FBI to Investigate Denver Police Beating

[dross]

This is big news out here in Colorado. A guy's friend was being arrested, the guy calls his dad, who happens to be a deputy sherriff, and the cops then throw the guy to the ground and beat him. They were captured on video, but their stories didn't match the video.

FBI Looks Into Alleged Denver Police Beating - CBS News

I searched for this, didn't find another thread, but my INGO search fu seems to often fail.

 

[dross]

Denver Police Beat Man for Offering to Testify

moved to thread

 

[rambone]

Should this be a federal matter?

 

[dross]

Should this be a federal matter?

This one isn't federal. This happened after the other beating went federal. Two different incidents.

 

[MilitaryArms]

It's a good thing so many camera phones are in circulation these days. There are so many cases of police abuse that would go unpunished if they weren't out there. The case where the Oakland officer shot the youth and claimed he was reaching for his Taser and not his handgun comes to mind. It seems the wide spread use of video is a good thing for both sides.

 

[308jake]

Nothing tells the truth better than proof.

When will police learn that they cannot go around beating people?

 

[E5RANGER375]

i will prafrase from the story so i dont violate the copyright INGO rules.

Independent monitor Richard Rosenthal basiclysaid he believes the police video of the shows one cop changed his statement to prevent the other cop buddy from getting into trouble.

but wait a minute??????? I thought cops dont risk their own careers to cover for other bad cops????? i must be missing something here, or else its just more blue line BS we are being fed. we see through it!!!!

 

[MilitaryArms]

When will police learn that they cannot go around beating people?

They'll stop breaking the law when humans in general stop breaking the law. Police are, after all, human. Statistically speaking they are just as likely to do something unlawful as the general population is.

All we can do is work to catch them when they do something unlawful, and in my opinion, impose stiffer penalties when convicted.

There is nothing worse than being given a position of power over people then using that position to conduct criminal activities. As an example, if assault carries a 5 year sentence for civilians, then it should carry a 10 year sentence for a police officer if the commit the crime while on duty.

 

[dross]

They'll stop breaking the law when humans in general stop breaking the law. Police are, after all, human. Statistically speaking they are just as likely to do something unlawful as the general population is.

All we can do is work to catch them when they do something unlawful, and in my opinion, impose stiffer penalties when convicted.

There is nothing worse than being given a position of power over people then using that position to conduct criminal activities. As an example, if assault carries a 5 year sentence for civilians, then it should carry a 10 year sentence for a police officer if the commit the crime while on duty.

I've been saying that for years. Should be twice the penalty, AND covering for another officer should be a criminal offense, not just a firing offense.

 

[mrjarrell]

Looks like that investigation needs to be expanded. Things are worse than was thought in Denver.
William Grigg took a look at it and found even more cases of violence against the citizenry.

Pro Libertate: "Criminals With Badges": Denver's Militarized Police

 

[308jake]

Look at Indy, one officer kills a guy on a motorcycle, the narcotics officers were stealing drugs and money and the Sheriff of Hancock County stole money and tried to get drugs.

So Denver cops beat people.

Corruption is everywhere.

Don't forget Oakland.

 

[Ogre]

IBTDCLEOL

In Before The Don't Criticize Law Enforcement Officers Lock

 

[dross]

The Denver Mayor, John Hickenlooper is running for Governor, so he doesn't want to touch this. That's why he called in the FBI rather than cleaning house himself.

I'd like to see his opponent make an issue of all these incidents which have happened under Hickenlooper's watch.

I remember as a teenager, driving down to Denver and getting hassled by the Denver cops. I haven't ever had a good encounter with them. Major attitudes.

 

[femurphy77]

The bad thing about stories like this one or any other one that highlights LEO's abuse of their authority over people is that the few bad cops that are doing this forces Joe Average to suspect and fear ALL cops. You can't help but wonder if the guy pulling you over is one of "them" or is actually a decent person just doing his job! With the number of co-workers that are willing to back up the officers version of events they can and have gotten away with murder, (I consider the recent drunk officer killing the biker murder).

