Chicago Cops Being Sued After Being Caught On Tape Physically And Verbally Abusing A Massage Parlor Employee

from the always-a-shame-when-the-'wrong'-evidence-surfaces dept

A Chicago woman is suing the city, along with ten police officers, for the abuse she was subjected to during a raid of the massage parlor she worked at. The entire interaction (which lasted more than 40 minutes) was caught on tape by the business' camera system.

Here's the beginning of the raid, which shows Chicago's finest interacting with Jianqing Klyzek using a combination of physical force and verbal abuse.


Here's the charming stuff Officer Di Pasquale had to say to Klyzek during their brief conversation.
Defendant DI PASQUALE: You're not fucking American! I'll put you in a UPS box and send you back to wherever the fuck you came from!

Plaintiff: I'm a citizen, OK?

Defendant DI PASQUALE: No you're not! No, you're not a citizen! No, you're not! No, you're not! You're here on our borrowed time. So mind your fucking business before I shut this whole fucking place down. And I'll take this place and then whoever owns it will fucking kill you because they don't care about you, OK? I'll take this building. You'll be dead and your family will be dead.
Note that this follows Officer Messina asking for permission to tase the 5'2" Klyzek "ten fucking times."

Also note -- especially those of you who claim bad cops are anomalies and not representative of the entire force -- that not a single officer (the plain-clothed men lined up against the counter impassively watching a small Asian woman being berated and manhandled by two "uniformed" cops) tried to dial back the aggression or suggested that some of things being said weren't appropriate or helpful. If anyone wants to know why there are so many bad cops, this is part of the problem -- the tacit approval offered by better cops who let this sort of thing happen without intervening.

Not only did these cops not try to defuse a situation that had gotten ridiculously out of hand, but they also assisted Di Pasquale and Messina in their search for the recording device in order to remove the evidence of their misconduct. Unfortunately for them, the device stored recordings off site. (Apparently, this fruitless search made up a large part of the 40-minute "raid.")

Since the officers couldn't find any evidence of prostitution (or human-sized shipping boxes), they fell back on weak claims that Klyzek assaulted an officer by "biting and scratching" as they attempted to restrain her. That failed as well when the judge threw the case out at a preliminary hearing.

But these officers weren't done failing. From the lawsuit:
On information and belief, sometime after the preliminary hearing, one or more of Defendant OFFICERS, contacted an Assistant State's Attorney in order to pursue a Grand Jury indictment for the offense of Aggravated Battery of a Police Officer against Plaintiff.
Based on Officer Sako's (allegedly) false testimony, the grand jury indicted Klyzek for aggravated battery. This was swiftly reversed when her lawyer brought some actual evidence to the grand jury.
On January 13, 2014, after viewing the video recording of Plaintiff's arrest, the State's Attorney's Office dismissed the aggravated battery of a police officer charges against Plaintiff.
Months later, the Chicago PD has yet to arrive at the same conclusion, despite being in possession of the same recorded evidence.
Police spokesman Adam Collins released a statement saying the matter is being investigated by the Independent Police Review Authority and that "the alleged comments, if true, are reprehensible and completely intolerable in our police department."
"If true." So, an officer's word is good enough to secure a grand jury indictment, but a recording -- containing both audio and video -- clearly depicting the chain of events detailed in the lawsuit -- is still up for discussion. If the IPRA ever gets around to using its eyes and ears, maybe it will finally be able to unload Officers Messina and Di Pasquale, something it should have done a half-decade ago.
A separate federal lawsuit alleged that DiPasquale and Messina were among a group of vice squad officers accused of abusing an immigrant during a 2008 prostitution sting. In the 2009 suit, DiPasquale was accused of sticking a gun in one man's face and slamming him into the dashboard of his car, breaking his nose.

The man's attorney, Richard Dvorak, said Monday that the case was settled out of court for less than $100,000.
There's the other reason bad cops are prevalent. The legal system pays victims minimal amounts using taxpayers' money. And those costing the city money simply man a desk or get a few weeks off from work before being given back their badges, guns and, most importantly, power.

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Filed Under: chicago, intimidation, jianqing klyzek, police


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  • identicon
    observer, 10 Jun 2014 @ 12:35am

    Anyone else think it's suspicious...

    ... that the YouTube account that had the recording on has been terminated?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 10 Jun 2014 @ 1:00am

      Re: Anyone else think it's suspicious...

