Pop quiz: you’re jaywalking and a police officer catches you. He goes to arrest you for jaywalking. What do you do?
For most people, the answer would probably be comply with the officer’s demands, and then as soon as you’re let go, complain bitterly about how ridiculously stupid it is that you were detained for jaywalking.
If you answered resist arrest, scream at the police officer, shove the police officer, and have your friend try to free you from the police officer, then you failed the quiz.
I’m somewhat surprised why it is that people are so quick to blame police officers for doing their jobs. Jaywalking may be a stupid crime to get arrested for, but it is a crime, and if you are arrested for it, then resisting arrest doesn’t really help your case. I could be wrong, but the penalty for jaywalking is usually just a fine. The penalty for resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer is considerably worse.
And if you are resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer, then you are basically giving the police officer the OK to use force against you.
All that said, watch the following video and keep what I said above in mind.
Now, of course, there are all of these hysterical cries about police brutality and racism and blah blah blah blah blah. Please. Give me an effing break. Let’s put this in context, shall we?
The girl was assisting arrest. She shoved the police officer multiple times. Her friend came over and attempted to pull the girl away, and then proceeded to also shove the officer. The police officer then punched the girl… and then immediately tried to detain her.
Yet people are carrying on as if this was the next Rodney King beating or something. There was no excessive force here. There was no brutality. There were however, two girls who were completely out of control, refusing to comply with police orders, resisting arrest, and assaulting a police officer. Had these girls not been so out of control, how different would the situation have been? They didn’t even wait to find out whether or not he was going to even arrest them. The officer approaches the girls, and they immediately go crazy. Oh, and this was a five-on-one fight, too. There were five suspects… and one officer. If he had to punch a girl in the face to get them to comply with his demands, then fine. All the officer had done was ask the girls to go and stand by the police car… and they flipped out. Here’s what happened from start to finish.
On June 14th at approximately 3:10 p.m. a uniformed patrol officer was driving north in the 3100 block of MLK Jr. Way South in a fully marked police car. The officer observed a male pedestrian j-walk across MLK Jr. Way South, an arterial street. There is a pedestrian overpass (foot bridge) about 15 feet to the north of where the male pedestrian j-walked. The officer stopped the pedestrian. While interacting with the 18-year-old male pedestrian, the officer observed four female pedestrians j-walk at the same location that the male pedestrian just had. The officer instructed the females to step over to his vehicle. They were verbally antagonistic toward the officer. One female subject turned and began to walk away. The officer again instructed her to step over to his car. She continued to walk away and appeared to raise her hand in a dismissive gesture. The officer contacted the female subject and began escorting her back toward his car. The female subject began to tense up her arm and pull away from the officer while yelling at him. Once at the patrol car the female subject refused to obey the officer’s commands to place her hands on the car. When the officer again tried to gain control of her, she pulled away and twisted, breaking free of the officer’s grip several times.
At this time a large crowd gathered around the officer. When the officer tried to handcuff the female subject, another female subject intervened. The second female subject placed her hands on the officer’s arm, causing the officer to believe she was attempting to physically affect the first subject’s escape. The officer pushed the second subject back, but she again came at the officer, at which time he punched her. The second subject moved away and the officer was able to handcuff the first subject and place her in the back seat of his patrol car.
As the officer contacted and subsequently escorted the second subject over to his patrol car, she too tried to pull and twist away from him. The officer restrained her until backup officers arrived, at which time the second subject was handcuffed.
Sorry, race-baiters and hysterical anti-police pundits. People tend to automatically condemn police officers for using violence, regardless of the situation. But when you use violence against an officer, he is allowed to then use violence against you.
Just because you are a girl, it doesn’t mean you should be allowed to get away with assaulting an officer.
Yet that seems to be the general meme concerning this situation.
