Do these TV reality 'COPS' shows go too far?

[icymist]

Man Whose Arrest Was Filmed By 'Cops' Sues Officers For Brutality

SEATTLE - A man apparently woken from a drunken stupor by Pierce County sheriff's deputies, repeatedly zapped with a stun gun and finally chewed by a police dog - all in front of a production crew from the TV show "Cops" - has sued the county and the officers, alleging brutality.

The deputies, accompanied by a K-9 officer from the Tacoma Police Department, were looking for an armed suspect in a car break-in when they came upon Aaron Otto Hansen, 34, of Roy, early on July 10, 2004.

Hansen, who did not commit the crime, was passed out drunk in a sleeping bag outside a relative's home in the Tacoma suburb of Lakewood, one of his lawyers said. The "Cops" video footage of his arrest, obtained by The Associated Press, seems to support that claim:

"Wake up! Show me your hands!" one officer, identified in the lawsuit as Deputy Joseph Kolp, screams at Hansen on the video.

No response.

"You're gonna get tased, dude," Kolp says.

(more)
http://www.komotv.com/stories/38384.htm

The guy was sleeping in his own yard and the police have the wrong man! IMHO the police use excessive force simply because they know they're on TeeVee! Or is it a macho thing with these guys? "Hey look everyone, I'm a man because I can legally beat the living crap out of other men and there's nothing anyone will do about it!!!! ~breath~ Okay, enough ranting.

[Sean Reynolds]

1. SOmething like this happened in SLC yesterday.

However COPS wasn't being filmed. A boy and his girlfriend were sitting in his backyard when he heard a noise on the side of the house. He got up and walked over when an officer demanded that he get on the ground. The kid, not knowing what was going on, froze. The officer then threw him on the ground and the police dog they had with him BIT the kid in the arm.

After a while they realized they had the wrong house and told the kid to just wash the dog bites and he should be fine.

Then they left.

Obviously the mother was pissed when she came home. And now they're sueing the Salt Lake City Police Department.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

2. You would have thought they would have been on thier best behavior

with the cameras running.

Test for steroids?

It's amazing, in the last twenty years, I've seen way too many of the local police go from normal looking humans to no-neck muscle mag wannabees.

[Mythsaje]

3. I've talked to more than a few cops

who HATE the TV show. They think too many of them play to the camera and use it as an easy excuse to violate their civil rights.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

4. Sue their sorry asses off. A thug is thug.

[icymist]

5. They've been playing the video on the news since yesterday.

It makes my blood boil. The police are out of control and now there is a video that proves it. I heard the theory before that these 'COPS' shows conditions the public for the next step, televised executions! It also behooves me that the video evidence was with-held from the victims lawyer until the police decide to drop the charges against this man for assault!?

[achtung_circus]

6. There is a Canadian quasi-equivalent show

called "To Serve and Protect". It is illuminating to watch the 2 shows in sequence. Where Cops involves take downs and guns and dogs and handcuffs, To Serve and Portect is a much better reflection of the reality.

They cover drunks and domestics and do a LOT more talking than wrestling. Playing to the camera the way they seem to do in Cops gives the wrong impression.

[slaveplanet]

13. Who sez

{i]Playing to the camera the way they seem to do in Cops gives the wrong impression.


they're playin?

[achtung_circus]

14. I've been videoed on the job.

It's difficult to think about anything else but the camera and how you are going to come across.

[slaveplanet]

16. I understand where you're coming from...

You react like how they want the slave to react...It's perfectly normal...you actively and subliminally worry about how you will come off If the tape were ever reviewed.

This is absolutely NOT the case with these cops shows.

This is more akin to a flag type psyop.

Throughout history the flag was/is used to tell people over there ...just what you are all about, over here. Before flags were developed there were drums and other signals.

So what you have here is the slavemaster training the other potential taskmasters how things are to be done. The use of incrementalization and one-upsmanship progression can be viewed by just examining episodes from the 1980's to the black ski-masked taser happy stormtroopers of today.

It is a very clever psyop with the dual purpose of training the militarized police that trampling of civil rights is commonplace, while at the same time conditioning the slaves to submit or you'll now know what to expect.

Entrapment, dubious forced entry, search and seizure, guilt by association, torture... it all becomes commonplace

The master cares not about how they'll come off, knowing full well the consequences will be slight in the commercial court systems.

Many may not realize the unwitting part they play in the bigger scheme.

But...

They're DEADLY serious, they are not playin...

[achtung_circus]

17. I guess I wasn't quite clear.

I've been videotaped by a camera crew while performing my uniformed duties, that video to be used for public consumption.

My response was to become calmer and more reasonable lest my actions be interpreted by an ignorant public as Gestapo-like.

That said, I can understand the imperativre that would make some people take the opportunity to show off and demonstrate how "tough" they are.

It might be a good test of a person's suitability for a law enforcement career.

[Deja Q]

7. COPS makes ratings and money. That's all Rupert Murdoch cares about.

The bastard has no morals or ethics whatsoever. Naturally. It's just business.

[Bucky]

8. Maybe they show off. But police brutality goes on w/o the lure of cameras.

The answer is to clamp down on police violence--treat it like any other form of assault.

[atommom]

9. I rarely watch the show, but I have seen them showing off for the camera.

There are a few cops out there who got into law enforcement because they enjoy bullying. (Not saying they're in the majority, by any means, just that they're out there.) I wonder if our current political climate has made those people bolder?

[Maat]

10. This recent law graduate saw an illegal search on an episode..

once.

Saw a girl walking down the street.

Searched her pockets - stating that he was looking for drugs.

It seems to me that during a "Terry stop," or a "stop and frisk," a) one must have a reasonable suspicion that a crime occurred, b) one must suspect that the party is carrying a weapon, and c) one is only allowed to search for a WEAPON, not specifically look for drugs.

That's per the United States Supreme Court.

Hope her attorney saw the video.

(No legal advice given here, only a humble opinion.)

[Spock_is_Skeptical]

11. Good for them, they should sue over this

Seems like shows like 'COPS' primarily feature lower income people getting arrested, often harassed - undoubtedly they figure these people aren't going to sue their asses off.

I've yet to see a rich yup get pulled over for some violation, dragged out of his fancy BMW, thrown down to the pavement and then have his vehicle searched on a cop show...

I fucking hate reality "cop" shows, they showcase the police brutalizing the poor (for the most part) and dehumanize people to this behavior, as if to 'normalize' it as an accepted part of society. Well, I'm sorry, that is NOT acceptable in my eyes.

I'm just glad to hear that at last someone is suing them for this kind of abuse.

[ryan_cats]

12. There was an episode in Fresno

There was an episode in Fresno where a prostitute was beaten up. The cops basically laughed at her. Then told her to sit in a dilapidated chair that was sitting by the side of the road. The chair collapsed and more hilarity ensued.
I don't care what the her crime was, she was still a human being and the cops getting their jollies off of her sad situation was just wrong.

[wli]

15. let's get some footage of police brutality at WTO demonstrations too

That stuff is pretty extreme. It makes some of the unionbusting going on in India look tame.