Cop Stops Fellow Cop From Choking a Handcuffed Man, She Was Then Beaten and Fired

[justiceischeap]

http://thefreethoughtproject.com/police-departments-good-cops-buffalo-officer-fired-stopping-brutality/

{snip}
Horne and other officers on the scene removed the suspect from the house, but once outside Kwiatkowski pounced again, this time choking the handcuffed man. Believing Kwiatkowski to be out of out of control, Horne removed his arm from around the man’s neck.

{snip}

Infuriated that she had crossed the thin blue line, Kwaitkowski then punched Horne in the face. The punch so was hard that Horne ended up having to have her bridge replaced. She was then injured again as officers dragged her away from trying to defend herself.

Here is where things get crazy.

The good cop, who was trying to stop abuse by her peer, was fired for “jumping on Officer Kwaitkowski’s back and/or striking him with her hands,” something that Kwaitkowski himself denied ever happening in a sworn statement.

The bad cop, who was choking a man and then punched his female co-worker in the face, kept his job. It wasn’t until he choked another officer at a district station house that he was forced to retire. He was already under investigation for punching another officer while he was off-duty at a local bar.

There are SOME good cops out there.

[madokie]

1. Yes there is some good cops

but it seems they're fewer and farther between

[Feral Child]

19. They weed them out

by office-politics early on. Transferred to desk-duty or traffic-control on foot, given bad reviews by supervisors, or shunned and isolated.

Most departments have a year long probationary period and decent officers are let go. The Machine sizes them up and if they don't "qualify" by violating someone's civil rights, perjuring themselves to support a bad cop, or planting evidence they're let go.

Normal procedure to deal with those that survive probation is for back-up officers to dawdle and leave them exposed.

[librechik]

29. yes, they do! n/t

[grahampuba]

30. the twist is

that as far as police go, good cops who cross the blue line and expose misconduct are considered the 'bad apples'

[roguevalley]

50. please, lady, sue them.

[avebury]

2. She got fired for doing the right thing

while being black at the same time. I think that she might have grounds to sue for unlawful termination, particularly given the guy's record of behavior that supports her actions at the time. If I were her, I wouldn't want to go back to work for that city because she would have serious safety concerns. But if she chose to bring about a civil suit against the PD and I were on the jury I would fight tooth and nail in her favor and, at minimum, a 7 figure payout to her (plus all court costs). Any cop that had the guts to do the right thing needs to have the full backing of the people. Cops need to understand that we will have their back if they stand up to the evil cops.

[justiceischeap]

4. I agree that a civil suit is in order here

I suspect she'd have a much better chance of winning that then getting her pension reinstated.

It's a shame she has to go through all that for doing the right thing. I also suspect her being a woman had something to do with it too.

[cstanleytech]

16. Agreed plus even if she got the pension the odds are they would do things to retaliate against her.

[7962]

47. I also agree. She needs to sue. nt

[Demeter]

7. Black and female

Had she been a man, she might have had a fighting chance against the rogue cop. As it was, she'd have had to draw a weapon on him to be truly effective....and that would have been real suicide.

[brush]

20. Did you notice in video when they showed the transcript . . .

the male rogue cop make sure to state that, "she never got on top of me".

He didn't want people to think that a woman was able to get the better of him physically.

[Jamastiene]

26. Very good point.

They are so few and far between. They do deserve our full support when they do the right thing.

[daleanime]

3. Don't you mean was?

Got fired after all.

[justiceischeap]

5. You are correct, but at the time of the incident

she was a good cop.

[msanthrope]

6. Sue 'em into the fucking ground. nt

[malaise]

10. I'd sue then to whatever depths are underneath the ground

[HappyMe]

31. I certainly hope she does.

[1StrongBlackMan]

8. posted to for later

[PowerToThePeople]

9. honestly

all of these fuckers need to be eliminated. Bad cops, torturers, war mongers, and other sociopaths all need a one way ticket to Antarctica with nothing but the clothes on their back an a can of spam.

[Dont call me Shirley]

51. Guantanamo.

[Savannahmann]

11. Yes there was, one.

But she was fired, and lucky to be just fired. Normally the thin blue li(n)e exterminates those who cross the brotherhood of the badge.

So now you know what happens when the one good cop stands up, they get beaten, or killed. If they live, they get fired. So how many good cops are there? There was one. Just one. The department protected the bad cop, the abusive and out of control cop. They even let him retire, so that our tax dollars will pay for him for the rest of his life.

So tell me again about all the other good cops? Because I personally think you've proven my point, that there really aren't any good ones.

[southern_belle]

15. +1 Serpico

comes to mind...

[Savannahmann]

17. His good cop partners let him get shot in the face.

Then there was Christopher Dorner who complained that an officer kicked a suspect in the head while the suspect was in handcuffs. Dorner was fired. No way were they bringing him in alive.