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        andypandy, 10 Jun 2014 @ 4:35am

        Re: Re: Anyone else think it's suspicious...

        went to this site and followed the links to other videos about cops assaulting innocent people.... with video proof. Seriously, why are the American people not rising up and resisting cops, all of them the good and the bad, they are all the same and this video actually proves good cops will not stop these atrocities when they occur, damn watch the one video where the cops refuse to accept and record an assault charge with witnesses, damn America you are going to have a huge uprising on your hands if this is allowed to happen over and over and over again.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Michael, 10 Jun 2014 @ 5:14am

          Re: Re: Re: Anyone else think it's suspicious...

          why are the American people not rising up and resisting cops

          You watched the videos, so you know what happens...

          link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        Spaceman Spiff (profile), 10 Jun 2014 @ 5:07am

        Re: Re: Anyone else think it's suspicious...

        I guess these buttheads don't realize that the Internet forgets nothing! Not even if you issue a "forget me" notice to Google!

        link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 10 Jun 2014 @ 1:02am

      Re: Anyone else think it's suspicious...

      It's standard operating procedure to threaten the victim into taking down the incriminating video, or file false DMCA claims. What I don't understand is how thugs can get away with obstruction of justice, perjury, felonious assault and battery with a deadly weapon, and filing false police reports. Yet these thugs are still permitted to retain their authority, allowing them to continue terrorizing the general public.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 10 Jun 2014 @ 1:08am

        Re: Re: Anyone else think it's suspicious...

        Even worse, these thugs are the ones the government trusts with military weapons. Stalin would be proud, and FDR is spinning in his grave.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 10 Jun 2014 @ 1:02pm

          Re: Re: Re: Anyone else think it's suspicious...

          Actually even Stalin wouldn't like this either. There was no "Police" in the USSR and even early 90's russia, there were Militias made of regular people, the Army was the real security force at all times, and if militias weren't needed there were none.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        David, 10 Jun 2014 @ 1:42am

        Re: Re: Anyone else think it's suspicious...

        The standard procedure is to actually give those officers a promotion for good conduct and excellence so that they appear as "decorated officers" before a jury, making their word count more or to make the "one-time slip" plea more plausible.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        That One Guy (profile), 10 Jun 2014 @ 4:21am

        Re: Re: Anyone else think it's suspicious...

        High-court/Low-court.

        With very, very few exceptions, police always get high-court treatment, and their word is accepted as true even when evidence is presented that contradicts it.

        This case is half-decent, in that at least the court dropped the charges against the victim, but given the thug with a badge remains employed, rather than rotting in a cell like he tried to make the victim suffer, I'd say the silver lining on the story is pretty small.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        Violated (profile), 10 Jun 2014 @ 9:45am

        Re: Re: Anyone else think it's suspicious...

        The core problem in the United States is that people tolerate failure in their public officials. This stems from the President downwards with like "I messed up but I am the one in charge here so suck it up".

        I only hope this aspect is never exported to the United Kingdom when they are famed for firing those officials caught with their pants down. Even PM Cameron can be easily replaced by his own party should they simply believe that someone else can do the job better.

        Even the UK Police are held to high regard. Those who show bad behaviour or fail to follow the rules get suspended or reprimanded while those seen to break the law are fired. They don't allow criminals on both sides of the law here for obvious reasons. So had this been the UK that officer would be fired without doubt when there are other people who can do his job better.

        In a related fact UK Police shot dead 5 people in the last 4 years where each of these cases made major news headlines where many locals can name all 5 victims. Over in the USA Police officers shot dead 1600 people within this same time-frame. To adjust for population sizes then UK Police would have shot dead 25 people making US Police's 1600 fatality score as 6400% as deadly.

        Sure though the USA will go on doing zero to fix these clear problems.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Robert, 11 Jun 2014 @ 12:00pm

          Re: Re: Re: Anyone else think it's suspicious...

          It's Chicago! What are you thinking. Maybe if Rahm Emanuel can put aside all his other problems in Chicago he can address the police problems.
          Things will not change until the settlements come out of their pension funds. The problem with Chicago is that there is not enough money in their pension to pay for all the lawsuits.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Robert, 11 Jun 2014 @ 9:39am

        Re: Re: Anyone else think it's suspicious...

        It's Chicago! What are you thinking. Maybe if Rahm Emanuel can put aside all his other problems in Chicago he can address the police problems.
        Things will not change until the settlements come out of their pension funds. The problem with Chicago is that there is not enough money in their pension to pay for all the lawsuits.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Robert, 11 Jun 2014 @ 9:39am

        Re: Re: Anyone else think it's suspicious...

