Two Men Sue Chicago Police; Claim They Were Abused And Falsely Charged For Filming Officers

from the shameful dept

Fri, Jun 8th 2012 8:31am — Leigh Beadon

In the past year, we applauded two Illinois courts for protecting every citizen's right to record on-duty police, and ruling that a law criminalizing the act is unconstitutional. We similarly pointed to Boston, where a court forced the city to pay someone they arrested for filming the cops. Of course, it's pretty concerning that this was ever in question to begin with—normally, the argument that "you don't need privacy unless you've got something to hide" is fallacious for a number of reasons, but that doesn't extend to people who are empowered and armed, ostensibly with the consent of the citizenry and on the condition that they follow their own strict code of behavior. The fact that there is a clear push to let officers operate without public scrutiny is intolerable on every level.

But, perhaps worse still, there is the fact that police don't always need a law to protect them from the public's lenses—they can just take matters into their own hands. There are plenty of examples of police harassing people who film them, often threatening to arrest them or going ahead and doing it. It's an intimidation tactic, and really just part of a much larger problem, which is that no matter how much a person is in the right (and how much they know it), the police have plenty of ways to make their life hell for a long time before they see justice, if they ever do. This appears to be the case in a recent Chicago lawsuit, where two men allege they were battered, strip-searched and falsely charged for filming a traffic accident caused by a police car.

Benjamin Perez and Bobby Milton sued Chicago and nine police officers in Federal Court.

The men say they were talking outside with some friends in an early morning in August 2011 when a friend rode by on a motorcycle, heading south on Chicago Avenue.

"At the same time, defendant Captain [Kevin Navarro] was driving a marked Chicago Police Department vehicle, an SUV, northbound on South Chicago Avenue in the wrong lane of traffic, heading northbound in the southbound lane," according to the complaint.

"Defendant Captain drove his police vehicle into plaintiffs' friend, who was traveling southbound on his motorcycle, causing plaintiffs' friend to suffer serious injury."

Numerous police officers arrived quickly.

"Defendant officers observed plaintiffs using their cell phones to record the collision scene, and immediately took plaintiff Perez's cell phone and placed handcuffs on him, taking him into custody even though Perez was not doing anything illegal," the complaint states.

"Defendant officers placed Perez in the back of a police car and demanded that Perez show them how to delete the photographs he had taken with his cell phone.

"After plaintiff Perez was taken into custody, plaintiff Milton, who had also been using his cell phone to record the scene, was seated on his motorcycle, when defendant [Officers] Frahm and Hernandez approached him.

"Defendants Frahm and Hernandez grabbed plaintiff Milton, forced him off of his motorcycle, and threw him to the ground.

The suit continues, claiming that the men were taken to the police station and threatened with felony charges if they didn't help officers delete the recording, and one was strip-searched to check for "other cameras and recording devices" (because most people keep a spare iPhone taped to their inner thigh, of course). They are seeking damages for "false arrest, excessive force, unlawful search, conspiracy, false imprisonment, battery, and malicious prosecution".

Now, we don't have the officers' side of the story yet, but the allegations certainly look bad—and it's not hard to find plenty of instances of similar actions by the police. Assuming the complaint is even close to true, hopefully the court recognizes the affront to justice that this kind of police behavior represents, and joins the growing ranks of courts that are affirming the right to record the police and hold them accountable for their actions.

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Filed Under: abuse, chicago, filming, police

62 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 8 Jun 2012 @ 8:39am

"...because most people keep a spare iPhone taped to their inner thigh, of course..."

That is ridiculous, of course. People tape a spare Android to their inner thighs.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Jun 2012 @ 8:44am

So these guys were riding motorcycles and operating a cell phone as a camera at the same time? Yeah, I don't see anything wrong with this at all.
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DCX2, 8 Jun 2012 @ 8:45am

Was it deleted?
Come on, you can't go through that whole post and not tell us whether the officers actually got the video deleted or not.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Jun 2012 @ 8:46am

Re:
You may want to try again, with a special emphasis on being able to read.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Jun 2012 @ 8:48am

Cops are just employees
Despite this being The United Corporate Police States of America, cops are just employees, equally subject to the law as their employers (i.e., the tax-paying public) and many are lowlife bullies who need a swift kick up the ass or worse.
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DCX2, 8 Jun 2012 @ 8:48am

Re:
Mega reading comprehension fail...

