But first a report about the NYPD from
2004
Physical, sexual, and psychological violence.
A total of 65% of injectors and 40% of nonusers reported directly experiencing or witnessing perceived excessive police physical violence. This violence ranged from unnecessary kicks delivered during a stop to beatings that resulted in broken ribs and teeth. Additionally, some participants had known Anthony Baez, a local “college boy” killed by the police in 1994 after bouncing a ball against 2 squad cars.7 Injecting men described the direst gratuitous physical violence. One 36-year-old African American man, an injector, said,
I was carrying a pair of scissors and I got stopped and [the officer] said, “Do you have anything in your pocket that could stick me?” At first I was thinking of a needle . . . [so I said] “nah nah nah.” [He] put his hand in my pocket [and found the scissors]. He broke 4 of my ribs right on this side. Four. He broke them. Boom. Boom. Boom . . . Then he took the scissors and jabbed them in my face in the middle of my forehead . . . I was scared to damn death. They just left me [for] dead . . . They could have locked me up [but they didn’t]: trespassing, drug paraphernalia, possession of drugs . . . It hurt to breathe. What the hell.
Thirty-three percent of injectors and 12% of nonusers reported experiencing or witnessing police-perpetrated sexual violence. Injection drug using women, particularly sex workers, bore the brunt of this abuse. At the extreme end of the spectrum of sexual violence, 1 sex worker reported that an officer had raped her. Additionally, during frequent searches in the streets and other public spaces, officers delved into men’s and occasionally women’s underclothes in a protocol presumably designed to locate contraband. One man, a 35-year-old Hispanic injector, said,
They pulled my pants down past my knees . . . to search me [on the sidewalk]. The only thing that they needed to do was stick their finger up my ass. I think that was very degrading. That was very low. If I was clean . . . why you got to pull my pants down in front of everybody? . . . You got women and children walking by and you doing this . . . . [Then they] let us go. They didn’t even say, “Excuse us. Sorry.” Nothing.
Police stops could also involve psychological violence, typically in the form of name-calling, unnecessary physical threats, and the infliction of gratuitous prolonged discomfort, including hours-long journeys to the police station while in handcuffs; 63% of injectors and 44% of nonusers reported such abuse. Participants reported that officers referred to their “black asses” and called local women “bitches.” One participant noted that an officer had threatened to “stick [his] foot up [the participant’s] ass” when he tried to intercede in perceived police misconduct.
Participants, particularly injectors and younger nonusing men, described frequent police stops that they felt had little probable cause, describing them as “for no reason” and “for nothing.” According to one African American man, a 45-year-old nonuser, the police
just drove by and they saw people minding their own business sitting in front of their building and . . . they backed [the car] up [and got out]. And we’re standing on one side of the street saying, “Now they’re going to mess with them for no reason at all—they’re just sitting in front of their homes.”
Approximately two thirds of injectors and nonusers reported stops for “no reason.” The accumulation of such encounters left many residents, particularly nonusing young men and injectors, feeling “insecure” and “uncomfortable” when outside; this insecurity was compounded for people who feared that unnecessary violence or life disruption was imminent during every police stop.
Discussing frequent stops, one male participant, a 27-year-old Hispanic nonuser, said,
When I’m outside . . . sometimes I fear for my well-being because I could just be on my way to the grocery store . . . and get caught up in something. . . . Just because of the way [the police] are doing things now, I could be sent through the system. I might have to see a judge 24 hours later and all I wanted was a loaf of bread.
Given their frequency and resulting fear, we labeled stops “for nothing” as “perceived harassment” and classified them as a form of psychological abuse. For the vast majority of participants, then, officers simultaneously served as both sources of violence and much-needed assistance."
Eventually that much needed assistance is no longer enough.
The contempt of the public the police are expressing seems to be reaching new heights in the NYPD.
I like how the whiteshirt blocks the camera immediately after the attacking officer walks by him. Almost like he was told to hide the evidence of a premeditated attack.
The DOJ has clear guidelines on the use of force, provided by the Las Vegas PD.
USE OF FORCE TO AFFECT A DETENTION, AN ARREST OR TO CONDUCT A SEARCH
A. Officers may use reasonable force:
1. To protect themselves;
2. To protect others;
3. To affect a lawful detention;
4. To affect a lawful arrest;
5. To conduct a lawful search.
B. If it is not already known by the subject to be detained, arrested, or searched, officers should, if reasonable, make clear their intent to detain, arrest or search the subject. When practicable, officers will identify themselves as a peace officer before using force.
I rarely see any clear warning given to citizens before police arrack them. But the use of force is supposed to be meted out on an as needed basis only.
The public is not the police's private piñata.
The officer will use a level of force that is necessary and within the range of “objectively reasonable” options. When use of force is needed, officers will assess each incident to determine, based on policy, training and experience, which use of force option will de-escalate the situation and bring it under control in a safe and prudent manner. Reasonable and sound judgment will dictate the force option to be employed. Therefore, the department examines all uses of force from an objective standard rather than a subjective standard.
Objectively reasonable. Meaning officers need to look at the situation from a neutral perspective. Every situation. And again I emphasize that what ever the subject had done in the past is irrelevant in regards to the use of force. The minimal amount of force to effect an arrest is the standard. But obviously our police seem to think that is an archaic standard.
So what what was the great crime this man supposedly did to suffer potentially fatal assault?
You can guess, can't you?
Officers on patrol in their squad car allegedly saw Mr. Cuffee rolling a marijuana cigarette outside the home, authorities said. The officers approached Mr. Cuffee, whom authorities said was caught trying to put the rolled cigarette behind his chair.