        It's Chicago! What are you thinking. Maybe if Rahm Emanuel can put aside all his other problems in Chicago he can address the police problems.
        Things will not change until the settlements come out of their pension funds. The problem with Chicago is that there is not enough money in their pension to pay for all the lawsuits.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 10 Jun 2014 @ 1:12am

    Interesting phrasing

    "Defendant DI PASQUALE: No you're not! No, you're not a citizen! No, you're not! No, you're not! You're here on our borrowed time. So mind your fucking business before I shut this whole fucking place down. And I'll take this place and then whoever owns it will fucking kill you because they don't care about you, OK? I'll take this building. You'll be dead and your family will be dead."

    Why isn't this sociopath under federal indictment for threatening an act of mass murder?

    I thought we had some federal agencies somewhere who were kinda sorta tasked with maybe investigating threats of terrorism every now and then if they aren't too busy doing other things. Given that most of the time they're working off rumors and suggestions and hints, I'd think that a 40-minute recorded confession would be a lot more helpful. And since their mission is to defend Americans, why wouldn't they take an immediate and substantial interest in this? It's certainly a far more substantial threat (coming from a heavily-armed man who has already assaulted someone) than more of the ones we hear about.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Starke (profile), 10 Jun 2014 @ 1:45am

      Re: Interesting phrasing

      Because, when it's a cop threatening mass murder it's not a real charge, just like the cop last year in DC who was threatening to off the President.

      If you or I did that, it would be a federal case, a literal federal case, but, because he's a Law Enforcement Officer with a history of mental illness, we know he's "just kidding."

      Same thing here, we all know Pasquale didn't mean it, he's just, you know, "joking", or using "a legitimate 'interview' technique" to converse with the suspect.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    zub, 10 Jun 2014 @ 3:52am

    If there was no recoding

    Think of what would have happened had there been no recording (or were the policemen successful in destroying it)...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      That One Guy (profile), 10 Jun 2014 @ 4:05am

      Re: If there was no recoding

      Intensive-care hospitalization, if not body bags, and 'assaulting an officer with a deadly weapon' charges leveled against any survivors to shut them up.

      Something along those lines I'd imagine.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 10 Jun 2014 @ 4:10am

        Re: Re: If there was no recoding

        I don't think you need to "imagine" it: it's already happened.

        We just don't know when and were (usually) because cops destroy the evidence and prosecutors are disinterested in pursuing the cases. Anyone with a badge can torture, rape and kill with impunity AND THEY KNOW IT.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Ms. Manners, 10 Jun 2014 @ 9:09am

          Questioning the authority of Krazy Kops

          When the crooks and psychos are in charge, what recourse is available to an honest citizen? Short answer: None.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 10 Jun 2014 @ 4:20am

        Re: Re: If there was no recoding

        No need to imagine the charges seeing that they did try that after the grand jury indictment got dismissed.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Michael, 10 Jun 2014 @ 4:37am

      Re: If there was no recoding

      If there had been no recording, he would have put her into a UPS box and shipped her outside of the country.

      At that point, the NSA would have intercepted the package and enclosed a recording device - problem solved!

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Michael, 10 Jun 2014 @ 4:35am

    She pulls a knife, you pull a gun.
    She scratches you during an arrest, you put her in a UPS box!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 10 Jun 2014 @ 5:21am

    Forget losing their jobs, if those fucking assholes don't get put in prison I'll lose all faith in this country.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Michael, 10 Jun 2014 @ 5:53am

      Re:

      wooooosssshhhhh!

      That was the sound of your faith being blown away.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 10 Jun 2014 @ 10:07am

        Re: Re:

        Except for the fact that 90% do zero about the bad 10%. Not stopping the behavior is approval of the behavior.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Robert, 11 Jun 2014 @ 12:05pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          The good 90% can be targeted for retribution as well. Where have you been

          link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 10 Jun 2014 @ 6:18am

      Re:

      "Forget losing their jobs, if those fucking assholes don't get put in prison I'll lose all faith in this country."


      People forget an important aspect of the legal system: to discourage victims from taking the law into their own hands.

      If they are not sufficiently punished it is left to us to mete out punishment.

      Fiat Justitia, et Pereat Mundus.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 10 Jun 2014 @ 12:26pm

      Re:

      sounds like your new to this country

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    DannyB (profile), 10 Jun 2014 @ 6:07am

    There are some good cops

    Please remember that ninety percent of cops give the rest a bad name.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Ed (profile), 10 Jun 2014 @ 6:32am

      Re: There are some good cops

      The 90% stand back and watch the 10% do this crap over and over and over, every day. Does that really make them "good cops"?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Michael, 10 Jun 2014 @ 7:23am

        Re: Re: There are some good cops

        gooder?

        link to this | view in chronology ]

      • icon
        OldMugwump (profile), 10 Jun 2014 @ 7:32am

        Re: Re: There are some good cops

        Read DannyB's post again, more carefully.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 10 Jun 2014 @ 10:17am

        Re: Re: There are some good cops

        If you have a 55-gallon drum of sewage with a teaspoon of pure water in it, you have a 55-gallon drum of sewage.