The men [Benjamin Perez and Bobby Milton] say they were talking outside with some friends in an early morning in August 2011 when a friend rode by on a motorcycle, heading south on Chicago Avenue.

...

Milton, who had also been using his cell phone to record the scene, was seated on his motorcycle

Seems to me like Milton was sitting on a parked motorcycle, talking to Perez, and they watched their buddy get run over by a cop, so they whipped out their phones to record it.
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kenichi tanaka, 8 Jun 2012 @ 8:49am

This is what happens. Everyone elected President Obama and yet nobody in our government seems willing to come out and condemn this behavior by law enforcement in this country.

The Constitution of the United States is supposed to protect us. It's also supposed to act as the Prime Legal Document in our country and yet police officers all across our country continual to abuse our constitutional rights and they continue to claim that it's against the law to film police officers while they are conducting their jobs.

Rodney King, Amidou Diallo ... you would think that police officers would welcome the fact that Americans want to weed out the bad cops from the good cops but they've been acting more like gestapo and Nazi thugs than the public servants that are paid for with our tax dollars.

Ever since September 11th, our country has deteriorated into a communistic, socialist state and we're moving quicker to becoming a communist state where civil rights are routinely violated by law enforcement because they think their badge gives them immunity from their crimes.

Before long, Americans are going to ignore the fact that they are police officers and everyone is going to start fighting back.

I want to know why President Obama hasn't done anything about this abuse of power by police officers? I want to know why these police officers aren't being fired or prosecuted for violating our civil rights.
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LVDave (profile), 8 Jun 2012 @ 8:52am

Re:
ummm.. I realize you're an AC, but you might at least TRY to read the article? it states the people recording the incident were WATCHING their friend go by on a motorcycle. NOWHERE does it say the rider of the motorcycle was operating a cellphone as a camera at the same time...

I normally have some respect for cops, but the more I read these stories of blatant disrespect of the law/Constitution by LEOs I'm losing what respect I have for them. I realize these bad eggs (ie: these LEOs) are somewhat of a minority (I HOPE) but I'm to the point where I see a cop doing cop-things, I comment to the wife, "looks like Porky the Pig is out working"....
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Josef Anvil (profile), 8 Jun 2012 @ 8:53am

lol
Those cops are attached to another object by an inclined plane wrapped helically around an axis?
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Jun 2012 @ 8:54am

You wanna know how to get Capone? They pull a camera phone, you pull a taser. He sends one of yours to the Twitter, you send one of his to the morgue. *That's* the *Chicago* way!
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Anonymous Coward With A Unique Writing Style, 8 Jun 2012 @ 9:01am

Re:
Here, I'm going to be nice and do you a huge favor. I'm going to quote the important parts of the article that you obviously missed.

"The men say they were talking outside with some friends in an early morning in August 2011 when a friend rode by on a motorcycle, heading south on Chicago Avenue."

""After plaintiff Perez was taken into custody, plaintiff Milton, who had also been using his cell phone to record the scene, was seated on his motorcycle, when defendant [Officers] Frahm and Hernandez approached him.

"Defendants Frahm and Hernandez grabbed plaintiff Milton, forced him off of his motorcycle, and threw him to the ground."

Now, can you show me where in the important parts I quoted that it says that the "guys were riding motorcycles and operating a cell phone as a camera at the same time"?

