Posted on 05/03/2007 8:41:59 PM PDT by Teflonic
Hillsborough County Deputy Kevin Stabins has been suspended for five days after an internal affairs investigation found he used excessive force on a woman he pulled over.
The woman, Melissa Langston, had been pulled over for going 63 in a 35 mile an hour zone on Nov. 1. Langston was on the way to make sure her father, who was driving himself to University Community Hospital after suffering a heart attack, got there safely.
When Stabins went back to his car to run her plates and write a ticket, the woman waited three minutes, but then took off and drove a short distance to park her car.
Stabins is accused of using excessive force to pull her out of her car and pin her to the hood.
Langston's father survived the heart attack and all charges against her were dropped. She spent about five hours in jail.
Stabins's suspension starts May 22.
The sheriff's office says Stabins said he thought Langston was making up the story about her father's heart attack and that Stabins is a good deputy who showed bad judgment.
Langston declined an interview request.
The conversations between Langston and Stabins
Langston: Hi, I'm so sorry. My father's having a heart attack, can I please get there?
Deputy: I need to see your license, registration and proof of insurance please.
Langston: Please, come on just take it in there.
Langston again tried to explain about her father's condition.
Deputy: He's in the care of the doctor ma'am.
Langston: I don't know that he's there. I don't know that he made it to the hospital. He was driving himself.
While Stabins was writing the ticket, Langston drove off to check the parking lot for her father's car. Stabins followed her and pulled her over a second time.
Deputy: That was not smart.
Langston: I need to get there. I'm sorry but I just need to get there.
Deputy: Put it in park. Put it in park. Put it in park. Out of the car. Hands behind your back. Now you're going to jail.
Langston: Please let me get to my dad. Please, my dad's having a heart attack. If it was your dad. . .
Stabins: Now you're not going to get to see him because you're going to jail. Not smart.
Look at the film again. People have been shot for pulling away with (this person who has no business being a cop) arm in tow. That being said, his time is limited.
At that stage she didn't know whether he made it to the admittance desk or had collapsed on the way. And robocop obviously didn't give a damn.
“but what if”
WHAT IF is the cry of nanny-staters everywhere. You, by your pathetic statement of support for fascist tactics by the police, have earned the badge of “Duped”.
May God have more mercy on your soul than the cop in question and you showed this woman.
Yep, least ways when I trained. You have to yield to them but they have to obey all traffic laws.
Most cops are a-holes. Their job is to screw people for money. And guess what? The judges only get paid if they support the cops (”court fees”).
When the time comes to ‘protect’, the stinkin cops either hide, or the blast the hell out of the neighborhood. No judgment.
a-holes on power trips.
LOL! Anyone stupid enough to do this had better be ready for some "special attention" from the local boys in blue!
I made that very mistake 2 years ago, when “traffic-calming circles” were installed on a 2000 Vehicle Per Hour street. NOT ONE of the police vehicles I watched, (including 3 local municipalities and the RCMP) only 5 city commuter buses, and 8 civilians (3 of whom live in my house) signalled correctly while using the traffic circle.
I called the local Mounties and asked them if there was additional training available, so I didn’t need to signal properly either.
I got my first speeding ticket in 14 years a couple of months later. 500 miles away. From a Mountie. It couldn’t possibly be related. Especially since the guy who passed ME continued on his way......
America, don’t EVER EVER EVER allow a “national” police force. REALLY!
Oh yeah, this was over a 5 month period.
YES! Right on target. Some of the people in this thread who are defending the behavior of this cop are scaring the HELL out of me. I cannot believe that anyone can justify the behavior of this cop. The hospital was literally IN SIGHT of the location where he pulled her over. All he had to do was escort her for about a 90-second drive, then take another 2-3 minutes to walk inside and VERIFY her story with the Emergency Room. If it turned out to be false, he could charge with everything he could dream up within the law...and he could have come up with a lot had she been lying. BUT, if she was telling the truth, he could have done something that cops have forgotten is their duty...to SERVE the public.
The story of this poor woman is all to familiar. On the rare occasions when I have been forced to deal with Police, and they are given a choice between being friendly or being jerks, they choose the latter the VAST majority of the time. The scumbag Democrats are almost NEVER right about any issues, but they have a legit point when they bitch about police conduct. Now in all honesty, part of why cops act like JERKS is because of Democrats and their unfair bitching about everything related to the police, but I would hope that people in the position of power that police hold would be able to distinguish between real criminals and people who may have stumbled into a situation that created the perception of criminal activity.
But as another poster correctly pointed out, far too many police look at ALL of us as would-be criminals rather than the citizens who pay their salary. And that needs to change...
I’m with the cop...she shouldn’t have driven off like an idiot.
______________________
She could have drug him under the moving car and she’d have a lot more to worry about....not a smart move.
One other thing I have noticed lately is that there seems to be a “the police are beyond reproach” attitude among many posters here.
The police are nothing more (or less) than any of us here. They are just people.
Speed limits and their enforcing laws are more often than not set with revenue generation in mind.