        If you have a 55-gallon drum of pure water with a teaspoon of sewage in it, you have a 55-gallon drum of sewage.

        The extension of this metaphor to police departments is left as an exercise for the reader.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    zip, 10 Jun 2014 @ 6:09am

    YouTube's horrendous takedown policy

    I'm going to assume that one of the Chicago cops "caught on tape" - or someone else on the force - has sent YouTube a DMCA copyright takedown claim (or perhaps some other takedown reason).

    This sort of thing seems to happen quite often. I was just watching (or trying to watch) YouTube videos showing Ukrainian soldiers shooting protesters in the streets of cities such as Sloviansk/Slavyansk. As many of these depicted shockingly graphic violence, I expected a lot of missing (taken down) videos, as was standard practice during the Iraq occupation. Sure enough, many of these 'war crime' videos from Ukraine were gone, and uploaders' accounts suspended/revoked.

    I would have hoped that by now, it would be more widely known that videos posted on YouTube that show anything "controversial" tend to get taken down very quickly, and the uploaders banned. This has been the case throughout YouTube's entire existence (though oddly enough, the now-shuttered Google Video always had a much saner takedown policy, despite being owned by the same company as Youtube).

    Regarding Youtube alternatives: I don't know the current favorites, but the LiveLeak.com video site had a reputation of allowing the type of war videos that the US military would probably not have wanted the public to ever see, and RuTube.ru became a favorite of the anti-Scientology community, who were desperately in search of a DMCA-free haven. And Speaking of Scientology, one of the major protesters, Mark Bunker, said he had his worst-ever experience with police in Chicago (working off-duty for the Scientology cult) when he was brutally arrested, and had the videotape from his camera stolen that captured the whole thing. Although that incident happened back in the 1990s, it seems that "Chicago's Finest" are no different today.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 10 Jun 2014 @ 6:31am

    timcushinghatescops.com

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 10 Jun 2014 @ 6:48am

    "There's the other reason bad cops are prevalent."

    Except of course, that they aren't. There's well over a million police officers in the US, and you furiously searching the web every day for bad behavior isn't going to make it the norm.

    The only prevalent behavior we know for a fact exists is your persistent douchebaggery, displayed with incessant frequency on this ridiculous blog.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 10 Jun 2014 @ 7:00am

      Re:

      Yawn.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      John Fenderson (profile), 10 Jun 2014 @ 7:02am

      Re:

      They certainly are prevalent in my part of the country. There's no need search the web to find such instances -- they appear in the newspaper every single day.

      Bad cop behavior is absolutely the norm around here. It's also the norm for the "good" cops to ignore the abusive behavior of the others. You can claim that this is only an insignificant percentage all you want, but reality disagrees with you.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Michael, 10 Jun 2014 @ 7:22am

        Re: Re:

        I started to survey my local police to find out how many of them were behaving poorly and also how many of them were simply ignoring bad behavior by others.

        However, I had to stop because I kept getting pulled over, parking tickets when I was parked legally, stopped repeatedly and frisked for seemingly no reason, and repeatedly found my tail lights broken out with a ticket placed under my windshield wiper. Keeping up with all of this terrible luck made continuing my investigation difficult.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          nasch (profile), 10 Jun 2014 @ 7:53am

          Re: Re: Re:

          Keeping up with all of this terrible luck made continuing my investigation difficult.

          Sounds like you got your results - investigation complete.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          Anonymous Coward, 11 Jun 2014 @ 6:05am

          Re: Re: Re:

          > parking tickets when I was parked legally
          > found my tail lights broken out with a ticket placed under my windshield wiper

          Sounds like the type of situation that hidden cameras were made for.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Michael, 10 Jun 2014 @ 7:05am

      Re:

      Prevalent: generally or widely accepted

      I think it is the case that law enforcement abusing their power has become widely accepted. I live in a city and find that the local police officers, while having been helpful to me in the past, have a tendency to violate laws and their own rules of conduct.

      While these cases of particularly egregious behaviors are certainly not the norm, the fact that they are not dealt with swiftly and harshly is very bad. Police officers are SUPPOSED to be held to a higher standard and yet we seem to be going in the other direction and forgiving bad behavior because their job is difficult and dangerous.

      I believe being a police officer should be an honorable job and worthy of praise, but that feels less and less like it is the case and the good police officers (which I know there are many) should be the first ones stepping up and stopping/condemning this kind of behavior.