If you disagree with actions being taken by a police officer, you don’t show it while being arrested. How monumentally stupid could you be? You comply with his demands. Resisting arrest, assaulting an officer, and obstructing justice in general are all easy ways to make things a whole lot worse for yourself. And that’s exactly what these two girls did. They were out of control, and he had to get control of them. Subduing a suspect has to be done somehow, and if it means punching a girl in the face, then fine. Yeah, she’ll have a bruise for a few days, but she’ll live. If she hadn’t been so confrontational then she wouldn’t have had to be forcibly restrained. Common sense would dictate that you don’t assault a cop. You don’t touch a cop, you don’t hit a cop, you don’t shove a cop. Hell, you don’t even make any sudden moves that could be interpreted as threatening. This girl did all of the above, yet we’re castigating an officer for defending himself against her assault? “But he has mace!”, some people are saying. So if he had maced the girl, no one would mind? If he had tazed her? Yeah, right. Anything this guy did would have been condemned aside from standing there and letting himself get pushed around.
Are we so pussified that a punch in the face from a police officer in self defense is seriously looked down upon? Consider this: these girls were resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer… while a crowd of people stood around and watched. And then they harassed the cop for defending himself and restraining the suspect.
Welcome to our world today. Police officers can’t use force to restrain a suspect who is assaulting them, simply because it might be someone who is female or black.
Well, sorry. That doesn’t fly in my book. This girl deserved to be punched in the face.
The Seattle Police Guild is standing behind the officer, as they should. Police officers do a dangerous job. They put their lives on the line. They cannot afford to wait around to see if someone is going to attack them or not. That is opening the door to many more dead cops. If a police officer feels threatened and needs to use a swift punch to the face to restrain an unruly and uncooperative suspect, even if it’s a female, then he should.
Just because you’re female, it doesn’t give you the right to commit assault against a man. You assault a man, then in my opinion, he’s got every right to fight back.
HenryC says: Whats wrong with showing a little civility towards a Police Officer? This reminds me of the Professor that would not show the officer his Identification. If you don’t agree fight it in court. Not on the street. On the street you put the Officer and yourself in even more danger.
todd says: Total lack of respect for the law. The guy asking “are you serious?” What a joke!!! I think I’d be asking myself, “Why hasn’t this cop tazed her yet?”
Chris M-G says: That’s ok- if he had used a taser it the media would be ALL over it.
Kassey says: My opinion is that a punch was probably instinctive.. which is fine.. He was in survival mode and needed to subdue the women to get them to cooperate. Sucks that they got punched in the face.. However, tazing them would’ve been the more appropriate and professional thing to do. At the time, and in the moment, i am not sure i would have a chance or think about what is professional so.. I am glad that they are standing by him.. absolutely . I don’t know why people are losing respect for authorities.. its absurd.
Smithwick says: You mean being black and female isn’t an excuse to break the law? That they have to follow the same rules as everyone else?
Huh. What a crazy world.
Eldin says: The fact that there is a law against crossing a local road in a populace place like Seattle is unfathomably idiotic. Why would anyone in their right mind try to enforce that law?? I am not supporting the violence against the officer, which was wrong. But why the heck is there a law against jaywalking, and why would anyone enforce such an idiotic law?? Astounding!!!
Neil says: In responose to Eldin…
As there was a pedestrian bridge nearby, it sounds to me like the street is excessively busy with traffic. Hence the term “arterial.” The law (and its enforcement) are in place to protect both pedestrians and drivers. 15 feet. All these people had to do was to walk 15 extra feet to cross a road.
In all probability, the officer likely wanted to simply try and talk some sense into them and explain why the pedestrian bridge is in place, encourage them to use it and possibly save their lives at some future date. I’m sure that he’d rather not be involved in cleaning up the road pizza they’d leave behind after getting hit by a car traveling 45 MPH or more.
These morons didn’t even give the officer that chance. “Oh look! He’s white! He just wants to harass us!” A judgment based on skin color. Who’s racist now?
At the beginning of the tape we see that one of the witnesses tries to pull the second woman back and keep her out of trouble. She insisted on continuing until the officer punched her. The fact that the incident lasted as long as it did (2 minutes 47 seconds) means that the officer actually held back and tried to use minimal force. Had he actually lost his temper and let go fully, it would have been over in seconds.