I've personally never had a bad interaction with a LEO but have had one or two try to intimidate me with their "authoritah" which fortunately for all involved it never went beyond the threat to me and my response of "I have a lawyer that loves cases like this".

I wouldn't want their job nowadays and I don't have the answer, just making an observation.

 

[Yeah]

Full-auto hit the nail on the head. There is no reason to believe that corruption among police can be maintained at a rate lower than among the rest of the population.

I tend to think it will always be higher. Police officer is not a particularly well compensated category of employment, but they regularly witness the proceeds of crime. That we don't have near complete corruption of narcotics officers tests my beliefs about human nature every day.

That and the authority that comes with the job must be attractive to the types of people who enjoy exercising authority. The manager of Accounts Payable for a recent client of mine took great delight in delaying my payment over the most minute bureaucratic details. I can't imagine what he would have done had he been able to use a taser with almost certain impunity.

 

[dross]

The bad thing about stories like this one or any other one that highlights LEO's abuse of their authority over people is that the few bad cops that are doing this forces Joe Average to suspect and fear ALL cops. You can't help but wonder if the guy pulling you over is one of "them" or is actually a decent person just doing his job! With the number of co-workers that are willing to back up the officers version of events they can and have gotten away with murder, (I consider the recent drunk officer killing the biker murder).

I've personally never had a bad interaction with a LEO but have had one or two try to intimidate me with their "authoritah" which fortunately for all involved it never went beyond the threat to me and my response of "I have a lawyer that loves cases like this".

I wouldn't want their job nowadays and I don't have the answer, just making an observation.

I don't think all cops are bad. I think the system they operate under is bad.

Two types of structures in any organization, formal and informal. Often the informal rules are more powerful than the formal ones. One of the informal rules seems to be, cover for your fellow officers when they make a mistake. Not necessarilty a bad informal rule unless it's stretched too far.

Here's what bothers me about all these video incidents. If only one cop had been involved, then lied, then proved wrong by the videos, I might be convinced by the "one bad apple" argument. The problem is that the lies and coverups of these incidents, some of which were criminal assault and battery under any definition, were all corraborated by the other police officers. They created an official story to cover up for a criminal cop, then lied to investigators, including internal investigators, to protect a cop they just saw assault a citizen for retaliation or to cover up video of another bad event.

If it were just one bad apple, you'd have other cops lining up to get rid of the bad apples, not risking their careers and criminal charges to cover up for the bad apples. And you know what? That makes them bad apples, too.

 

[dross]

I tend to think it will always be higher. Police officer is not a particularly well compensated category of employment, but they regularly witness the proceeds of crime..

Denver cops average near 70K per year. That's almost twice the median income. Also, they have many, many applicants for every open position. Cops from all over the state compete for open positions on the Denver police department.

I consider them to be quite well compensated.

 

[level.eleven]

Looks like that investigation needs to be expanded. Things are worse than was thought in Denver.
William Grigg took a look at it and found even more cases of violence against the citizenry.

Pro Libertate: "Criminals With Badges": Denver's Militarized Police

Wow. Those "We get up early to BEAT the crowds." t-shirts are pretty classy Denver. DNC or not, why not print shirts that say, "We get up early to PROTECT the crowds."? It seems as if our relationship has skewed somewhat over the years.

 

[balorg]

Being a native of Colorado and living in the Denver area I am happy to see that an outside agency is investigating this issue. I personally have never trusted the Denver PD, and there have many instances in the past regarding the use of excessive force. It is however a shame that the FBI needs to get involved instead of using the CBI (Colorado Bureau of Investigation).

 

[downzero]

Should this be a federal matter?

Yes. Violations of civil rights are a federal issue.

Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance,
regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the
District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any
citizen of the United States or other person within the
jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges,
or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable
to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other
proper proceeding for redress, except that in any action brought
against a judicial officer for an act or omission taken in such
officer's judicial capacity, injunctive relief shall not be granted
unless a declaratory decree was violated or declaratory relief was
unavailable. For the purposes of this section, any Act of Congress
applicable exclusively to the District of Columbia shall be
considered to be a statute of the District of Columbia.

42 U.S.C. § 1983