      Having one bad officer screaming such things at a woman is one thing, but the fact that all of the other officers did nothing to stop him and possibly attempted to cover up the behavior is shameful and every one of them present should be fired for this single incident.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 10 Jun 2014 @ 7:32am

        Re: Re:

        That guy should be tied up and soap-socked by his colleagues.
        You know, like Gomer Pyle in Full Metal jacket...

        link to this | view in chronology ]

    • This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
      identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 10 Jun 2014 @ 8:02am

      Re:

      average_joe just hates it when due process is enforced.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      JMT (profile), 10 Jun 2014 @ 5:42pm

      Re:

      So Mr. Policeman, do you think you're a good cop or a bad cop? And if you think you're a good cop, (a) what are you doing about the bad cops, and (b) why not a single word of criticism for the extraordinarily heinous cop behavior described in this story?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 15 Jun 2014 @ 2:07pm

      Re:

      Any cop that ignores the bad behavior of another cop is, by definition, a bad cop. Thus, any force with a single bad cop that never gets a real punishment or fired is FILLED with bad cops.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 10 Jun 2014 @ 7:22am

    I wish I could say I'm surprised, but what do you expect from a group of people whom upon employment swear a sacred oath and then do everything within their power to violate the spirit of the oath while staying barely within the letter of the oath? Don't believe me? Next time you're pulled over for a routine traffic stop, take notice of the police officer's behavior. The first question you'll be asked is "Do you know why I pulled you over?". Why is that question being asked? The officer knows why he or she pulled you over. The reason for that question is an attempt to have you self incriminate yourself. Hmm. What about that 5th amendment. You'll see casual attempts to get you to forgo your various rights as a matter of course since those rights are inconvenient to the officers in question. And those casual violations are either performed or ignored by the entire police force. Cases like this one are egregious and noticed by the press, but violations of the Bill of Rights are routine and expected.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    limbodog (profile), 10 Jun 2014 @ 8:03am

    Upsetting

    What bothers me most about this isn't the crimes being committed by police, it's how completely unremarkable the watching officers are. This is not a new thing to them, this is just another day at the office.

    The victim was extremely wise/fortunate that her evidence was transmitted off-site (seriously, everyone should do that), but how many people do you think aren't that fortunate?

    Does anyone harbor any hope that all of the arrests from these criminal officers are going to be reviewed? (especially for 'missing' evidence)

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 10 Jun 2014 @ 9:13am

    Everyone that supports a ban on guns needs to watch these police abuse videos. If you think its bad now, just wait until no one has the ability to defend themselves. Do you really want these assholes in blue to be the only people allowed to carry firearms?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      nasch (profile), 10 Jun 2014 @ 9:36am

      Re:

      Everyone that supports a ban on guns needs to watch these police abuse videos. If you think its bad now, just wait until no one has the ability to defend themselves.

      You think this would have turned out better for her if she had pulled a gun on the cops? She would be dead, and there would be no chance of any consequences for the police. This way, she's alive and well, not facing criminal charges any more, and there's at least a possibility the officers will be punished, and it's because of the video evidence, not violence. How would more guns have made this situation better?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        AJ, 10 Jun 2014 @ 10:50am

        Re: Re:

        If nothing else, perhaps an armed people will give even the slightest pause to an abusive authority figure. If it does, then it's worth it.. Otherwise there are no "real" checks and balances.. just perceived ones that were allowed to believe we have.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          John Fenderson (profile), 10 Jun 2014 @ 7:08pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          "perhaps an armed people will give even the slightest pause to an abusive authority figure."

          Very, very unlikely. What's more likely is that it will make abusive authority figures even more abusive and prone to using preemptive force.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          nasch (profile), 10 Jun 2014 @ 10:19pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          If nothing else, perhaps an armed people will give even the slightest pause to an abusive authority figure.

          The solution to abusive police is not more guns, it's holding the police accountable for their crimes. That is harder than just carrying around a Glock, but it has a much better chance of positive change.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 10 Jun 2014 @ 11:51am

        Re: Re:

        No I don't think it would have been better for her to have pulled out a gun on them. I think firearms should be an option of last resort. And I believe removing that option from us is a very bad idea. I still believe that we can still stop these abuses without violence but if things dont start changing soon we could easily spiral into another civil war. While no one can say for sure how close we are to this tipping point, history shows that once you reach it, things will get ugly. Civilization has made enormous advances over the last few decades, but we're still animals driven off the need for survival. and if you threaten that we will fight back.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • identicon
          AJ, 10 Jun 2014 @ 12:26pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          I never said she should have pulled a gun out. I'm simply saying that if the possibility should exist that she "could" be carrying a firearm, that it would perhaps give the person attempting to trample her rights a reason to pause and think about what they are doing.