The officer should be commended for restraining himself.
Agreeing with Sabba, the officer looks sufficiently in shape to have knocked her out without breaking a sweat… that she wasn’t bleeding or unconscious is evidence enough of his restraint.
Leaving on a funny note, Chris Rock preesnted an instructional video on how NOT to get arrested (warning: language) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvZ7w6zPXcg
mark says: We have convinced certain groups in society that they have a right to behave like a jerk. What could possible go wrong?
Jared says: Eldin…my understanding is that there is a high school near where this all went down. The footbridge exists to help students (and other pedestrians) get from one part of campus to another. The administration of the school had asked Seattle Police to keep an eye on the area during given times of high student traffic. After all, the school and, hence, the city are responsible for the well-being of the students. The officer in question was probably just there because it was on his “beat”.
That said, both girls are lucky they didn’t stop a night stick with their skulls.
oldguy says: The Feminists have created a world where they can beat hell out of a man and don’t you dare fight back. No wonder Islam is becoming so popular in the west. It wasn’t so long ago in a movie, Cary Grant slapped a woman who slapped him.
StanInTexas says: Eldin,
Police officers don’t get to pick and choose which law they enforce. Their job is to enforce the laws on the books. If there is a law that says you cannot wear a hat in a particular public park, then the officer is 100% correct in detaining anyone wearing a hat.
I truly hope you understand this, and understand how ignorant your post above is.
democratsarefascists says: I think he was set up.
Before anything even started to happen, somebody was there recording the incident.
In New York, there’s a cottage industry of blacks who go around starting trouble, then suing the police department.
So they’re hoping to get punched, or maced, or tasered.
It’s been a strong motivator for police organizations throughout the country to start putting cameras in cars and they’re even looking at lapel cameras now.
Scott says: Were I there I’d have offered to help the officer restrain the girls. It sure looked like 40 vs the 1 cop. That’s a seriously scary situation.
Kevin barry says: Just another one of a million examples of how the inner city resident thinks they are above the law, that they should dictate to the remainder of the country, that they deserve special attention, and don’t forget to keep those welfare checks coming.
The cities have degenerated into third world countries, with their own sets of rules and behaviors.
Could this have happened in Detroit? Buffalo? Lansing? Oakland? New York? That hell hole named Washington? Any one of dozens of inner cities?
To paraphrase Lincoln, no house can stand for long that is not united.
Jack B Nimble says: Question #1 out of everyone’s mouth has to be: with crime rampant what in the hell is this guy wasting his time on a jaywalker for? Is crime in his town that low?
Son of Bob says: I’m not usually a huge defender of police – as too many seem to get up in the morning looking for ways to ruin people’s day instead of trying to actually help people (like giving jaywalking tickets?) – but, this idiot chanting “Are you serious?” saw the girls fighting with the cop when the officer finally struck back.
It seems that, ever since the Rodney King video fiasco, every time a moron takes a cellphone video, other morons are upset because a “video” – any video – “has been released”, as if it’s some kind of successful undercover sting operation, and they refuse to watch any of the actual content of the video. If this cop had been friggin’ stabbed before he finally struck back, there would still be some idiots upset because a “video was released” showing the cop using force to arrest the stupid girl.
Dar says: Actually, if you go to KIRO’s website you can find a full 10 minutes of this video (language obviously NSFW):
http://www.kirotv.com/video/23904902/index.html
The officer should be commended for restraint, trying to deal with those two resisting and combative girls and a taunting crowd.
BTW, I have to disagree with the use of the word “arrest” for jaywalking. This officer could have either warned them or cited them–jaywalking doesn’t warrant an arrest outright–but their subsequent actions certainly warranted arrest.
Fiend says: Speaking as someone who worked with police officers for a while, and who still has many friends on the police force here in my city, the girl totally deserved that. Any unwelcome physical contact is assault. Assaulting a police officer = you gonna get a beatdown.