Yeah, I don't see anything wrong with your comment at all. Minus of course the whole reading comprehension fail.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Jun 2012 @ 9:08am

i assume the guy on the motor bike that was hit by the police SUV hopefully survived? although he wouldn't have any filmed evidence of what happened, surely he knows what side of the road he was on and what side of the road the police vehicle was on as well? there must also be damage to both vehicles which could aid in showing which vehicle was 'the hitter' and which was 'hit'?
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Dark Helmet (profile), 8 Jun 2012 @ 9:23am

Hmmm...
I'm just trying to figure out where this happened. It says the guy was going "south on Chicago Avenue", but Chicago Ave. in the city runs east/west and the nearest other Chicago Ave. that runs north/south I know of is actually where Clark St. extends into Evanston on the far north side. Not that I haven't seen CPD driving outside of their jurisdiction before....but the linked article didn't state the intersections....
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Jun 2012 @ 9:30am

Re: Was it deleted?
Click through to the link:

First guy they harassed:

"Defendant officers told plaintiff Perez that if he did not give them the password to his phone, he would be charged with a felony offense.
"Plaintiff Perez gave them the password, and defendant officers then deleted the pictures of the scene of the collision from plaintiff Perez's cellphone.

Second guy they harassed:

"Defendant officers also demanded that plaintiff Milton give them the password for his cellular telephone.
"However, plaintiff Milton refused to do so."

I wouldn't roll over for the cops no matter what offenses were being "threatened"
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Jun 2012 @ 9:34am

Re:
"The Constitution of the United States is supposed to protect us. It's also supposed to act as the Prime Legal Document in our country [...]"

Keyword "Supposed".

It's over in the USA. Bush and Obama have both violated the Constitution and gotten away with it. Bush with the Patriot Act, Obama with repealing Habeas Corpus and assassinating US citizens.

The US Constitution is now meaningless. Game Over.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Jun 2012 @ 9:36am

Re: Re: Was it deleted?
I wouldn't roll over for the cops no matter what offenses were being "threatened"

Tough guy.

�State torture panel faces an abrupt ending� by Steve Mills, Chicago Tribune, June 04, 2012|

Legislature stripped funding for commission, which is to submit its first recommendations Tuesday

On Tuesday, a state commission set up to investigate claims of police torture will refer its first cases to Cook County's chief judge, beginning to fulfill its mandate to plumb one of Chicago's most stubborn scandals by making recommendations for legal relief.

Then it will go out of business.

[...more...]

So you won't roll over the cops no matter what. You're a real tough cookie.
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Josef Anvil (profile), 8 Jun 2012 @ 9:37am

Re: Hmmm...
Not sure if its Chicago Ave or South Chicago Ave, as the article mentions both.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Jun 2012 @ 9:39am

Re: Hmmm...
South Chicago Avenue runs parallel to the Skyway on the southside from Marquette Road to 95th.
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DOlz, 8 Jun 2012 @ 9:40am

Re:
Our country has become more of a Fascist State (based on economic model) than Socialist. Aside from that I agree with your comments and gave you an insightful.
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Chargone (profile), 8 Jun 2012 @ 9:41am

Re: Was it deleted?
well, given that he just Did...

but yeah. this.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Jun 2012 @ 9:41am

Re: Hmmm...
"It says the guy was going "south on Chicago Avenue", but Chicago Ave. in the city runs east/west..."

Ah, so that was the problem.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Jun 2012 @ 9:44am

Re: Cops are just employees
and 99% of them would cover each others arse, particularly that of a senior officer who could be of benefit to them later, regardless of whether wrong doing had occurred or not. it's the 'club' they are in, just like as in most public workplaces. dont make it right though. any speaking out against work mates would be taboo!!
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Trails (profile), 8 Jun 2012 @ 9:46am

Re:
So these guys were selling crack from stolen tanks while smacking babies and trying to rob banks?
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Chargone (profile), 8 Jun 2012 @ 9:46am

Re:
... mostly valid point except...

none of that has ANYTHING to do with communism.

just saying.

there's a fair case for Fascism (not 100%, quite, but close) but communism? no.

the word you're looking for there is probably 'totalitarianism'
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Chargone (profile), 8 Jun 2012 @ 9:48am

Re:
... how many steps are required before that ends in molotovs?
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WysiWyg (profile), 8 Jun 2012 @ 9:49am

Re:
Shouldn't that be "He send one of yours to the Twitter, you send one of his to the Facebook"?
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WysiWyg (profile), 8 Jun 2012 @ 9:51am

Harsh punishments.
Of course the police will receive harsh punishments. I'm thinking AT LEAST four weeks of paid suspension. Maybe even a stern talking to!
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Jun 2012 @ 10:01am

Google Glasses
I bet cops everywhere will love it when everyone is running around with Google Glasses and it won't be obvious who is filming them.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Jun 2012 @ 10:07am

Another example
There are plenty of examples of police harassing people who film them, often threatening to arrest them or going ahead and doing it.

