Seattle officer punches girl in face during jaywalking stop

Boxes&Books

SEATTLE -- Seattle police are investigating what they call an assault of an officer in South Seattle.

However, a police officer is seen punching a 17-year-old girl in the face during the incident captured by a video camera on Monday.

According to Seattle police, the incident began when an officer spotted a man jaywalking in the 3100 block of Martin Luther King, Jr. Way S. at approximately 3:10 p.m. The man was some 15 feet away from a pedestrian overpass, police said.

The officer was talking to the man when he saw four young women jaywalk across the same street at the same spot. The officer asked the women to step over to his patrol car, but the women were being "verbally antagonistic toward the officer," according to officials.

One of the women, later identified as a 19 year old, began to walk away from the scene despite the officer's instructions, prompting the officer to walk over to her and escort her back to his patrol car.

The girl then "began to tense up her arm, and pull away from the officer while yelling at him," investigators said. The officer told the girl to place her hands on his patrol car, but she refused. When the officer tried to grab hold of her, "she pulled away and twisted, breaking free of the officer's grip several times," the blotter report said.

When the officer tried to handcuff the girl, another girl, this one 17 years old, intervened and placed her hands on the officer's arm, "causing the officer to believe she was attempting to physically affect the first subject's escape," police said.

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

The officer then handcuffed the 19-year-old woman. Other officers arrived and helped handcuff the second girl.

Both teens were cited for jaywalking. The older suspect was booked into the King County Jail for investigation of obstructing an officer. 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.

Seattle police have not reviewed the video of the incident. Sgt. Sean Whitcomb said investigators may review the video on Tuesday.

Whitcomb said the officer involved in the incident sent out a call for help, prompting other officers to rush to his aid.

All use of force on the job is reviewed, Whitcomb said, as use of force is under the officer's discretion. He added that punching is a trained tactic.

"There will be a thorough investigation into this incident," he said.

http://www.katu.com/news/local/96353934.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9w9Afpt ... r_embedded

FiveB247x

Protect and serve... or something.

vomikus39

It is a trivial crime, but it is there for a purpose. It's foolish to see something like this transpire from a jaywalking infraction. Maybe there is more to the story. Maybe the cop felt threatened with no back up and a crowd around him. When the fools videotaping the incident said that the girl who the cop punched didnt grab him, they are wrong. Would I have punched the woman? No. Like I said, maybe there is more that went down. I feel for the girls in this video, I mean the cop is still a man and that woman is a woman. She did grab him, but to punch her? Not smart and not cool. On the flip side of the argument, word of advice, stop resisting, even if the cop is wrong, IT DOES NOTHING BUT HURT YOU EVEN MORE. Screaming "get the fuck off me" a million times doesn't help the situation. Is that cop a racist? How the hell would I know. It's sad to see something like that over something everyone does. No winners here, and I conclude that with the cop being a "professional", he should have handled this much better. However, I was never a cop, actually I am the opposite, so I can't genuinely put myself in his shoes. Also, there may be events that we didn't see. Overall, everyone sucks

Smellyman

I'm not one to immediately defend police but c'mon!

quit resisting so much.....

over frickin jaywalking

blackredyellow

There is a thread over on AET, and here was my response there:


That's a tough one...

a few thoughts:
1) jaywalking is such a horseshit offense, and it definitely isn't worth escalating to this.
2) but once the girl started fighting back and resisting, what is the cop really supposed to do? then you have a second person getting involved, and now the cop is outnumbered with more people standing by.
3) either he packs up shop and gets out of there, or he has to do what he can to contain the people and get himself out of danger (perceived or real). He is engaged with one girl, and second is grabbing him, what happens if a 3rd person grabs his gun while he's tied up?

While punching her in the face looks terrible, is it better to taze her?

What seemed odd is that this cop was unable to take the first girl down and cuff her... do they not get good training? I took karate classes for a couple years like 20 years ago, and I would think that I could pretty cleanly/easily take down a teenage girl who I was bigger and stronger than.


In the end, what the fuck is wrong with people though? A cop stops you and asks you for identification because you committed a crime, why start resisting and fighting him/her? It's NEVER going to end in your favor.

Jason P

Chicken shit tickets.

chadwick

Jason P wrote:

Chicken shit tickets.

why keep on resisting all squirrely like getting all loud and stupid?
chicken shit ticket got 2 girls jammned up, one punched, the other wrestled around.
take your jaywalking ticket and stand there nicely with mouth shut... simple shit.

Jason P

chadwick wrote:

Jason P wrote:

Chicken shit tickets.

why keep on resisting all squirrely like getting all loud and stupid?
chicken shit ticket got 2 girls jammned up, one punched, the other wrestled around.
take your jaywalking ticket and stand there nicely with mouth shut... simple shit.

I wasn't trying to rationalize their behavior. I just don't like seeing the police spend their resources on raping the taxpayers when there are more serious threats then people crossing the street illegally.

