11-year-old girl tells story of cops forcing her to floor at gunpoint

[RandiFan1290]

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/national/groveland-officers-accused-using-excessive-force-1/nj2Jx/

GROVELAND, Fla. — Two Groveland police officers are accused of using excessive force on an 11-year-old girl while responding to a burglary call at her home over the weekend.

The girl's family told WFTV Channel 9 the officers went in through the garage door and let themselves inside the house, reportedly with guns drawn, responding to a burglary alarm.
Groveland Police Department photo
Groveland Police Department

The young girl was on her bed watching television when she said she was forced to the ground at gunpoint.

"One of the officers was pushing me down and when he was pushing me down, (he) put his knee on me and the other officer had his gun pointed at me," she told Channel 9.

[Jackpine Radical]

1. They had to protect themselves.

She might have gone for the remote.

[damnedifIknow]

2. Never know about those 11 year old girls though

Possibly could have pulled a concealed Barbie doll.

[Turbineguy]

3. Obviously we need to arm children with guns

before they can walk.

[Downwinder]

4. That's child abuse.

[tblue37]

5. From the article:

SNIP

Channel 9 found Officers James Festa and John Rigdon have been with the department for three years, and both have been disciplined several times, according to their personnel files.

Festa was reprimanded in December for botching a child abuse investigation. He was also suspended in 2013 for sleeping on the job.

Rigdon was suspended in May and demoted in 2013 from corporal. He was also reprimanded in 2011. Each punishment was the result of allegedly filing false police reports.

Guirund wants Internal Affairs investigators to scrutinize Sunday's police report, which contains nothing about his daughter's account.

SNIP

[OldRedneck]

12. Why are these guys cops?

Because they made C's and D's in high school.

[sakabatou]

13. Why the fuck wasn't he fired?

[tblue37]

14. *They both* should have been fired. nt

[sakabatou]

16. Yes both.

[TransitJohn]

35. Fired? These guys are perfect cops.

This is who they want perform violence on behalf of the state.

[lpbk2713]

19. Internal Affairs is a joke.

A few good ole boys gather behind a locked door. Drink coffee for a while. Come up with the most plausible story that the media will fall for. In the meantime, the other two good ole boys get free vacation time. Everybody goes home with a grin on their face.

[valerief]

22. Internal Affairs is like Congress. All theater. nt

[sakabatou]

25. Always seems that way

[Hassin Bin Sober]

26. Bad cops. Whatcha gonna do.

https://m.

[Xipe Totec]

6. The security of the state is paramount, comrades. nt

[trueblue2007]

7. SUE THE POLICE DEPT FOR MILLILONS

FIRE both cops, put them in the slammer for assault (7 years both with no time off for good behavior) and IMMEDIATELY INVESTIGATE the rest of the cops to see if they are ass holes.

[atreides1]

8. Look

More cops "in fear of their lives", it's a good thing she didn't make any sudden moves...or else she'd be a corpse in the morgue...and those tow cowards would be celebrating taking out another thug!!!

And these two are real gems...it's police unions that need to be eradicated, not the other unions. Maybe it's me but filing a false report should bring automatic termination, not arbitration!

I also believe that the police union should pay the costs of any lawsuits brought against its members...not the tax paying citizens!

[Comrade Grumpy]

9. What is wrong with these chickenshit cops in this country?

[TheBlackAdder]

11. Many become cops to exact revenge and punishment on others for issues they had growing up. nt

[Comrade Grumpy]

10. Oh, the kid is black. Say no more.

[Orrex]

24. She probably gave them a "dehumanizing stare."

Clearly she's a threat to society.

[AwakeAtLast]

29. Or acted like a "thug"

Because 11-year-olds are straight up gangsta ya know?

[Orrex]

30. Funny you should mention that...

A few years ago I chaperoned my son's pre-kindergarten field trip to a local pumpkin patch.

At one point I had to rein in a few kids who were being wild and, frankly, unsafe.

The three of them gave me a five-year-old's equivalent of a hard stare, as if to say "who do you think you're messing with?" in their squeaky little voices.

Somehow I managed to keep from throwing them to the ground or shooting them.


Sad that cops can't seem to exercise similar restraint in similar situations.

[AwakeAtLast]

32. From reports like this

It's as if they don't see people as people, only enemy combatants. Symptoms of our military induced society, I'm afraid.

[Orrex]

33. Sadly, that's a good assessment

Everyone is an enemy to be taken down, rather than a citizen to be aided, taken into custody, etc.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

15. "...both (cops) have been disciplined several times, according to their personnel files."

Cop's Solution: Ban media access to those files.

[lark]

17. I am getting really sick of these fucking asshole cops

Bet they wouldn't do that if they were responding to a burglar alarm at a rich person's house. Just another part of the American dream that is well and truly broken beyond belief. Most Cops don't protect anymore, they kill and hurt and that seems to be about it.

Having said that, my daughter's best friend in HS married a guy who became a cop and Adam's a good guy. My son was in trouble and Adam saw the order and asked the other cop to let him respond. Adam was kind and courteous in a very difficult situation and kept my son out of jail. Too bad so many aren't like him. I'm afraid what will happen to him over time, if the bad guys will change his attitude. He does have a really cool wife and 3 gorgeous children, so maybe there's hope?

[hughee99]

18. Her story is tough to believe only because

They DIDNT shoot her. The other day, another cop shot not only the guy who CALLED 911, but also his 3 legged dog.

[2naSalit]

20. This insanity has to stop! n/t

[heaven05]

21. protectors and servers

at it again. She's lucky she's still alive.

[ScreamingMeemie]

23. Enough is enough...

[Newest Reality]

27. An inherently violent system at work.

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[wingzeroday]

28. awful

Hopefully putting a stop to this kind of unacceptable behavior will be a big issue on our side during the 2016 elections.

I think it would really resonate with the American people.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

31. Did the cop put his full weight on her

when he was pushing her to the floor with his knee? Some of these cops must weigh a lot with all the muscle and fat they carry around.

[TransitJohn]

34. Let me guess.

The girl is black?