          “An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.”

          Robert A. Heinlein, Beyond This Horizon

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • icon
            John Fenderson (profile), 10 Jun 2014 @ 7:12pm

            Re: Re: Re: Re:

            Heinlein was wrong about this. Seriously, take a look at civilizations throughout history. Unarmed societies are really only at a disadvantage when they meet armed societies. Internally, the worst you can say is that they are no less polite than armed ones.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

            • icon
              John Fenderson (profile), 10 Jun 2014 @ 7:13pm

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

              By "no less polite" I mean, of course, "no more polite". Erk.

              link to this | view in chronology ]

            • identicon
              Zonker, 11 Jun 2014 @ 10:38am

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

              Unarmed societies are really only at a disadvantage when they meet armed societies.
              Like for example, Egypt and its recent election 97% to 3% of the heavily armed military commander protesters had hoped to remove from power after the last leader got removed from office. Or in Thailand where they are facing a heavily armed military coup of their government. Or in Syria, Lybia, etc.

              What is the first thing the protesters/people in these countries as for in assistance when facing their own government/military cracking down and taking over their lives? Weapons. (I personally do not like guns, but fully appreciate the right and importance to bear them in protection of home and country from all threats foreign and domestic.)

              link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            Anonymous Coward, 10 Jun 2014 @ 9:33pm

            Re: Re: Re: Re:

            but... the possibility *did* exist that she could be carrying a firearm, because the gun laws allow it, and this was the result.

            If anything, if gun laws prevented most people from carrying guns, then aggressive/defensive behaviour from officers trying to protect themselves from the possibility of being shot by a perp because they might be carrying a gun would stand out more. Which only makes a difference if the other officers involved are willing to do anything about the bad cop, but it's still a valid discussion point.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

            • icon
              nasch (profile), 10 Jun 2014 @ 10:25pm

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

              If anything, if gun laws prevented most people from carrying guns, then aggressive/defensive behaviour from officers trying to protect themselves from the possibility of being shot by a perp because they might be carrying a gun would stand out more. Which only makes a difference if the other officers involved are willing to do anything about the bad cop, but it's still a valid discussion point.

              And a good one. If there were little to no chance of a subject having a dangerous weapon (I'm not saying we should do that, just for discussion), the cops' excuse that they have to shoot/beat/tase people to protect themselves just couldn't hold up. At the other extreme, if it were highly likely any random person is carrying a weapon, then any twitchy or suspicious move (reaching for a tissue or a cell phone) might be cause to draw down or even start shooting. I just don't think the argument that more citizens with guns would result in less police violence holds water.

              link to this | view in chronology ]

              • identicon
                AJ, 11 Jun 2014 @ 5:28am

                Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

                "If anything, if gun laws prevented most people from carrying guns, then aggressive/defensive behaviour from officers trying to protect themselves from the possibility of being shot by a perp because they might be carrying a gun would stand out more."

                I think it stands out fine even without removing the guns.

                https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140531/12595127425/six-officers-charged-police-pursuit-that-ende d-with-137-shots-being-fired-suspects-little-over-20-seconds.shtml

                I've been stopped while open carrying, and I've been stopped without. The experience was significantly different each time. I may have been unlucky, but it's all the experience I have to draw from...

                /Rant

                The police have no responsibility to protect the public, and will not be held responsible when they fail to do so. We are all responsible for our own safety. I will not place my family's safety into the hands of someone that has no obligation to protect them. If we can change that, then I would gladly hand over my guns... but good luck with that, there are over 10 major court cases that state that the police are not responsible for protecting you. In essence, the police are about retribution, arresting people after the fact. With that in mind, it's easy to see how they get power crazed.

                http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/politics/28scotus.html?_r=0


                /rant

                link to this | view in chronology ]

                • icon
                  nasch (profile), 11 Jun 2014 @ 10:10am

                  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

                  The police have no responsibility to protect the public, and will not be held responsible when they fail to do so.

                  I'd be satisfied if they were held responsible for actively harming the public.

                  link to this | view in chronology ]

              • identicon
                Jack, 11 Jun 2014 @ 11:22am

                Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

                Nearly ALL of the police abuse stories I read are not about people being shot for having a gun. Yes, occasionally they do have a gun - but the vast majority of the time they are carrying a knife, screwdriver, pipe, broom, etc.

                The vast majority of no-knock drug raids are against unarmed people - even though the supposed reason for no-knock late night raids is to surprise an armed defender. For those who are truly dangerous and actually armed, they almost never use these tactics.