Godfather.

sounds to me like she had it coming.....I can't believe these two got stupid over a j-walking offense ???
sounds like a couple of tweekers to me :?


Godfather.

he still stands

anybody that says she deserved it... needs to get punched in the fucking face. Fucking idiots. I would have jumped that fucking pig beat the fuck out of his beef and cheese filled face.

fuck da police.

all of em.

Fifthelement

Jason P wrote:

I wasn't trying to rationalize their behavior. I just don't like seeing the police spend their resources on raping the taxpayers when there are more serious threats then people crossing the street illegally.

I'll reiterate what I said on the AET thread regarding this incident

Fifthelement wrote:

Pepe Silvia wrote:

had her or a 3rd person tried to grab his gun this would be a point, however.....what happened was a group of young girls were being detained for jaywalking.

sure she probably shouldn't have grabbed his arm but what would've happened if he had let her arm go? at the most she might run off and -gasp- jaywalk another day!? :shock: seriously, is that the argument?

secondly the cop didn't even have his back turned when this happened, so it's not like he thought someone was trying to grab his gun or anything, he got pissed and punched her. he wasn't in fear for his life or unsure of what might happen next.

i say the cop is a jackass and needs to stop being such a pussy and get his quota doing real police work :thumbdown:

IT WAS FUCKING JAYWALKING to go to such lengths to detain people over that is just fucking stupid. how many of you don't wear your seat belts? i would like to see a cop detain you at his car with his hand on your neck for jaywalking or not wearing your seatbelt or something really small. i'm sure you guys would be on here bitching about what a dick he was for going to all that trouble over such a small infraction

protect and serve - who was he protecting?

what about people who rip the tags off their mattress?

Um, actually that's what he was doing. He was enforcing a law (or by-law). Just because a law seems inconsequential to you doesn't mean that it shouldn't be enforced (that goes for seatbelts violations and speeding tickets as well).

The simple fact is she is the one that caused the situation. Hell, if she'd cooperated in the beginning, she probably could have gone to court to contest the citation. Chances are he wouldn't have showed up in court and she probably could have gotten out of the ticket. Regardless, she is responsible for her actions. The girl isn't stupid, just wilfull, entitled and ignorant. The one that jumped in between the arresting officer and the suspect, on the other-hand, had more courage than brains at the moment. Not exactly a good combination when dealing with someone who is a lawful police officer and armed to boot.

I'll also add some stats regarding jaywalking in that particular area

The incident happened at Martin Luther King Jr. Way South near the arterial's intersection with Rainier Avenue South, in the vicinity of Franklin High School.

A Seattle transportation department plan released in 2006 called for Seattle police pedestrian-safety patrols to target jaywalking, particularly near Franklin High and north of South McClellan Street by the Lowe's hardware store.

Between 2002 and 2006 more jaywalkers were hit by vehicles on Rainier Avenue South than in any other corridor in the city.

During that period, 61 pedestrians were struck while jaywalking on Rainier Avenue South -- nearly double the number of accidents on Aurora Avenue North, which had the second highest number of jaywalkers hit with 35, according to Seattle Transportation Department records.

Also during that period, 23 other jaywalkers were hit in the South End, on Martin Luther King Jr. Way South and on Beacon Avenue South. Those roads also accounted for 126 pedestrian accidents at intersections.

There were six jaywalking accidents on Aurora Avenue North in the several blocks south of North 125th Street between 2002 and 2006, tying that short stretch of roadway with Rainier Avenue South between South Hudson Street and 39th Avenue South for the highest number of jaywalking collisions in the city.

Between 2006 and 2006, the State Department of Transportation launched the Washington State Corridor Safety Program.

source http://www.seattlepi.com/local/421842_cop16.html

I don't see a paid civil servant doing his/her job of attempting to protect the lives and limbs, of both jaywalkers and motorists, as, "raping the taxpayers." In fact, the behaviour of the girls wasted valuable time and resources of the Seattle PD especially when they could have been out dealing "with more serious threats" as you put it.

Fifthelement

he still stands wrote:

anybody that says she deserved it... needs to get punched in the fucking face. Fucking idiots. I would have jumped that fucking pig beat the fuck out of his beef and cheese filled face.

fuck da police.

all of em.

And then we could have watched the video of you being shot She deserved it! Btw, I didn't realise that you could access the Internet from the Pen Awesome!

polaris_x

giving jaywalking tickets is uncalled for in my eyes but having said that - you just can't resist a police officer ... what i found interesting was none of the guys stepped in ... they knew the drill ... just relax ... that cop sucked balls tho also - he couldn't contain the one girl (hoping because he was trying not to hurt her) ...

sad on all counts ...

Fifthelement

polaris_x wrote:

giving jaywalking tickets is uncalled for in my eyes but having said that - you just can't resist a police officer ... what i found interesting was none of the guys stepped in ... they knew the drill ... just relax ... that cop sucked balls tho also - he couldn't contain the one girl (hoping because he was trying not to hurt her) ...

sad on all counts ...

