NEWS: Officer Punches Teen Girl

DisturbedESV · #1 06-15-2010, 06:09 PM

Hopefully this thread doesn't go down the drain... I'm interested in hearing other peoples opinions on this. Please keep in mind this local news station updates the story as it changes so if my link differs from the quote that's why. There's a video in the link.

Quote:

SEATTLE -- Seattle Police officials said Tuesday that their officers are trained to throw a punch in certain situations, but said they have a "number of concerns" regarding the tactics an officer used in dealing with a 17-year-old girl he punched in the face while trying to cite a group of women for jaywalking.

"The issue we have to investigate is whether the force he used is reasonable given the combative resistance he was facing... and we're not going to pass judgment on that until the matter has been thoroughly investigated," said Assistant Seattle Police Chief Nick Metz.

Seattle police have directed a review of Seattle police tactics and training to ensure the training and implementation of those tactics are appropriate and consistent, Metz said.

The review comes in the wake of an altercation captured on video that shows Officer Ian Walsh punching the teenage girl in the face while struggling to get her and another teen under control in South Seattle.

The incident began when Walsh spotted four young women jaywalking the 3100 block of Martin Luther King, Jr. Way S. Walsh asked the group to step over to his patrol car, but the women were being "verbally antagonistic toward the officer," according to officials.

Police said the 19-year-old woman, identified in documents as Marilyn Levias, was resisting when Walsh tried to place handcuffs on her.

Officials said the 17-year-old girl intervened and placed her hands on Walsh's arm, "causing the officer to believe she was attempting to physically affect the first subject's escape," police said.

Walsh pushed back the second girl, but the girl came back at him. Walsh then punched her, police said.

Metz said Walsh will be transferred to a training section and the department will conduct an internal review.

"The officer is going to be transferred to the training section for a few days to review the tactics that he's been taught," Metz said. "The issue we have to investigate is whether the force he used is reasonable given the combative resistance he was facing. We're not going to pass judgment on that until the matter has been thoroughly investigated."

Veteran police trainer: Officer was 'well within scope' of appropriate response.

A 30 year veteran of law enforcement training told KOMO News Tuesday that Walsh was "well within the scope of appropriate responses to the situation."

Robert Bragg, the program manager for Fitness and Force Training, said a blow to the face is also within the scope of their training and would be considered a "reasonable response".

It was a potentially threatening situation for the officer, Bragg said, not only with respect to the physical actions of the two women involved but also the group of on-lookers surrounding them and the comments they were making.

Bragg said one area where the officer might have done better was in getting control of the first woman faster. He says Walsh should probably have taken her to the ground quickly instead of trying to cuff her standing up.

Metz: Situation could have been easily defused

Metz said his department has been proactive in reaching out to the African-American community over this recent incident, but added the two women bear some responsibility for their actions because "even if you believe an arrest is unlawful, it does not give you the right to resist."

He added the situation could have been defused if the women had just cooperated.

"It certainly would have not escalated to what it did and the these women have to bear much of the responsibility in the altercation that occurred," Metz said.

But at a press conference later Tuesday, leaders of the Urban League and NAACP said the officer's reaction didn't fit the action, and that the punching was extreme, even if it was a taught tactic.

"That appears to be an overreaction to what appears to be a nonviolent jaywalking situation," said James Kelly, President and CEO of the Urban League of Seattle. "Unfortunately this seems to become too far and too often of the typical police response. The provocation of the 17-year-old may have presented a confrontation situation but the violence in the form of a full-blown fist to the face was wrong.

"This is another case where we stand here and say to the police, 'Shame on you.' "

Kelly added that while he wasn't making excuses for the way the 17-year-old acted, two wrongs don't make a right. "The overreaction of non violent situation should be the last resort, not standard police practice," Kelly said.

He called upon Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn and the two candidates for Seattle police chief to determine how to "put an end to this kind of overreaction."

"If not, the video will keep playing and the world will keep wondering how we've lost our niceness to Seattle."

Both teens were cited for jaywalking. Levias was booked into the King County Jail for investigation of obstructing an officer and released on her own recognizance. Her next court appearance is scheduled for Thursday. The 17-year-old girl was booked into the Youth Service Center for investigation of assault of an officer.