                If not a single non-LEO person had a gun, I doubt police killings would be any lower. Knives are much more deadly within about a 20 foot circle anyway - so would you suggest we ban knives too?

                link to this | view in chronology ]

                • icon
                  nasch (profile), 11 Jun 2014 @ 12:29pm

                  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:


                  If not a single non-LEO person had a gun, I doubt police killings would be any lower.


                  The contention is that if more people carried guns, the abuse would be less, and IMO anyway that has not been demonstrated at all.

                  Knives are much more deadly within about a 20 foot circle anyway - so would you suggest we ban knives too?

                  I never suggested we ban anything.

                  link to this | view in chronology ]

                  • identicon
                    AJ, 11 Jun 2014 @ 2:47pm

                    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

                    "The contention is that if more people carried guns, the abuse would be less, and IMO anyway that has not been demonstrated at all."

                    My contention is not that if MORE people had guns, the abuse would be less... not at all.. My contention is that if NO ONE had guns except the police, there would be MORE abuse.

                    link to this | view in chronology ]

                    • icon
                      nasch (profile), 11 Jun 2014 @ 3:14pm

                      Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

                      My contention is not that if MORE people had guns, the abuse would be less... not at all.

                      That isn't what you meant by this? "I'm simply saying that if the possibility should exist that she "could" be carrying a firearm, that it would perhaps give the person attempting to trample her rights a reason to pause and think about what they are doing."

                      link to this | view in chronology ]

                      • identicon
                        AJ, 11 Jun 2014 @ 4:23pm

                        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

                        Nope. Sure isn't what I meant.

                        I said that if the possibility existed that she COULD...COULD.....COULD C O U L D own a gun.. not omg lets pass out guns to every ass hat with a trigger finger.

                        Let me put this in perspective. If I was hungry, and I mean really hungry, and you had a nice big McArteryclogging super burger, and i was twice your size... nobody's around.. i would probably beat the break shoes off you and take your tasty burger if i could..... ahhh .. but if you had a dirty hairy style hand bazooka strapped to your leg john homes style I would probably think twice.... If that doesn't make since to you let's just agree to disagree ok?

                        link to this | view in chronology ]

                        • icon
                          nasch (profile), 11 Jun 2014 @ 8:45pm

                          Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

                          Nope. Sure isn't what I meant. I said that if the possibility existed that she COULD...COULD.....COULD C O U L D own a gun..

                          OK, the use of a subjunctive to describe something that is actually true threw me off.

                          link to this | view in chronology ]

            • identicon
              Res, 11 Jun 2014 @ 12:14pm

              Threat of civilian packing heat

              The bad cops have never planted a weapon on anyone,yes?

              link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 10 Jun 2014 @ 11:53am

      Re:

      I suggest that you run that experiment, PERSONALLY. You go right ahead and draw a gun on a group of heavily-armed, trained, violent, sociopathic assholes wearing badges.

      By doing so you will not only be conducting valuable hands-on research into the efficacy of this tactic, but you'll be doing an extraordinary service to the species by removing yourself from the gene pool. Congratulations!

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        AJ, 11 Jun 2014 @ 6:17am

        Re: Re:

        I don't think that's what he's trying to say. I think he's saying that after looking at all the stories regarding police over reacting and abuse now, that if you removed all the guns from the citizens hands, it would be much much worse. If you combine a unarmed populace with the fact that the supreme court has consistently stated the police have no obligation to protect you, you would have a mess.

        Just for the record.. I don't think all cops are bad. They've got a very difficult job no doubt.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          nasch (profile), 11 Jun 2014 @ 10:13am

          Re: Re: Re:

          I think he's saying that after looking at all the stories regarding police over reacting and abuse now, that if you removed all the guns from the citizens hands, it would be much much worse.

          For that claim to be true, that would mean there are lots of cases where cops would like to beat someone up or tase them or what have you, but they're afraid to because they think the person might have a concealed weapon and they don't want to get into a gun fight. Sounds pretty implausible to me.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • identicon
            AJ, 11 Jun 2014 @ 12:14pm

            Re: Re: Re: Re:

            I absolutely disagree. I think it's the threat of a "gun fight" that would and does give them pause... self preservation is a powerful instinct, you can't train it out of someone. If someone pisses a cop off, the cop may react violently.. you would hope they would not, but humans are emotional creatures.. it's bound to happen. So when it does, if there is a chance that the person he's reacting to COULD have a gun, he may think twice about his next move.

            It's risk assessment, we do it in everything we do realizing it or not. You can deny it, but it's happening.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

            • icon
              nasch (profile), 11 Jun 2014 @ 12:32pm

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

              So when it does, if there is a chance that the person he's reacting to COULD have a gun, he may think twice about his next move.