[Enthusiast]

12. They are striving to weed out the good cops.

[winterwar]

13. This is terrible

I've seen so many examples of police misconduct lately that I am starting to lose track. Good post, I like piling on the facts, all the police apologists start to look stupid when they are forced to defend these shitbags on a daily basis.

[RedCappedBandit]

14. The reality of the lie that almost all cops are good

the one who actually does the right thing by crossing the thin blue line is assaulted and fired, while the rest stand idly by in complicity

[Feral Child]

18. Agreed, justice.

Not many but some.

Not many, because they're usually fired or sidelined long before they can do much good.

Heartfelt sympathy for this good ex-cop. Hope she recovers from the frustration and gets meaningful employment where her qualities can be of use.

Doubt she'll ever wear a police badge again; she'll probably be shunned by fire departments, also.

Thanks for posting this, and I sincerely hope the killer-cop apologists don't spoil this party.

[randome]

21. I usually try to find the flaw in stories like this.

I can't find any in this case.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]If you don't give yourself the same benefit of a doubt you'd give anyone else, you're cheating someone.[/center][/font][hr]

[WillyT]

22. K & R !!!

[1step]

23. cops; the ultimate teabaggers

racist assholes who talk about 'justice' and 'liberty', then persecute the hell---or just flat-out murder---black people. i shudder to think how many ex-cops are on obama's secret service detail.

[Beaverhausen]

24. Happened in 2006

Not that it excuses it, but this isn't a recent event.

[justiceischeap]

27. No, it isn't recent but it, IMO, shows how long this type of thing has been going on

We know that it's been going on but here's (further) proof that when good cops try and do the right thing, they get punished for it.

[Beaverhausen]

36. yes, it's been going on a long time. Forever

But why post an old story when there is plenty going on currently? Looks like most people posting in this thread believe this just happened.

[justiceischeap]

41. Just because it's old doesn't make it any less relevant

It's been going on forever and having stories that show that is very much relevant to the current situation.

[Locrian]

25. even more evidence

Even more evidence that the entire cop SYSTEM is BROKEN.

Bad cops are almost NEVER penalized - they're protected.
Good cops get fired or attacked, thrown to the wolves.

Supervisors whine about not being respected. They "threaten" and attack any criticism.

There's a freaking GIGANTIC problem here: "the fish rots from the head down".

[George II]

28. There are LOTS of good police out there, not just "some"

[frylock]

33. there are LOTS more bad police

[George II]

34. More bad police than good police?

[frylock]

37. it would appear that the good ones are being drummed out as evidenced by this story..

so, yeah.

[George II]

39. In New York City there are 34,500 officers. By your assumption...

....at least 17,251 are "bad". I think you have a lot to learn about this subject.

[frylock]

40. you REALLY want to use NYPD as a shining example of good cops?

good luck with that.

[George II]

42. I GUARANTEE that there are not 17,000+ bad cops in the NYPD, so "more bad than good" is.....

.....entirely false.

[frylock]

43. well neither one of us is going to be able prove otherwise..

so we'll just have to go by the the increasing number of videos depicting police brutality, and the lack of filed charges or firings of officers involved, to determine the demographics. When more and more so-called good cops start to take action against their peers, and municipalities follow through on actual disciplinary action, then perhaps I can be swayed. But a so-called good cop that turns a blind eye to the injustices meted out by the bad cops simply is not a good cop, or a good person, in my oh so humble opinion. your mileage may vary.

[JonLP24]

57. You may be interested in read the report from the Mollen Commission

Particularly chapter 3 which goes into its findings of the NYPD culture that allows this sort of corruption such as "testilying", among other things.

http://www.parc.info/client_files/Special%20Reports/4%20-%20Mollen%20Commission%20-%20NYPD.pdf

I agree with you 100%

[JonLP24]

56. Mollen Commission found the NYPD's unwillingness to do something about the corruption

more troubling than the corruption itself.

A police department can easily be infected by widespread "noble-cause corruption" or unconstitutional policing

Noble cause corruption in policing occurs when good officers substitute in their personal values for the values of the profession and the law. It is an ends-justifies-the-means rationalization associated with public service wherein officers break the law to enforce the law. It is unconstitutional policing; an illegal use of authority and power, but not for personal gain. Rather, the objective is to rid society of its predators, no matter what the means, as an ultimate goal.11 This is when officers cut corners to circumvent the constitutional guidelines promulgated for them in their profession and rationalize such illegality as a means to an ordered end. Granted, the end is a noble cause (cleaning up the streets they police), but the means used is the less-discussed side of noble cause corruption.

