Posted on 07/02/2011 8:23:20 AM PDT by bkopto
Dayton police "mistook" a mentally handicapped teenager's speech impediment for "disrespect," so they Tasered, pepper-sprayed and beat him and called for backup from "upward of 20 police officers" after the boy rode his bicycle home to ask his mother for help, the boy's mom says.
Pamela Ford says her "mentally challenged/handicapped" son Jesse Kersey, 17, was riding his bike near his Dayton home when Officer Willie Hooper stopped him and tried to talk to him.
The mom says that "Prior to the incident described below, defendant Hooper knew Jesse and was aware that Jesse was mentally challenged/handicapped and a minor child."
Nonetheless, Ford says, Hooper "apparently took Jesse's speech impediment for disrespect ... [and] began yelling at Jesse and after Jesse attempted to communicate with him[.] Jesse, being a minor and mentally challenged/handicapped, turned and rode his bike back to his home in an attempt to ask his mother, Ford, to help him communicate with defendant Cooper," according to the complaint in Montgomery County Court.
On the way, the mom says, "A neighbor attempted to communicate with Officer Hooper about Jesse's disabilities and was told to go back into his home, or he would be arrested."
As Ford opened her front door, she says, Hooper and co-defendant Officer John Howard, "fired their Tasers, striking Jesse in the back with both probes."
"Once inside the house, defendant Hooper and defendant Howard began to struggle with Jesse, who was standing against the back door with his hands up in front of his face, saying 'Please quit, please quit.'
"On numerous occasions, Ford and a family friend, Christopher Peyton, informed Officer Hooper that Jesse was mentally challenged/handicapped, and that Jesse did not understand what was happening," the complaint states.
(Excerpt) Read more at courthousenews.com ...
Another THX1138 event brought to you by your local law enforcement and criminal justice system!
Where did Germany find all those people willing to be Gestapo, SS, prison guards in concentration camps? How could there be that many power-mad, officious, heartless goons in one country at one time?
Basic human nature. Visible every day in the USA. The hiring profiles for police and government workers in the United States excel at finding the type that just will not ever let it go ... they will impose their power relentlessly, and use whatever force they desire. All they are waiting for is the order to escort you into the showers, and they would do so willingly and gladly.
of course, that has nothing to do with the post. If the article is correct, the cops should be arrested and jailed.
It would be just deserts if these two miscreants were in another country and the police started to talking to them in a language they couldn’t understand.....
Then got an even greater beat down...
I had a (now-deceased) Down syndrome friend. The thought of him being maltreated like this infuriates me!
If any of this is true, every cop involved should be pepper-sprayed, shot with Taser darts, and zapped until the probes burn themselves loose!
That's not enough. Fire them, terminate their pensions, and return the pension funds to the tax payers. No sense in keeping these lawless thugs in luxury for the rest of their life at the expense of tax payers.
What goes around will come around eventually. One day, and that day is not far off, the citizens watching this kind of unwarranted abuse will retaliate, and we will have a dead cop or two on our hands. This is just so unnecessary and counterproductive. It’s long past time when these miscreants in blue suits go to jail for their illegal acts of abuse!
Why doesn’t anyone ever challenge the meme that “disrespecting” a cop is a punishable offense? You know, that hoary old “you don’t have to respect me, but you have to respect the badge” nonsense?
Um, you’re WEARING the badge, Professor Wizard. So you are in fact saying that if I don’t cower like a slave, you’re perfectly justified in using force or the awesome power of arrest to ruin me professionally.
I owe cops the exact same amount of respect I give the checker at Ralph’s or the oil change guy at Jiffy Lube. No more and no less. One working citizen to another. And if that’s not good enough for them, they can ask me to take my business elsewhere. They don’t get to use a weapon on me to “teach me a lesson.” Why should cops?
Every cop involved in this incident shouldn’t be carrying any kind of weapon and should be summarily fired.
There seems to be no balance anymore. Something is seriously broken.
Things seem to go from zero to deadly in an eye blink.
Watching Reality TV rots your brain.
Welcome to the USSA, comrades.
A police state is a safe state!
Free Mumia!
With reasonable suspicion of illegally operating a bicycle in traffic, these officers ended up in a use of force situation and three arrests. Way to de-escalate the situation.
I can't believe the prosecutor's office took the mother and family friend to court over this, after more facts were known.
The city is going to pay out on this one.
Where I live the county paid a settlement on a perfectly good use of a taser. Fleeing felon hides under a porch, kicks a police dog hard enough that the dog lost a tooth. When he got tasered one of the probes hit him in the left testicle (deployment extremely effective).
In other words, a LEO would be an utter fool to make enemies out of the better citizens of the country. Not that there are no fools in the police force... I guess I'm lucky that the local Sheriff's Deputy who works this area appears to be quite decent and professional. We talked a couple of times, he knows who belongs here and who doesn't, and that works well for everyone.
A county cop rolls through my little town once or twice a week.
If I had to bet my life ion it, I would back the boy’s story over the cop’s.
Corruption, dishonesty and easy trigger fingers are central to modern cop culture.
“Sorry if that story is true, but I’ve watched enough cops to know lots of bad guys deserve to get zapped.”
There is so much wrong with this statement I don’t know where to start.
The police on “Cops” know the TV camera is watching. And if the camera catches anything incriminating, it will be deleted. If “Cops” showed what cops are really like, the show would lose access.
bkmk
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.