Handcuffed man dies in custody of police

[FormerOstrich]

Yes, in Phoenix. However, with all the attention from the first one, they certainly are in CYA mode now. This article is has more spin than the pretzel incident.

However, my question is.....is it considered probable cause to pull someone over because they were believe to be parked in front of two known drug houses in a short amount of time?

A handcuffed man stopped breathing and died after struggling with Phoenix police officers who were arresting him early Thursday.
....
But experts say just the process of being arrested can trigger physiological responses that could lead to death in people experiencing "excited delirium," in which a shutdown of bodily function occurs after sensory overload.
....
"It's mostly a roll of the dice," Keene said.
....
Poole was stopped after patrol officers saw the same car parked in front of two known drugs houses in central Phoenix in a short time. Officers chased Poole into a park and fought with him to get him into custody, police said.

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[malaise]

1. The police excesses these days are mindblowing

but my question is why go after buyers instead of the people operating the 'so called' drug houses.

[Swamp Rat]

3. We ain't seen nuthin' yet!

Just wait until Blackwater is patroling streets in the USA on a regular basis. :hide:

[JTFrog]

4. Even that is scary.

Remember the 90 year old woman who was shot in her house because they thought it was a "drug house". Turned out to be totally bogus.

The problem is the so-called War on Drugs. And this War on Terror. Bogus all of it. It's all about profit and killing off the poor. Why do we bother to record history? Must be the rich folks way of preserving their plans for their descendants, as we certainly don't do it to prevent each other from making the same mistakes over and over.

[malaise]

8. Good point n/t

[progdonkey]

2. no lawyer, but that sounds like probable cause...

Kind of like if two banks are robbed and witnesses report the same white sedan leaving both scenes just after the robberies: it could just be coincidence, but I don't think it'd be unreasonable for the cops to then put out an APB on the vehicle and try to find the driver to ask him/her questions, and if the driver runs, they'd be justified in restraining him.

Until they do an investigation, I'll reserve final judgment on whether the force used in the arrest was excessive, but if they didn't use a tazer or pepper spray him and they didn't do anything past what they normally would do, it sounds like it's just a tragic occurrence but not an example of police brutality.

[FormerOstrich]

6. I understand your logic but...

I don't believe it is the same. Robberies are something that actually occurred. "Known" drug houses sound fairly speculative to me. For instance, if they are known, why aren't they busted?

Robberies are also a point in time. I assume "known" drug houses are constant. After all, I bet daily the mailman stops in front of both houses. Whereas with the bank robberies the sedan was speeding away at the time.

They didn't mention they saw the person entering the homes. Even if they did, unless there was an undercover operation witnessing activity would there be anything illegal with going to the home. Should a door to door salesman have to worry about being stopped and interrogated because there might be suspicious houses on his route?

Granted, I am no lawyer either, but I would like for a DU legal type to give their opinion. From what I read, I see no probable cause.

[progdonkey]

7. true...

though, regarding the drug houses being "known," I think the police don't bust them because they hope to catch deliveries to the house, etc. They can keep track of who comes and goes, and thereby perhaps get a list of possible informants, find out who the head dealer there is, follow him to discover where he gets his supply, etc.

Your door-to-door salesman and mailman analogies are probably as faulty as my bank robbery one, though, just in the sense that a unit staking out the drug houses would see that the mailman or salesman went from house to house to house, so it's reasonable to conclude he wasn't seeking out that specific house. If the guy was parked in front of one drug house and the cops saw him leave the neighborhood, and then another unit scoping the other drug house reports that this car stopped in front of the second drug house, it'd be reasonable to conclude he was specifically visiting these two houses. As for not mentioning whether he was seen entering either of the houses, that could be an error of omission by the writer of the article, or it could be that it's not unusual for people not to leave their cars when making a drug deal, as the dealer or one of his proxies will come out to the car.

I of course don't know what the absolute facts are so it's definitely all speculation, but there's nothing in the story that really made me think "wow, that's so unnecessary" (like that recent story of the girl whose wrist was broken when a school security officer used extremely excessive force--and called the black girl a "nappy head"--in restraining her because she didn't clean up her spilled cake crumbs to his satisfaction).

[MADem]

5. Well, those aren't the same police forces. The first one was airport cops. But that IS odd.

Sounds like some cop had his knee in the wrong place while they were arresting the guy.

Police haven't released details about the struggle that led to Poole's death, although officials said they did use "physical force" to take him into custody. The officers did not pepper-spray Poole or use a Taser.

Poole was stopped after patrol officers saw the same car parked in front of two known drugs houses in central Phoenix in a short time. Officers chased Poole into a park and fought with him to get him into custody, police said.

Shortly after police handcuffed Poole, he became unresponsive. He was pronounced dead less than an hour later.