Such street-level rationalizations cloud the police mission and, when discovered, undermine the efforts of those in the profession who are committed to just ends. Whether citizens arrested are murderers, rapists, pedophiles, drug dealers, or terrorists, they are society’s predators and it is law enforcement’s job to put them away. Yet bending (or breaking) of the law under a police rationalization that such ends (incarcerating society’s predators) justifies the use of illegal means (violation of predators’ constitutionally protected rights) is a critical issue that must be addressed in training curricula. The planting of evidence, falsified testimony, privacy violations in information gathering, and the arbitrary detention of citizens without legal justification are examples of noble cause corruption.12 Illegal fishing expeditions by law enforcement can result in exclusion of evidence, as so-called “fruits of the poisonous tree,” and dismissal of all criminal charges. The American Exclusionary Rule was specifically carved out in U.S. Supreme Court case law to prevent constitutional noncompliance by the police.

http://www.policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/index.cfm?fuseaction=display&article_id=2339&issue_id=32011

Law enforcement agencies go to great lengths to recruit, hire, and train only the most qualified applicants—candidates who have already demonstrated a track record of good moral values and ethical conduct. Similarly, most officers support the agency, its values, and its mission, performing their duties ethically while avoiding any misconduct or abuse of authority. Yet despite the best efforts of organizations everywhere, it seems that one does not have to look very far these days to find examples of police misconduct, particularly in the popular press.2 Even more disturbing, however, is that many of the officers engaged in immoral or unethical behavior previously demonstrated good service records, absent any of the “evil” typically associated with corruption or abuse.

While it is probably true that at least some of the officers who engage in illicit activities managed somehow to slip through the cracks in the hiring process and simply continued their unethical ways, this account fails to explain how otherwise good officers become involved in misconduct. The purpose of this article is to familiarize law enforcement managers and supervisors with the cognitive rationalizations that can contribute to unethical behavior. The article also offers strategies and suggestions intended to mitigate misconduct, before it actually occurs, by developing a culture of ethics.

<snip>

Decades of empirical research have supported the idea that whenever a person’s behaviors are inconsistent with their attitudes or beliefs, the individual will experience a state of psychological tension—a phenomenon referred to as cognitive dissonance. 4 Because this tension is uncomfortable, people will modify any contradictory beliefs or behaviors in ways intended to reduce or eliminate discomfort. Officers can reduce psychological tension by changing one or more of their cognitions—that is, by modifying how they think about their actions and the consequences of those behaviors—or by adjusting their activities, attitudes, or beliefs in ways that are consistent with their values and self-image. Generally speaking, an officer will modify the cognition that is least resistant to change, which, in most cases, tends to be the officer’s attitudes, not behaviors.

One of the simplest ways that officers can reduce the psychological discomfort that accompanies misconduct is to cognitively restructure unethical behaviors in ways that make them seem personally and socially acceptable, thereby allowing officers to behave immorally while preserving their self-image as ethically good people. The following is a partial list of common rationalizations that officers can use to neutralize or excuse unethical conduct:5

http://www.policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/index.cfm?fuseaction=display_arch&article_id=2290&issue_id=12011

This isn't stats showing which is more but it explains how police misconduct can spread like wildfire within a department.

[Rozlee]

46. My nephew was a 'good police.'

He went into the department full of idealism and hoping he could help his minority community. Instead, he's become part of the problem and not the solution. He'll talk about young 'punks,' 'thugs,' 'assholes,' and every other slur he can think of. He used to talk about legalizing pot, now, he views pot users like serial killers. He's pulled away from the solidarity of his family and embraced his new family of law enforcement personnel. I don't know if he's ever beaten unarmed handcuffed suspects, but I can see him doing it. He treats the non-cop world with suspicion and disdain. It's almost like he's joined a cult. A powerful, secretive cult that knows where all the bodies are buried, expects unswerving allegiance and dispenses swift punishment for members who defy its edicts.

[Cha]

60. Compelling first hand description, Rozlee.. thank you for that. :(

[pathansen]

32. Why has everything gotten so backwards?

[tradewinds]

35. "there are some good cops out there"....

No, this story shows "good cops" get fired. They are not out there long.

[DeSwiss]

38. Well, that's possibly ONE.

She only became a good cop when she decided she wouldn't cover up this shit any longer.

And you'll notice that's when she was no longer a cop.

Saying that there are good cops out there is like saying there are four-leaf clovers out there.

- Finding one is as hard as the punch she took to her face......

Fuck the POLICE!

K&R


''If we don't fight now, I guess we'll have to be kicked.....''

[George II]

44. "She only became a good cop when she decided she wouldn't cover up"

Wow, what a bizarre, and truly sad, perspective.

[Savannahmann]

45. To cover up you have to lie

Lying under oath is called Perjury. It's a Felony. Now, how can you be a "good" anything if you regularly commit felonies?