By definition, speed LIMITS assume that you and I are incompetent, homicidal maniacs behind the wheel of our automobiles, incapable of rational and intelligent appraisal of ANY and ALL rational thought once we enjoin the use of the roads WE pay for through our taxes.
The politicians, and of course special interest groups (MADD, anyone[over85% of MADD’s incoming donations are spent in administration]?) are so caught up in CONTROLLING the populace, that they have forgotten the very reason the USA was established!
Benjamin Franklin once said: (paraphrased) “Those who would trade freedom for security deserve, and will receive, NEITHER.
As a former officer, I can tell you what its like attending vehicular accidents caused by these kinds of situations, with blood and guts on the pavement. I am sure that this is the context in which the officer was acting, and is being paid to provide. Good for him.
I am sorry they dropped the charges against her, She broke the law, regardless, and endangered the public, and then fled? She also has a duty NOT to endanger the public as part of her obligation as a licensed driver, and deserves a license suspension.
In a case like this protecting the public was paramount, and the officer was in the right, and he should have and did arrest her for fleeing. She was not injured in the arrest, and arrests are hardly pretty, or kind, but necessary in this case.Hardly a use of excessive force, or bad judgement. His judgement was bang on.
Good for him. He is a good officer and deserving of support, not ridicule.
I suppose his detrators on this thread would sing a different tune if she had run over a child or an elderly person in the process of her apprehended negligence.
I don’t see anything the officer did wrong either.
A lot of people on this thread are judging the officer's actions with the benefit of hindsight. All the officer knew at the time was 65 in a 35 zone and total lack of cooperation. How was the officer to know that this was "just a speeding ticket" and not a DUI, escaping criminal, driving on suspended license, unreported stolen car, etc., etc.?
Are you sure? How, for example, was the officer to know that "there was no warrant out on her"? When during his encounter with this woman did the officer determine this to be true?
You bet. His department Chief is a weenie, who runs from the Drive By Media, and wants nice pressers as opposed to supporting his officers on the firing line.
Three issues here, the speed and two stops.
As unreasonably low as many posted speed limits are, 63 in a 35 in itself doesn’t mean much of anything. The commuter artery through my neighborhood is posted 35 but has wide lanes, wide shoulders, good visibility, few lights and no stops, and traffic flows at 50 to 55 mph nearly all the time. 63mph would be pushing it, but not recklessly so - using honest terminology, it would be called 63 in a 50. Without knowing anything about the traffic conditions on the specific street this woman was pulled over on, concluding she was such a serious menace to the public as to forfeit accomodation from the officer making the stop is an unreasonable assumption.
But regardless of how irresponsibly she was driving, it would have taken all of 10 or 15 minutes for the officer to escort her into the hospital himself to check up on her story and write up the ticket afterwards. Or if she were telling the truth, to tell her “please slow down and have a good night ma’am.” You know, the decent thing to do - which the officer didn’t.
At this point it became a lose-lose all around. You can’t expect someone to sit quietly in their car wondering if a critically ill family member made it to the hospital right around the corner while a cop on a power trip takes his time with paperwork. The officer can’t let a suspect take control of the encounter. The public watching the video can’t approve of seeing a 200lb young man yank a tiny, hysterical, non-violent woman out of her car and then slam her against it while cuffing her.
I don’t think the force was terrifically excessive in dealing with a suspect who had attemped to leave the scene. You can’t let that slide. I don’t agree with suspending the officer for that. But letting an employee treat the public - your employers - like truant schoolchildren by not giving this woman speeding for the hospital right next door reasonable consideration in the first place is poison.
Doing the right thing in this kind of spot earns law enforcement a person’s respect for life. Doing what he did instead is why even here - a boringly law-abiding conservative forum that should support the cops 100% - most posters have no respect for law enforcement.
He should be off the force for good for that.
“If it turned out to be false, he could charge with everything he could dream up within the law...and he could have come up with a lot had she been lying.”
I agree with you. Also, the police have been conditioned to go by the book because of the video cameras in their vehicles and their fear of not being backed up if an arrest goes bad. I believe most cops are great.
Not to long ago, I was faced with a similar experience. One of my boys was attacked by a swarm of bees and his throat swelled up to the point that he was having trouble breathing.
We live about 3 miles from the hospital and I rushed him to the emergency room. I was speeding and blinking my lights and sounding my horn. An officer saw me speeding and came up behind me and motioned for me to pull over. I ignored him and proceeded to the emergency room and grabbed my boy and ran inside to have him treated.
The officer followed me inside and waited as my boy was being treated. One of the nurses came into the room and said that the officer wanted to see me. I expected the worst.
The officer was very understanding and professional once I explained what had happened. He did not write up a ticket. The only thing he cautioned me about was that if it ever happened again, I should think about calling 911 rather than driving myself.
He said good luck with my boy and left.
This policeman,to me, did his job correctly.
My wife and I were out to dinner not too long afterwards and saw him and his wife in the restaurant. I told our waiter that I wanted to pay for his meal. My wife and I left before they finished up. I don’t know what his reaction was when he was told that someone had paid for his meal.
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