              That's true now. Any person COULD have a gun, so the police are thinking twice about their next move, right? So what would change if MORE people had guns? They would think three times? And I'm pretty sure cops (particularly urban cops) aren't assuming the people they're interacting with are not armed.

              link to this | view in chronology ]

              • identicon
                AJ, 11 Jun 2014 @ 1:51pm

                Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

                "That's true now. Any person COULD have a gun, so the police are thinking twice about their next move, right?"

                I'd agree with that.

                "So what would change if MORE people had guns?"

                Probably nothing, but I'm not advocating that anything would change if MORE people had guns, I'm saying that if NO ONE were allowed to have guns, THEN you WOULD see a behavioral change with how the police treat citizens.

                "And I'm pretty sure cops (particularly urban cops) aren't assuming the people they're interacting with are not armed."

                And again we agree, However, what would be the common assumption on their part if no-one were allowed to have guns? Would their behavior get better or worse? I believe it's worse.. i believe it's human nature that without the threat of violence, humans will always abuse power to some degree. It's sucks, but it's part of what makes us human lol.

                link to this | view in chronology ]

                • icon
                  nasch (profile), 11 Jun 2014 @ 2:26pm

                  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

                  I'm saying that if NO ONE were allowed to have guns, THEN you WOULD see a behavioral change with how the police treat citizens.

                  It's obviously not a simple question. In countries without a lot of guns, you don't see so much police brutality. Then again, those aren't US police, brought up in a pro-gun culture and accustomed to the idea their lives could be threatened at any time. I don't think it's really clear at all what would happen if that change were made in the US.

                  i believe it's human nature that without the threat of violence, humans will always abuse power to some degree.

                  I think you could shorten that. It's human nature to abuse power to some degree.

                  link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 10 Jun 2014 @ 10:00am

    I am not getting it. What it have to do with tech?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 10 Jun 2014 @ 10:05am

      Re:

      A cloud backup process was used with the camera system.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 10 Jun 2014 @ 11:39am

        Re: Re:

        Any idea how much it costs these days (say 16 channels color medium definition)?

        link to this | view in chronology ]

        • icon
          John Fenderson (profile), 10 Jun 2014 @ 7:17pm

          Re: Re: Re:

          Depends on how much you want to do yourself. I set up a system with 8 channels, streaming to an offsite location, for a total cost of around a thousand bucks, but that was almost totally DIY. I also streamed to a different physical location that I owned, so I wasn't paying storage costs. To minimize data size, everything was rigged with motion detectors, so I didn't get endless hours of nothing.

          link to this | view in chronology ]

          • icon
            John Fenderson (profile), 10 Jun 2014 @ 7:28pm

            Re: Re: Re: Re:

            I should add that this was a number of years ago. Prices have come down (and quality gone up) quite a lot since then.

            link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 10 Jun 2014 @ 10:31am

      Re:

      The assault on our rights is happening online and offline. We might as well get all the assault news in one place.

      Also, Tim Cushing hates bad cops.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 10 Jun 2014 @ 10:44am

      Re:

      Sometimes its (Tech | Dirt), !(Tech & Dirt).
      Though this story has a touch of tech, and plenty of dirt.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      JMT (profile), 10 Jun 2014 @ 5:46pm

      Re:

      I'm not getting it. Why did you read an article that obviously was going to have a low tech content?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 10 Jun 2014 @ 9:34pm

        Re: Re:

        I'm not getting it. Why did you think they read the article before commenting?

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 10 Jun 2014 @ 11:01am

    While it is good you're trying to be more diverse in your publishing Cushing, the whole COPS ARE BAD RAWR!!!!!!!! thing is still getting old. You're turning the site into an anti cop anti administration site. At this point one article with the line "Cops are evil!" could sum your posts up for a month. Hopefully the next time you get caught speeding or jaywalking the cop is very polite or we'll hear all about it.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 10 Jun 2014 @ 12:58pm

    Di Pasquale and Messina, sounds like dirty wetbacks to me. /s

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Zonker, 10 Jun 2014 @ 4:05pm

      Re:

      Well, Di Pasquale and Messina are Italian names, so they must be foreigners from Italy. Do we put them in a UPS box and send them back to Italy?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 14 Jun 2014 @ 8:45am

    AAAAAAAND the video is gone. Use dailymotion.com

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Joe DiMaggio, 27 Jun 2014 @ 5:37pm

    Wow...

    www.rubmaps.com is literally the yelp of happy endings

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    mac, 29 Dec 2015 @ 9:07am

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