, shull cracked with a b-light, punched in the gut and left bleeding profusely in the gutter? You sound like a big pussy wuss frustrated mall security punk hiding behind a shield. WTG, MF!
In fact we have evidence offered that this cop struck a reporter who was acting perfectly within the bounds of the law. You defended that conduct here multiple times. In fact you implied the cop was within his rights.
I called you on it and now you have some kind of problem with me doing so.
I hope to God above you don't climb into your cruiser every day thinking you can act that way because if you do you're every bit as big a threat to the citizens of your town as the criminal element is.
The really sad part of it is that I really don't think you 'get it'.
But hey, I'm the one smoking the bong here, right? I guess if you can't refute the arguments or answer simple questions it's ok to slander the person making the arguments and asking the questions.
No wonder this country is getting more f***** up by the day.
L
Yes, I still condone smacking reporters. I know them. They are a part of the axis of evil. We need a WWF Smackdown of all liberal media types.
I have claimed to have the awesome ability to tell reporters who are in my way to step back. I've seen it done, it works. Most media people have enough sense to stay out of the way. some are looking to make a name for themselves (see first paragraph).
You obviously have great supernatural powers to be able to tell everything about me without having seen me do what I do for a living. I can only stand in awe. But I'll have to tell you; you are out of line.
Do I have to be a lawyer to point up the fact that cops don't have the authority to assault reporters who are lawfully doing their jobs?
L
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