One guy did step in to restrain the girl in the pink shirt. He also attempted to hold her back from going at the cop in the first place. I think the officer showed remarkable restraint. He definitely could have used greater force to take her down, but in doing so he could have inflamed the crowd to a greater degree.

LikeAnOcean

I'm kind of mixed on this. The cop was put in an awkward position and something with more force needed to be done, but a punch to the face? Like someone mentioned, the punch was better than being tasered. She was uninjured..

To the guy who wants to beat up the police, get a grip. Police are human like you and me, and like you and me are capable of abusing authority, but unlike you and me, their lives are put into danger everyday, and they are often pushed to their limits.. maybe punching her wasn't the right thing, but he was losing his patience and was overwelmed.. similar to your human urge to jump the officer, the police reacted the same on the lady.

unsung

SHE DESERVED IT

Also there are crosswalks to use to cross roads so cars can watch for people there. If someone wants to play Frogger and they get hit by a car they better not expect to sue the driver.

LikeAnOcean

unsung wrote:

SHE DESERVED IT

Also there are crosswalks to use to cross roads so cars can watch for people there. If someone wants to play Frogger and they get hit by a car they better not expect to sue the driver.

He should have bitch slapped her, so it would be more politically correct.

he still stands

Fifthelement wrote:

he still stands wrote:

anybody that says she deserved it... needs to get punched in the fucking face. Fucking idiots. I would have jumped that fucking pig beat the fuck out of his beef and cheese filled face.

fuck da police.

all of em.

And then we could have watched the video of you being shot She deserved it! Btw, I didn't realise that you could access the Internet from the Pen Awesome!

right on, yeah jaywalking is a great reason to apprehend someone and punch them. What we need is MORE police to protect us. I feel so unsafe everywhere I go... I need to be lead, I need protection, cause I'm weak and can't take care of myself. What we need is cops to knock on everyone's door every night just to make sure everything is okay. More cameras, too. Hell, lets just put nerf padding on everything so we're all safe. Jaywalking should be a felony punishable by death.

I don't understand this world any longer... She deserved it? That seems like the most stupid, ignorant, sheltered statement ever.

Godfather.

he still stands wrote:

anybody that says she deserved it... needs to get punched in the fucking face. Fucking idiots. I would have jumped that fucking pig beat the fuck out of his beef and cheese filled face.

fuck da police.

all of em.

your not very bright are you, you sound like one of those girls.....are you ? then hit them with your purse.

Godfather.

LikeAnOcean

he still stands wrote:

Fifthelement wrote:

he still stands wrote:

anybody that says she deserved it... needs to get punched in the fucking face. Fucking idiots. I would have jumped that fucking pig beat the fuck out of his beef and cheese filled face.

fuck da police.

all of em.

And then we could have watched the video of you being shot She deserved it! Btw, I didn't realise that you could access the Internet from the Pen Awesome!

right on, yeah jaywalking is a great reason to apprehend someone and punch them. What we need is MORE police to protect us. I feel so unsafe everywhere I go... I need to be lead, I need protection, cause I'm weak and can't take care of myself. What we need is cops to knock on everyone's door every night just to make sure everything is okay. More cameras, too. Hell, lets just put nerf padding on everything so we're all safe. Jaywalking should be a felony punishable by death.

I don't understand this world any longer... She deserved it? That seems like the most stupid, ignorant, sheltered statement ever.

It may be petty, but people make the laws and expect officers to enforce them. If you were a cop and needed to do your job and write a petty ticket, and someone tore that ticket up and spat in your face, how would you react? Would you just laugh it off and agree? Hell no, you'd do something or get your ass fired if I was your superior.. I'm not saying punch them, but if you were overwelmed and being attacked yourself, the human urge to do so would be there.. taser them, bitch slap them, whatever is more politically correct.

blackredyellow

he still stands wrote:

Fifthelement wrote:

he still stands wrote:

anybody that says she deserved it... needs to get punched in the fucking face. Fucking idiots. I would have jumped that fucking pig beat the fuck out of his beef and cheese filled face.

fuck da police.

all of em.

And then we could have watched the video of you being shot She deserved it! Btw, I didn't realise that you could access the Internet from the Pen Awesome!

right on, yeah jaywalking is a great reason to apprehend someone and punch them. What we need is MORE police to protect us. I feel so unsafe everywhere I go... I need to be lead, I need protection, cause I'm weak and can't take care of myself. What we need is cops to knock on everyone's door every night just to make sure everything is okay. More cameras, too. Hell, lets just put nerf padding on everything so we're all safe. Jaywalking should be a felony punishable by death.

I don't understand this world any longer... She deserved it? That seems like the most stupid, ignorant, sheltered statement ever.

Almost as stupid, ignorant and sheltered as condemning an entire profession of people, and saying from the safety of behind your computer, that you would have "I would have jumped that fucking pig beat the fuck out of his beef and cheese filled face". Yeah... sure you would have...