Daily Mail UK: Police have launched an internal investigation after a 19-year-old woman claims she suffered a miscarriage after being pepper-sprayed at an Occupy Seattle protest.
Jennifer M. Fox says police kicked her and hit her in the stomach with a bicycle at the encampment on November 15 and also doused her with pepper spray. She says she was three months pregnant at the time.
Thing of it is... the Occupy protesters have been pepper-sprayed in the face - even while seated on the ground, shot with rubber bullets, beaten and shoved with batons and dragged by the arms and hair - sometimes while handcuffed. Police have also confiscated, destroyed and trashed protestors' property.
Nearly everyone who defends police actions, in almost very case says something similar to, "To be fair, we weren't there so don't know what everyone was experiencing or feeling. We have no way of knowing what happened before. Police are people too."
Seattle activist Dorli Rainey, 84, after being hit with pepper spray during an Occupy Seattle protest. (Joshua Trujillo/AP). Click here for video of Dorli Rainey on Countdown with Keith Olbermann
Police need to be and are supposed to be, held to a higher standard than other citizens. Police are trained and armed. It is neither the role or the duty of law enforcement to punish. Consider the following:
"Every day, police professionals decide and act while balancing competing and conflicting values and interests, frequently with incomplete or inaccurate information, often in highly emotional and dynamic circumstances, and typically under pressure.
Police officers are held to a higher standard of behavior by society, because they are stewards of the public trust and are empowered to apply force and remove constitutional privileges when lawfully justified. They take an oath of office, are expected to comply with professional codes of ethics, and are subject to various laws, rules, and regulations.
An officer develops his or her moral compass, character, or ethical base, from interacting with other individuals and studying ethics. Ethics training for police professionals helps them do the following:
• Readily recognize an ethical problem or dilemma
• Identify various options to address the particular issue involved
• Make a rational and ethically sound choice of which option to choose
• Take prompt action based upon that choice
• Accept responsibility for the outcome
Police professionals cannot simply think ethically; they must also act ethically. Ethics training provides tools for addressing ethical problems, but the police professional must have the courage to act.
Responding to a particular situation has two components: reaction (emotions and thought) and action. The law typically focuses on the action, that is, so long as the action complies with the law, the reason is generally irrelevant.
But ethics considers not only the action but also the motivation for the action. Thus, doing the right thing for the wrong reason is not ethical. Police professionals aiming for ethical excellence must also consider motives behind behavior."
The above was not by a civilian, a public defender or an ACLU lawyer. It was taken from Police Chief Magazine, Ethics Training for Police By Tag Gleason, Captain, Seattle Police Department, Seattle, Washington
I think, part of the problem is, law enforcement has no particular set of rules, or training to deal specifically with non-violent people in large groups. I looked and couldn't find a thing. Police - at least, in NY - also feel they have the permission of the city to do whatever they feel is necessary. Blue shirts are in the streets and so are their white shirted supervisors and law enforcement has become just as emotional as the people they're trying to keep under control. What's worse - from law enforcement's point of view - when they shut down an occupation, the protesters come right back. Well, of course they come back... They have to come back. The protesters are out there fighting for what they - and others - believe to be wrong; for their livelihoods, homes, families... their country and way of life. Law enforcement is doing a job... and that's why, the more force the police use, the more they lose for the people and entities they represent.
"Nonviolent action tends to turn the opponent's violence and repression against his own power position, weakening it and at the same time strengthening the nonviolent group. Because violent action and nonviolent action possess quite different mechanisms, and induce differing forces of change in the society, the opponent's repression. . . can never really come to grips with the kind of power wielded by the nonviolent actionists." [ThePolitics of Nonviolent Action, Part II. Pp. 111-113 by Dr. Gene Sharp].
Some protesters have been hospitalized because of injuries inflicted during these incidents. The violence carried out by police - in almost every case and in my opinion - has been unprovoked, excessive and disproportional to any threat against the police themselves and the public, in general. Emotions run high. Police have the training and a duty to the public, "because they are stewards of the public trust and are empowered to apply force and remove constitutional privileges when lawfully justified."
Question is, what is justification? Does a person deserve to be beaten, sprayed, etc., at all, in a non-violent protest? At what point is a protester no longer non-violent? Can and do the police consider being yelled at by a protester, threatening? Is being yelled at, cause for use of non-lethal force?
UC Davis Police's Ruthless, Ragtag Approach Toward Demonstrators:
"In a shabby spectacle, an officer empties his pepper spray canister at close range on a small group of seated individuals. The victims, mostly students, bury their heads in their shirts for protection, eventually incapacitated enough to be easily carried away. As the nearly-ten minute video progresses, though, it becomes clear that the group of officers has no exit strategy. With guns drawn, they are nearly surrounded by the overwhelming group of (still peaceful) protesters. In a rousing show of solidarity, a "mic check" is called. The protesters inform the police: "We are willing to give you a brief moment of peace; so that you may take your weapons, and our friends, and go. Please do not return. We are giving you a moment of peace." Thankfully, the cops take the hint, and slink away to the chant "you can go"". Read more: East Bay Express
Is there any reason for a police officer to pepper spray a person who has already been detained, is handcuffed and sitting on the ground, in the face? For what purpose? And in a situation like that, does it matter what happened before the person was detained? Let's say, for the sake of argument, the officer was called an ass hole. Is that a justification for non-lethal force?