Another example. This one from New Haven, Connecticut:

�Sgt. Arrests Video-Taker; IA Probe Begins� by Paul Bass, New Haven Independent, Jun 4, 2012

The police chief Monday ordered an internal investigation opened into a sergeant who allegedly had a woman arrested and a cell phone camera snatched from her bra after she recorded him beating a handcuffed suspect.

[...]

Harris said she saw Rubino look up from the beating and notice Gondola with the camera. He immediately left the arrestee and approached Gondola, Harris said. �He went to snatch her phone. �I want your phone.� She�s like, �No!� He got mad.�

Here�s what happened next, according to Gondola:

�Stop filming right now!� Rubino ordered her.

[...]

Except for Rubino, all the cops treated her courteously, Gondola said. She eventually left the police station with a ticket for �interfering� with police.

[...]

And, a followup on this one, �Rubino: I�ll Be Vindicated� by Paul Bass, New Haven Independent, Jun 7, 2012
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Dark Helmet (profile), 8 Jun 2012 @ 10:08am

Re: Re: Hmmm...
Ah, it's on the South Side. No wonder I didn't know what they were talking about....
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Rich Kulawiec, 8 Jun 2012 @ 10:20am

Re: Re: Re: Was it deleted?
You're a real tough cookie...

..with a long history
Of deleting video from my friend and me
So before I put another notch in my cellphone case
You better make sure you put me in my place

Hit me with your best shot
C'mon, hit me with your best shot
Hit me with your best shot
Fire awaaaaaaaaaaay
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Jun 2012 @ 10:26am

Photographic evidence?
Under normal circumstances no doubt the police would welcome on-the-spot photographs and videos of a crash scene to help them with their investigations.

However I suppose the likelehood that the at-fault driver was one of their own alters that!
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Keii (profile), 8 Jun 2012 @ 10:32am

Re: Photographic evidence?
To Protect (themselves) and Serve (the public tickets)
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Pat Price, 8 Jun 2012 @ 10:32am

Re:
If the people shooting the video were black professors then the cops and the professors would have been invited to the south lawn of the white house for beer and chips. The unfortunate thing here is that the country has become so politicized that unless you are a member of some group with protected feces status (pun intended) you are considered fair game by the police. Note: check out the beating death of Kelly Thomas in Fullerton, California. The cops had a security camera video back at the station. The incident involved 5 cops taking down a 135 pound homeless man with 2 of them beating him to death. Only after a web site in Fullerton exposed the story were the cops placed on administrative leave and it was days before the cops owned up to having their own video. Didn't see anyone arresting them for filming cops just doing their duty.
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MrWilson, 8 Jun 2012 @ 10:39am

Re:
Chargone is right. You're describing fascism.

Socialism is a red herring of the Right Wing pundits.

Obama is closer to being a conservative than a socialist. The actual socialists will tell you that much.

An actual socialist wouldn't be in the pocket of the entertainment industry, wouldn't appoint entertainment industry lawyers to DOJ positions, and wouldn't have signed the NDAA.

A conservative would be in the pocket of corporations (maybe not the entertainment industry, but oil companies and defense companies at least) and would have signed the NDAA.
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The eejit (profile), 8 Jun 2012 @ 11:12am

Re:
Fascism is an excessive imposition of the Rule of Law onto itsa populace, such that it is impossible to not break a law in that state.

Communism is the owning of the means of production etc. collectively, where everyopne earns an equal wage, regardless of profession.