Yeah, there are some cops who are jerks. I worked with a few. Most of them, however, are good people who chose a difficult career because they want to help people. The cops I met were some of the kindest, most generous people I’ve ever known. The people they deal with set the tone of the encounter.
Case in point. A year ago, I was at my apartment on my day off, and I heard a ruckus out on my patio. A guy jumped onto my patio, followed moments later by two cops, who detained him. Given what I know of police procedure, I knew they’d wanna see who lived in this apartment, so I threw on some jeans and a red t-shirt. The t-shirt’s color will be revealed as relevant shortly.
Sure enough, they knocked on the door, so I stepped out. The first cop I talked to was a lady cop I’d met before, some time ago, but she didn’t remember me. She asked me for ID, which I provided. Her partner asked if anyone else was in the apartment, or any weapons. I advised him that the answer to both questions was no. He asked if he could take a look. I told him to feel free.
Meanwhile, the lady cop asked me to keep my hands visible at all times, which I did. It turned out that a short distance from my apartment, a guy who matched my physical description, including the jeans and red t-shirt, had flashed a gun and threatened to shoot someone, then took off running. I matched the description, so they were checking me out to see if I was the same guy.
The moral of the story? I was calm, polite, and cooperative, and they didn’t so much as cuff me, despite a reasonable suspicion that I might have been armed and dangerous. They actually apologized for disturbing me, and even more when they found out I worked for the department. If I’d reacted in the same fashion as the girls in the video, I would certainly have been cuffed, probably after a beatdown. I may have wound up getting shot, given the circumstances.
Cops are people too. Treat them like human beings, with all the courtesy you expect from them, and 99 times out of 100, you’ll be repaid in kind. Act like a jackass, and their courtesy towards you will evaporate real fast. Lay hands on one of them, and you will get your face slammed into the ground.
It’s not rocket surgery, folks.
Joe says: This is insane. There was no justification for the police officer to hit the girl in the face. None. The officer had many options, but let his temper get in the way.
The hypocrisy here is thick.
Just thank god the officer didn’t shoot a dog.
Sarattus says: I’m 65. A few years ago I was attacked in a parking garage by a much younger black woman. She claimed I had bumped her car door despite the fact there was no damage or mark. She tried to hit me but I was spry enough to dodge her a number of times. The encounter esculated. I was hamstrung by the fact she was black and a woman. Also at the time I worked for a radio station and well knew how the news media would spin it.
I could not hit her as it would constitute assult and worse white man against black woman. Unfortunately I slipped as I tried to get back to my car. I tried to get back on my feet. She jumped on my back and tried to use her legs to strangle me.
I finally got loose. She called the cops. They arrived, looked at the “damage” and asked, “What’s the fuss?” The incident was witnessed by two Hispanic women who when asked what happened said “They were fighting.” Between stupidity and racial PC, I saw there was no justice forthcoming.
Upon consideration the fact the cop in Seattle popped the woman does not bother me, he should have popped her twice.
Fiend says: Joe,
Clearly you have no idea what constitutes assault, and how a reasonable person deals with a law enforcement officer. Simply saying “Nuh uh!” doesn’t constitute an argument.
Either make reasoned and logical points, or expect your opinion to be dismissed. That’s how debate works. So try again, if you can.
Smithwick says: “There was no justification for the police officer to hit the girl in the face. None.”
So assaulting a police officer is acceptable in your world? When hit a cop should what, hand out candy to all involved?
“The officer had many options, but let his temper get in the way.”
Such as?
Amy says: Jack B Nimble, that is not the first question out of everyones mouth. If jaywalking is a crime in that town just like it is in most towns the cop has every right to talk with the person about it. If the cop while sitting in the same spot would have witnessed someone speeding or anything else that is illegal then he would have acted approperatly to say all he was doing is looking for jaywalkers is not correct when a police officer is patroling he is looking out for anything that is against the law. Also to answer the comment about arresting for jaywalking. He didn’t there were 5 people that jaywalked and only 2 people who were arrested those 2 women were asulting a police officer. That is why they were arrested.
