Another videotape of thuggish cops overreacting...

[Catherine Vincent]

The video below upsets me and it also gives a bad name to all decent cops out there. I'll bet they were shitting bricks when they found out their behavior was recorded.

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/feature?section=news/local&id=7935895

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7410587.html

Released video appears to show HPD beating of teen burglar
By CINDY GEORGE and BRIAN ROGERS
Copyright 2011 Houston Chronicle
Feb. 3, 2011, 12:03AM

Houston police officers appear to beat, kick and stomp on a teen burglary suspect last year in a surveillance video that was released publicly Wednesday night. The footage, which aired on KTRK-TV (Channel 13), shows Chad Holley, then 15, running away from police before he is clipped by a Houston Police Department cruiser as it hits a chain-link fence. The boy then falls to the ground, rolls on the grass, flips onto his stomach and clamps his hands behind his head. Within seconds, a half- dozen officers appear to attack him forcefully with their fists and feet. After another series of blows, a handcuffed Holley appears to lift himself up as he is led to lean over the back of a police car. The teen, then a sophomore at Elsik High School, was ultimately booked on a burglary charge.

The video was recorded by a surveillance camera around 4 p.m. on March 24, 2010, at Uncle Bob's Self-Storage at 8450 Cook near Beechnut. The footage offers more than one viewing angle and was forwarded to HPD and the district attorney by the business within a week of the incident. Since then, Holley, his relatives and activist Quanell X have called the event an example of police brutality and excessive force.

Some officers fired - Eight officers were suspended without pay while HPD's Internal Affairs Division and the Harris County District Attorney's Office conducted separate investigations. In June, four HPD officers were indicted on misdemeanor official suppression charges and fired: Andrew Blomberg, Phil Bryan, Raad Hassan and Drew Ryser. Bryan and Hassan also were charged with violation of the civil rights of a prisoner, also a misdemeanor. Three other officers were fired without being charged: Sgt. John McClellan, Gaudencio Saucedo and Lewis Childress. Five additional officers received two-day suspensions: R.E. Abel III, K.W. Cockrill, M.J. Novak, R.J. Oppermann and I.M. Vaughn.

Holley has since been convicted of burglary by a Harris County jury in connection with the incident.

...

[LAGC]

1. This happens way too often.

Cops like to get out of control when they think no one is watching.

[leeroysphitz]

2. Dirty pigs. Psychopaths with badges. n/t

[KansasVoter]

3. The idiot cops only get in trouble when there is video!

[Shagbark Hickory]

4. They didn't really get in too much trouble. Probably paid leave.

[ThomCat]

11. Unfortunately, you are right.

Beating suspects is becoming routine. But unless there is a video "Oh no, we would never do that."

If a suspect has injuries, and it is obvious that something happened, they will charge him with attacking the police and Resisting Arrest.

If a Video surfaces that proves the cops are lying, they do their damnedest to hide that video and make sure it never sees the light of day.

If somehow that video does surface, and the suspect has proof that s/he was the one attacked, and it was the cops who were responsible for all the violence, it's it funny how rarely any of the cops face any charges? Oh, the department might now lose a lawsuit, because of that video, but only occasionally does the department actually even fire anyone like they did in this case. Usually they keep the cops, and sometimes even promote them.

1. We should find every possible way to make sure cops are on video while on duty unless they are undercover, and those videos should be public domain.

2. Internal Affairs in any department should be run by another agency, not the same agency that is being investigated. That is a conflict of interest.

3. Civilian Review Boards should be truly independent of police departments, not composed of people affiliated with, related to, or associated with police officers or city administration in any way, because that is also a conflict of interest. The Civilian Review Boards should have real teeth, real ways to hold cops accountable, and the strength to resist pressure from police unions, police brass, and city hall. They should also have built in legal protections to their independence.

[Shagbark Hickory]

5. Those of you who think there's too many CCTV cameras watching everything....

remember this video.

[Exultant Democracy]

6. In my opinion cops need to be recorder at all times while working on th public dime.

[Catherine Vincent]

7. Yep.

And had those cops knew there was a camera recording their actions, they would have followed protocol by handcuffing him and placing him in the cop car. The bad cops react differently when there's a camera rolling.

[Shagbark Hickory]

9. Or maybe they would just smash the camera and beat the shit out of the person who owned the camera.

At least, that's what I'd do if I was a bad cop.

[somone]

8. Cops are trying this:

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/austin-police-to-test-cameras-worn-on-the-1205078.html
Austin police to test cameras worn on the head
Devices are already being used in some cities.
By Isadora Vail

With new body cameras attached to their heads, Austin police could look a lot like Robocop for a few weeks.

Police officials said the cameras, which would be attached to an officer's head or ear, would be another way to gather evidence and would help hold officers accountable for their actions.

"It captures the full gamut of the life of a police officer, all the way to the district attorney's office," said Cmdr. Troy Gay, who leads the strategic intelligence and technology division of the Police Department. "I think the cameras will give us a better visual depiction of what happened and also portray the demeanor of a person." ...

[Shagbark Hickory]

10. Unless they're attached with tamper resistant bolts, how is that going to help?