Nobody was injured during the incident, police said.

I'm not sure I'm ok with him punching her in the face but she definitely deserves her ass beat... IMO a 17-year-old girl who thinks it's ok to try to resist/wrestle with a cop needs to be put in line 'cause it can only go downhill from there.

I heard rumors that the 19-year-old has been arrested before for assaulting an officer and also heard that this cop was involved in a huge beating of an innocent guy like a month ago... not sure if either are 100% true but neither adds to the case....

mikesturbo94 · #2 06-15-2010, 06:27 PM

What is it with seattle cops and the public, not saying the cop was in the wrong I would have punched her too but now the family will sue the the city an they will get 2.3m just like every other time so dumb I kinda hope they side with the cop on this one, and of course it was two African american females which will make this even a bigger deal, I'm going to bet that if it was a female officer that punched her there wouldn't have been any issue

camodown · #3 06-15-2010, 06:27 PM

seriously, that cop needs to go back to training and learn how to detain someone

but it was funny she called him a weak ass bitch haha cause I was thinking the same thing

Scottg · #4 06-15-2010, 06:33 PM

wheres the taser? I would have hit them both for not shutting up

ranger101 · #5 06-15-2010, 06:34 PM

Oh fuck... They're black. Anybody else seeing a hate crime here?

ranger101 · #6 06-15-2010, 06:37 PM

Why the hell do they travel in flocks? I guess that's how they came up with Wacka Flacka.

Ranger01 · #7 06-15-2010, 06:40 PM

ROFL AHAHAAHAH that made my day ^^^^^^^^^

smakes · #8 06-15-2010, 06:48 PM

wow that cop is a *******, he really needs to go back to the academy and learn how to detain somebody, none of this pansy ass wreslting he was doing. i wouldve thrown her ass to the ground like they do on cops on sit on her haha

and that punch looked pretty damn weak too

ranger101 · #9 06-15-2010, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smakes

wow that cop is a *******, he really needs to go back to the academy and learn how to detain somebody, none of this pansy ass wreslting he was doing. and that punch looked pretty damn weak too

Yea my 10 year old sister hits harder than that.

camodown · #10 06-15-2010, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smakes

wow that cop is a *******, he really needs to go back to the academy and learn how to detain somebody

is there an echo in here

black girls are scary anyway, he saw the bigger one throwing him around and had to put her in check. He knew he couldn't hold her back

smakes · #11 06-15-2010, 06:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by camodown

is there an echo in here

black girls are scary anyway, he saw the bigger one throwing him around and had to put her in check. He knew he couldn't hold her back

lol i opened this thread some time ago before anybody had responded and then walked away for a few minutes then came back to it

Tom · #12 06-15-2010, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smakes

wow that cop is a *******, he really needs to go back to the academy and learn how to detain somebody, none of this pansy ass wreslting he was doing. i wouldve thrown her ass to the ground like they do on cops on sit on her haha

His ability to detain did look weak but taking the girl to the ground would be a bad idea in that situation IMHO. The cop is surrounded by a decent size group, and two of members of that group have already assaulted him so he is probably conscious of the fact that others in the group (eg: the males) might attempt the same thing and going to the ground would put him in an extremely weak position.

mikesturbo94 · #13 06-15-2010, 07:06 PM

True that Id say he did nothing wrong, all the girls had to do was stop acting retarded but no they have to make money some how so if they make a huge scene out of it they can sue for hate crime and all that bs and get money, becuase they never do anything wrong they are always the victim well atleast in Seattle that's how they act

smakes · #14 06-15-2010, 07:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom

His ability to detain did look weak but taking the girl to the ground would be a bad idea in that situation IMHO. The cop is surrounded by a decent size group, and two of members of that group have already assaulted him so he is probably conscious of the fact that others in the group (eg: the males) might attempt the same thing and going to the ground would put him in an extremely weak position.

hand gun. if i were him, i wouldve thrown her ass to the ground, and if they had rushed me, theyd need to call the coroner lol

DisturbedESV · #15 06-15-2010, 07:22 PM

BTW this is probably only a mile or so from where one cop was killed and another shot back in October...