Posted on 05/03/2007 8:41:59 PM PDT by Teflonic
Hillsborough County Deputy Kevin Stabins has been suspended for five days after an internal affairs investigation found he used excessive force on a woman he pulled over.
The woman, Melissa Langston, had been pulled over for going 63 in a 35 mile an hour zone on Nov. 1. Langston was on the way to make sure her father, who was driving himself to University Community Hospital after suffering a heart attack, got there safely.
When Stabins went back to his car to run her plates and write a ticket, the woman waited three minutes, but then took off and drove a short distance to park her car.
Stabins is accused of using excessive force to pull her out of her car and pin her to the hood.
Langston's father survived the heart attack and all charges against her were dropped. She spent about five hours in jail.
Stabins's suspension starts May 22.
The sheriff's office says Stabins said he thought Langston was making up the story about her father's heart attack and that Stabins is a good deputy who showed bad judgment.
Langston declined an interview request.
The conversations between Langston and Stabins
Langston: Hi, I'm so sorry. My father's having a heart attack, can I please get there?
Deputy: I need to see your license, registration and proof of insurance please.
Langston: Please, come on just take it in there.
Langston again tried to explain about her father's condition.
Deputy: He's in the care of the doctor ma'am.
Langston: I don't know that he's there. I don't know that he made it to the hospital. He was driving himself.
While Stabins was writing the ticket, Langston drove off to check the parking lot for her father's car. Stabins followed her and pulled her over a second time.
Deputy: That was not smart.
Langston: I need to get there. I'm sorry but I just need to get there.
Deputy: Put it in park. Put it in park. Put it in park. Out of the car. Hands behind your back. Now you're going to jail.
Langston: Please let me get to my dad. Please, my dad's having a heart attack. If it was your dad. . .
Stabins: Now you're not going to get to see him because you're going to jail. Not smart.
Someone there commented that if this cop had heard his father was having a heart attack he would surely turn on his lights and sirens and blaze a path to the hospital.
There are also many arguing that the officer was in the right in this case. Technically that may be correct but I feel a police officer needs to be more than a mindless drone forcing everyone by all means at his disposal to follow the law. Good judgement is required for the position and his lazy assumption that everyone is lying shows very poor judgement.
They had the dashboard video on H&C tonight.
Of course he would, some people are more equal than others.
To some cops, there are only two sorts of people: cops or suspects / perpetrators.
Common sense has flown out the window.
I used to spend a lot of time at church Bingo (where my friends worked for extra money). They usually had an off-duty cop outside for security, and I got to know some of them. I once had a long discussion with one with respect to drunk drivers. He lamented the fact that a lot of officers (especially the younger ones, in his opinion) had forgotten that part of being a cop was helping people. His policy was that when he found someone driving drunk, he would rather drive the person home than just arrest him if he had a choice. Perhaps this might seem extreme to some since this doesn’t negatively reinforce the behavior, but the point was that you can be a cop and show some compassion at the same time.
I saw it. This is one mean cop on a power trip. We will read about him again and again, I am sure.
Yes, it is "us against them".
Here's the latest in this regard: http://www.thnt.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200770503016 Only in NJ!
Comment:
I suppose anyone can argue the office was in the right, just ask Jessie and Al.
However, the video that I saw several times doesn’t justify the entire arrest procedure.
Police officers are held to a higher standard than the public, or so I am told that.
This guy may have been correct according to others but the video still made my blood pressure go up.
Whether a person is a prick as this officer presented himself to be certainly seems evident from the video.
Some policemen strap on a badge and gun and immediately take on the aura of a Marshall Dillon, dishing out justice as they see fit.
I’m with the cop...she shouldn’t have driven off like an idiot.
Cops are over-trained. The job has become about procedure - not about people.
She took off,then disobeys a lawful order after being stopped again and then starts to drive away while he's reaching in to put the car in park. Could have killed or injured him.
BTW, ambulances have no legal right to speed, even if they have someone dying in the back.
Tell Dad to call an ambulance next time, much better odds all around.
If that’s excessive force I’ll eat my hat.
63 in a 35?
Fails to pull over, then takes off?
I did not hear her mention the heart attack until after she was cuffed
I am with the cop on this one. There is a diference between being firm and forceful vs. 'excessive force'.
Yes they do under strict guidlines. I know since I used to be a paramedic. Stick to fact and you will have more credibility.
I agree. 63 in a 25 zone at night? Suppose she hit somebody. The person would have died. She also seemed to be ripping up the parking lot pavement pretty well, so it’s a good thing no one else’s daddy was walking out to his car.
A side note to everyone reading this thread, if you see a cop driving like a maniac, complain to the department. The bosses know what happens when people drive too fast, that includes cops.
I think this is overstating the case. It’s a traffic stop. There was no warrant out on her, she didn’t rob anybody, she wasn’t a shoplifter, a murderer, or even a vandal. She had no drugs and she wasn’t drunk. She was speeding. He pulled her over in the hospital parking lot (or at the very least at the hospital entrance). Sure, she could have come up with a story about visiting the hospital to get out of the ticket, but it’s just a speeding ticket, for crying out loud. In the grand scheme of things it’s not that important. If she’s lying, so what — once again, all she did was drive fast, and if she was telling the truth, the officer could have decided to err on the side of caution and show an ounce of compassion instead of acting like a pr*ck (and he definitely came off as one in the video). I can tell you from personal experience that there *are* other officers who would find his behavior embarrassing and offensive. Even though officers are under tremendous stress day in and day out, you don’t necessarily sign away your humanity when you’re issued the uniform and firearm and that fact speaks to just how critical it is that our officers be men and women of extraordinary character — for they have extraordinary powers and responsibilities.
Well said.
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