Dont be homeless in Orange County - Kalifornia

[sledgemeister]

Probably the most disgusting display of police work I have seen captured on video - least Rodney King lived!
Bet there will be no riots on the street for this poor bastard.

A dramatic combination of video and voice recordings captured during the beating by Fullerton Police officers of mentally ill transient Kelly Thomas were introduced as evidence Monday in the preliminary hearing for two officers charged with felonies in Thomas's death.

The altercation begins around 15:20 into the clip.
 
Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas has said the footage, as well as audio from the officers’ audio recorders, proved crucial to his filing of criminal charges against two of the involved officers.

Read more: ht p://www.kfiam640.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=104668&article=10109243#ixzz1uds0K9NL

[Big Frank]

I guess they beat him to death just for the fun of it.

[sledgemeister]

The latino copper pushed and pushed and pushed the guy until he did something, even his body language, the use of the batten suggested he wanted somethng to occur.
I am not knocking LEO's, I believe 99.9% do an oustanding job and deal with the worst of the worst. But in this situation it could have been handled a lot better, and since it involved a mentally disabled bloke being choked out and bludgeoned to death I think most would have to agree.

[twyacht]

I normally would never impose such vulgarity or ill will on hopefully what will become "former" LEO's,....but I hope they get gang raped in prison....more than once.

Gee,...just a news blurb,....not one National  MSM outlet covered it, except Fox News and that was just a "segment".....Just imagine if Thomas was black....It would be wall to wall coverage 24/7.

Sad it's not a CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC link,....it would be if the "race" of the deceased was different.

[Rastus]

............., I believe 99.9% do an oustanding job.........

Way too high.

[Sponsor]

[Pathfinder]

Way too high.

Agreed. I'm thinking 50-50 at this point, and that is for rural LEOs. I have witnessed even rural county sheriff deputy FTOs in action, so maybe even 50-50 is too high.

I'm guessing for cities it is probably 25% decent. Maybe.

[Pathfinder]

I just watched the video, then did some research. This all happened last year in July. The 2 LEOs charged had a preliminary hearing on May 9th this year. Here's the Wiki posting for it:

"A preliminary hearing to determine if there is sufficient evidence for a trial was held on May 9, 2012. The court ordered that two of the police officers involved will stand trial. Officer Manuel Ramos is charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter, and Cpl. Jay Patrick Cicinelli is charged with involuntary manslaughter and felony use of excessive force. The next hearing is scheduled for May 22."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Kelly_Thomas

LEOs have contributed to their defense fund.

Thoughts:

The donut muncher at the beginning definitely was out of line with the baton in hand and swinging it like that. Nothing but intimidation and provocation.

I heard someone in the mess of LEOs at the end talk about wiping stuff down - like blood on one car - wonder why they didn't get charged for obstruction at the very least. The wiki article did say that the Fullerton DA has a poor record of pursuing LEO charges, so the FBI got called in.

At first, other than the baton twirling, I didn't see anything that isn't considered normal LEO work these days, even to the original take down off camera. Of course, the fact that it is considered "normal" is in an of itself a problem.

The donut muncher at one point appeared to have one hand in his pocket (right hand) and had crossed his right foot in front of the left, leaning back a bit. Very relaxed pose for a guy standing inches away from someone he thinks is a problem enough to stop him. Crappy LEO work or trying to provoke again?

In case many of you do not understand why this guy died, check the picture of his face at the hospital. Apparently the LEOs smashed his face repeatedly - while tasing him 6 times - into the curb. Ingesting blood in his lungs as well as a smashed larynx was sufficient to cause him to suffocate enough to cause brain damage, requiring a respirator.

When the guy went limp and non-responsive, I would have hoped at least some of the LEOs would have stepped back and said enough. Or one of the late comers.

25% may be too high, it's all about the so-called "thin blue line" these days.