[George II]

49. Who covered up? Who lied? Who committed perjury and "regularly commit(ed) felonies"?

[Savannahmann]

62. The cops do, regularly.

I'm apparently going to introduce you to the "routine lies" that are told by the members of the thin blue li(n)e regularly. My first exposure to this happened when I was a rent a cop in California. I wanted to increase my pay, so I signed up for "Baton Training" which is where you get trained in how and when to use a nightstick. During the class, which was taught by a LAPD training officer, the dozen members of the class were told to lie if we used the baton. We were told to inform any witnesses that the person we'd beat was a child molester no matter what crime he had committed in our sight. The cop told us that this would moderate the witness testimony from the mean man beat on that poor fellow with his stick to the security guard used the force necessary. So my introduction into the routine lie was pretty much first hand.

Now that I know it exists, it's easy to spot. Let's take an example, Broward County Police. In this story the police officers would regularly write on the back of the ticket they keep, the part that is turned into the court. They would draw pictures to tell the Judge the officers opinion on the behavior of the person they had issued a ticket to. http://www.wsvn.com/story/23070302/ticket-talk

Now, the police were using improper communication with the Judge, a violation of the principle that the defendant is made aware of all evidence against him. For traffic tickets, the entire department was cheating. This the lowest tier of the criminal justice system, and the cops couldn't resist cheating.

Chicago. Three cops from Chicago, and two from the town of Glenview, in other words two different departments, all wrote the exact same reports. They testified the same way in court, backing one another up. The only problem is there was video that proved all five were lying. http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/rare_perry_mason_moment_at_trial_wins_acquittal_for_defendant_desk_duty_for/

So how did those five agree to what they should write? How did each of them know the other four would go along? Your partner, sure you would know if he would play ball. But someone from another department all together? The only way you could be sure is if it is understood that cops lie to back up other cops.

Here is a story from New Jersey where the larger issue of routine lie is obvious, if ignored. Notice the police continue to shout stop resisting despite the man holding his hands up in total surrender. The police in the raw video even says stop reaching for my gun. That is code in case someone feels like shooting the accused. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/police-dash-cam-video-exonerates-nj-man-implicates-cops-article-1.1701763

How about a different state all together? Tennessee police here plant evidence in full view of the camera.

So the question is how can all these incidents happen and all the reports and testimony all agree on the narrative?

[George II]

64. The topic is about a police officer in Buffalo. Do you have any STATISTICS or FACTS...

...to support your sweeping generalization, or do you just base your accusations based on anecdotal and sketchy information?

[Savannahmann]

65. Apparently you didn't read the story this thread is started with.

One officer acted to stop the choking of a man already in handcuffs. She was struck by the cop who was choking the accused. He hit her so hard that it broke her upper bridge. The department did conduct an "investigation" and concluded that she acted inappropriately. She grabbed another cop from behind. The cop who was abusing the accused had done it before, and did it twice more before he was allowed to retire. Thus getting his benefits. She on the other hand was fired. So tell me how you think that Buffalo has good cops when the department fired the one who was acting to protect someone from being attacked using potentially lethal force?

So what evidence do you have that any cops in Buffalo are good ones? The department closed ranks to protect the abusive cop, while firing the one who tried to do the right thing. So where exactly would these good cops be?

[George II]

66. Yes I did, but apparently YOU forgot what you said in the post to which I posed my questions.

Reread it again, then my response, and please answer my questions without evasive, off-topic links.

Damn, I would hate to go through life with your negative, accusatory attitude.

[Rex]

61. Good question, why did the DA in Ferguson knowingly allow false testimony?

If a DA shows such contempt for the law, where does it stop?

[Savannahmann]

63. Because the DA is elected largely based upon convictions.

To get the convictions, the DA needs the image of the honorable and dedicated police officer to be accepted by the public, and potential jurors.

The Judges are usual former DA's or Prosecutors, and it goes on, and on, and on. The Judges are protected by cops, so of course they're going to protect those who are around them all the time.

[7962]

48. She was likely a good cop all along. Sad is right. nt

[840high]

52. What was the outcome? Anybody know?

[eridani]

53. BUFFALO POLICE CONTACT INFO

Contact form
http://www.bpdny.org/Contact
Commissioner Daniel Derenda 716-851-4526 or 457
Media Relations 716 851-4036

[Spitfire of ATJ]

54. Like I keep saying, we need more women on the force.

[tooeyeten]

55. Hard to believe

50 years later, we still have police brutality of this nature. Our institutions still have a long way to go.

[valerief]

58. No, there aren't good cops. They fire them all!!!!

[Cha]

59. You Cannot Make This Shite Up! Buffalo. Good Luck to Cariol Horne!

Mahalo jic