Joe says: A police officer is not justified in assaulting a suspect–that is still a felony. Period. Police officers are trained to subdue violent suspects and that rarely, if ever, constitutes punching them in the face. If he is unable to restrain a suspect, he is to call for backup.
To pretend that the office had only one option isn’t only naive, but extremely dangerous to having law enforcement that doesn’t act like jack-booted thugs.
Can I assume that no-knock warrants and having SWAT teams serve trivial warrants is okay? An officer shooting someone with a taser who is arguing with you is okay as well? Because that’s what happened recently where I live. The man died. But that’s okay because a police officer is now justified in taking whatever action is necessary.
Lazlo says: I would have tazed both of them.
Cops don’t make up traffic and penal codes as they drive around.
Those ‘Ladies’ broke the law and used violence to try and evade a ticket.
A reasonable person would use the civil system in place to fight a ticket he or she finds undeserved.
They were not reasonable.
It was two on one.
The one in the pink top shoved the cop just prior to the punch.
They chose to ignore the laws about obeying a police officer in the performance of his duty.
Questions about the validity of the infraction are invalid.
I had a police officer overstep his bounds with me once, and it was remarkable how quickly he backed off when I threatened him… with a lawsuit.
My default position is to be very, very nice with police officers, and, if they are overstepping their bounds, bring it up later with a supervisor. If you feel the need to pushback, the you still have to be very careful: hyper-rational, not at all threatening of their physical well-being, and with a solid grounding in your legal rights. (Screaming, “I’m gonna sue yyou!!111!” is only slightly less detrimental than punching a police officer.)
Now, I don’t know Washington law, but you might have the right to resist unlawful arrest. So if the state does not allow the police to detain you for jaywalking (although, I think it’s permissible under the federal Constitution), you may be justified in resisting the arrest, since it’s an unlawful restraint on your liberty.
That doesn’t mean that it’s not blatantly stupid to do so, however; far better to later sue for false imprisonment.
Jesse says: I live near there, and can give some background information.
First, the girl was asked to stop so she could get a ticket. She ignored the command and kept on walking — that’s why she was detained. Cops in Seattle don’t arrest you for jaywalking, but they do arrest you for walking away when the cop is trying to give you a ticket (obviously).
Second, Seattle has empty streets and crazy streets. If you jaywalk on an empty street, nobody’s going to care. If you jaywalk on the crazy street, you’re dead. I’ve almost been run over by a car three or four times now, and I DON’T jaywalk. Traffic problems are just that bad.
Third, Seattle’s citizens are on the side of the cops, but its newspapers and government officials are on the side of the criminals.
By the way, Seattle muslims have given death threats in broad daylight, and the cops don’t do anything about it. I’ve got it on video if you want to see.
Hey Joe –
You’re speaking from ignorance so I’ll not take it personally.
As a police officer, I can tell you’ve never tried to subdue one person, much less two with an antagonistic crowd standing around.
Here’s a question for you – why didn’t anyone in that crowd step up and try to help control the situation? Why didn’t the jackass with the cell phone do something besides take cheap shots at the cop.
We try our best not to react to ‘trival’ things like being pushed, spit on, and assaulted. We try our best to take all the crap people spew at us. We try to maintain that calm, cool facade…
But we are only human. We don’t wear capes. We don’t leap buildings in a single bound.
Sometimes we find ourselves in a situation that gets the better of us.
The officer in this case had no good option.
Pepperspray? Wrestling with a subject you’ve just sprayed gets it all over you and you spend the rest of your shift inhaling pepperspray.
TASER? Really? Given your reaction to the use of a TASER, I’ll just say that the crowd would’ve gone ballistic.
We have one unwritten rule in this job – make sure you go home at the end of your shift. If punching the girl in the face was what it took to get that officer home at the end of his shift, then he absolutely did the right thing.
Oh, and btw – SHE apologized to the officer in a private meeting.
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