Communism and fascism are often, but not always, related.
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Digitari, 8 Jun 2012 @ 11:22am

Re: Connect the (GLARING) Dots
all of us online are supposed Pirates, so of course as long as those in power think we are criminals anyways, the enforcement arm of the State(s) will abuse us..

when you are a Hammer everything looks like it should be nailed

when you have a badge and an Ego, every (private) camera is interference........... it's so hard to "lose" video recordings that are not under (Police) your control, so of course it is "interference" with the (current corrupt) system.

THIS is the "Chicago" way, look at the Whitehouse......
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Al Bert (profile), 8 Jun 2012 @ 11:34am

Re: Google Glasses
Yes, i'm sure they will. Once they're free to assume that everyone is potentially filming them, they are then free to discard any effort to pretend that individual rights exist.
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btr1701, 8 Jun 2012 @ 11:35am

Re:
> I want to know why President Obama hasn't
> done anything about this abuse of power
> by police officers?

Is that you, Amanda Bynes?

Maybe he hasn't done anything because the president has no legal authority over local police officers.
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btr1701 (profile), 8 Jun 2012 @ 11:37am

Re: Re:
> Only after a web site in Fullerton
> exposed the story were the cops
> placed on administrative leave

Three Fullerton city council members just lost their jobs in a recall election over that, too.
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LVDave (profile), 8 Jun 2012 @ 11:41am

Re: Re: Cops are just employees
It's called the "thin-blue-line".. This insures that ALL cops, both good AND bad, back each other up.. This makes the good cops (yes, I still believe there are *some*) complicit in this kind of abuse, assuming they become aware of abuse by their corrupt "brethren".. ANY cop who witnesses abuse lilike this who does not "blow the whistle" on the abuse, I feel, is guilty of complicity in the crime by the corrupt cops.
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Chosen Reject (profile), 8 Jun 2012 @ 11:42am

Re:
I don't know if he survived, but I'm picturing something about not being dead, and getting better, etc.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Jun 2012 @ 12:09pm

Re: Re: Re: Cops are just employees
And this sort of behavior is news?

Let me quote from "Eight Keys to Eden" by Mark Clifton, published in 1960:

"Any judge, anybody around the courts, anybody connected with the press, and maybe even some of the public knew that any police officer will swear to any lie to back up another police officer because he might need the favor returned tomorrow."
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Jun 2012 @ 12:18pm

Police as vigilantes?
It seems that the police see themselves as the ones to carry out the punishment for whatever infractions they perceive. That is the only explanation I can come up with, that or they're a bunch of thugs that get their jollies from stepping on our necks.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Jun 2012 @ 12:25pm

Re: Re:
What does the constitution say should take place once this happens? Who is supposed to step up and fix the situation? What accountability do the citizens have to take over the system when it is broken? What do the ideas behind the constitution call for the citizens to do in a situation like this?
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Brent (profile), 8 Jun 2012 @ 12:46pm

Re: Re: Was it deleted?
Too bad Perez didn't have an Android phone linked up to his Google Plus account. Then the photos are auto-uploaded into the cloud so deleting them off the phone doesn't mean anything.
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Greg G, 8 Jun 2012 @ 1:18pm

Re: Re:
Socialism is a red herring of the Right Wing pundits.

Yea, right. Your saying socialism never existed or doesn't exist today. See the old USSR, which, just for you, stands for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic.
Also, see the far left-wing liberals.

Obama is closer to being a conservative than a socialist. The actual socialists will tell you that much.

HAHAHAHAHAHA... I needed that laugh. But seriously? Obama is to conservatism as the NRA is to PETA (unless you read PETA as People Eating Tasty Animals.)
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Jun 2012 @ 1:19pm

The big problem is that when police due these things they often do not get fired, or face charges.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Jun 2012 @ 2:04pm

Re: Re: Re:
You have no idea what you're rambling about.
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MrWilson, 8 Jun 2012 @ 2:40pm

Re: Re: Re:
Lemme guess, you have a doctorate from Glenn Beck University?

If you think the Russians putting the word 'socialist' in the name of their country makes them socialist, then I guess North Korea and East Germany are/were democratic states since both Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Deutsche Demokratische Republik have the word 'democratic' in their names.
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Tech42 (profile), 8 Jun 2012 @ 2:53pm

Re: Re: Re: Cops are just employees
LVDave, how do you figure they're "good cops" if they're complicit in this kind of abuse?
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Serve and Protect (other bad cops), 8 Jun 2012 @ 3:09pm

Smoked pork
Smoked pork is a meal best eaten cold. Three cheers for bad cops! Why anyone would go or live in Illinois is beyond me. The place is a shithole.
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skinny poppy (profile), 8 Jun 2012 @ 4:08pm

In Chicago, we call it "playing the ghetto lottery". If it's true, they'll win, if it's false they'll win. The city pays them off anyway and the cops get it taken out of their paychecks.
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Dave Frandin, 8 Jun 2012 @ 4:24pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Cops are just employees
What I meant by "good cops" are ones who DO NOT abuse citizens in this manner. I had an recent encounter with a couple of local police and I was not bothered by it in any way. BUT I can guarantee to a near 100% certainty that if these "good cops" had witnessed some other cops doing something illegal, ie: beating an unresisting suspect, they would be on the side of the misbehaving cops. Therefore by otherwise "good cops" "looking the other way" when their brethren abuse citizens, the "good cops" become "bad cops"... yeah I know, circuitous logic.. if ALL cops look the other way when bad behavior occurs, ergo, there ARE no good cops, thanks to that "thin_blue_line"....
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cornfest d, 8 Jun 2012 @ 7:32pm

2 years after Toronto's G20, it looks like 45 of Toronto's police officers will be charged with misconduct, abuse of power, etc. for their actions.... it's a surprise how far discipline seems to be going given a similar culture of lawlessness by authorities in Canada; unless it's making an example of a few extra souls, then back to bau.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2012/05/17/g20-officers-discipline.html
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Jay (profile), 8 Jun 2012 @ 7:39pm

Re: Re:
Given that we have 4450 statutes on the books...
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Jun 2012 @ 3:20pm

Re: Harsh punishments.
Probably nothing more than a sore wrist from the slap.
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skinny poppy (profile), 9 Jun 2012 @ 4:07pm

Dark Helmet, you know this is an old case. Go see SCC for details. As for some of the rest of you, see what happens when you brain a Chicago cop with a 50 lb cast iron frying pan during an otherwise peaceful "occupy" demonstration. I think you'll really enjoy your complimentary stay in Cook County Jail.
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Thomas (profile), 9 Jun 2012 @ 11:56pm

What do you expect?
This is Chicago, one of the most corrupt cities in the U.S. The cops there see citizens as prey to be arrested as soon as they get around to it. They have "internal affairs", whose job is simply to make sure an "investigation" shows that the cops acted properly. You can't stay in "internal affairs" if you dare to find against the cops. Not going to happen. Cops are always right.

Beating citizens is just one of the perks of being a Chicago cop. They deal with so many drug dealers, armed robbers, and the like that they don't believe that there are any other people in the city. The chicago cops classify everyone into one of three classes:
1. Us, the cops, in charge.
2. Criminals we've arrested before and will arrest again.
3. criminals we haven't managed to catch yet.

By these definitions, the cops feel justified doing anything to anyone who is not a cop.

I'd sooner deal with a mugger than a cop - give the mugger your phone and wallet and walk away. Cop beats you, throws you into squad car, then jail, then you have a criminal record and an expensive legal fight.

I asked our local Police about their view and they say they assume they are being filmed all the time and accept it and don't worry about it.
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Anonymous Coward, 10 Jun 2012 @ 5:34am

Re: lol
Yes, they are screwed.
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Anonymous Coward, 11 Jun 2012 @ 7:32am

When they win this suit, I will start recording every chance I get until I get roughed up and get my windfall!
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voip (profile), 11 Jun 2012 @ 1:30pm

Time to Withdraw
It is time to withdraw your money from Spain!
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