The information that follows comes from the Institute of Justice and the FBI and all seems say, in so many words, that police are supposed to use the least amount of force needed and that less lethal technologies, like pepper spray are, "an alternative to using other physical force options that potentially are more dangerous to officers and suspects."
Source:http://www.nij.gov/topics/law-enforcement/officer-safety/use-of-force/welcome.htm
Less-Lethal Technologies
Police officers sometimes need to control violent, combative people. Their actions under such circumstances are governed by use-of-force protocols.
Less-lethal technologies give police an alternative to using other physical force options that potentially are more dangerous to officers and suspects. The technologies currently in use include conducted-energy devices (such as Tasers), beanbag rounds, pepper spray and stun grenades.
NIJ Focuses on Making Arrests Safer
The goal of NIJ's less-lethal program is to provide law enforcement and corrections officers with equipment that protects them and the public, reducing the possibility of injury or death. NIJ collaborates with international experts from various fields (for example, medical, scientific, military) when conducting or coordinating research. See Less-Lethal Technology Partnerships.Prominent areas of inquiry include:See Technology Research, Development and Evaluation Process. Go to Deciding When and How to Use Less-Lethal Devices. Source:http://www.nij.gov/nij/topics/technology/less-lethal/welcome.htm
- Enabling law enforcement and corrections agencies to safely deny individuals or groups access to areas.
- Making projectiles safe at any distance by modeling the technology and techniques that officers can use to deliver less-lethal force.
- Understanding the human health effects of less-lethal technologies, including chemical, kinetic energy and Conducted Energy Devices such as Tasers.
- Analyzing information about incidents of the use-of-force against humans, including the nature of the force applied and the nature of injuries suffered.
Report Civil Rights ViolationsResources
- File a Report with Your Local FBI Office
- File a Report over Our Internet Tip Line
- Visit Our Victim Assistance Site
- Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law Statute
- Principles for Promoting Police Integrity (pdf)
- Addressing Police Misconduct Brochure
- Law Enforcement Misconduct FAQs
Source: http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/civilrights/color_of_law
See also, elsewhere:
UC Davis agrees not to punish student protesters | SignOnSanDiego.com
www.signonsandiego.com/.../uc-davis-agrees-not-to-punish-student-...UC Davis agrees not to punish student protesters. Comments ( ) ... Officials at the University of California, Davis have agreed not pursue disciplinary ...
UC Davis Pepper-Spray Cops Punished, Also Defended by Ex-Cop ...
inagist.com/carr2n/138385099870846976/1 day ago – UC Davis Pepper-Spray Cops 'Punished,' Also Defended by ... sfnewsnow : UC officials to review Occupy protest policies: Two UC Davis police ...
198 Methods of Nonviolent Action These methods were compiled by Dr. Gene Sharp and first published in his 1973 book, The Politics of Nonviolent Action, Vol. 2: The Methods of Nonviolent Action. (Boston: Porter Sargent Publishers, 1973). The book outlines each method and gives information about its historical use. http://www.aeinstein.org/organizations103a.html
Norm Stamper: Police Brutality: Deal With It: As a rookie cop, why did I abuse the very people I'd been hired to serve? Law enforcement, for the most part, doesn't pick bad apples. It makes them, and not through academy training.... Not to get too psychological, I did it because the power of my position went straight to my head; because other cops I'd come to admire did it; and because I thought I could get away with it. Which I did--until a principled prosecutor slapped me upside the head and demanded to know whether the U.S. Constitution meant anything to me. It comes down to this: real cops, those with a conscience, those who honor the law, must step up and take control of the cop culture. Read more: HP
Related:
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Thing of it is...: The People - The Police... Some peopleOct 27, 2011When a marine sergeant stands and confronts police about their behavior, some people will call him belligerent and say, "The police weren't doing anything when he was doing the yelling, so that sergeant is out of line". ...
Thing of it is...: Fake Rubber Bullet Wounds: Not Helping!Nov 18, 2011"Videos made by police photographers show officers laughing after a woman attorney, dressed in a red business suit, was shot five times with rubber bullets during a November 2003 protest of the Free Trade Summit in Miami. ...Thing of it is...: Occupy Wall St. Evicted: What Now? [My 2 Cents]Nov 15, 2011Hundreds of New York police officers rolled into Zuccotti Park just after 1 a.m. Tuesday with a dump truck and orders to clear the park, arrest the defiant and throw away their possessions. The New York Times reported that ...
Thing of it is...: Occupy Wall St.Sep 28, 2011It's become more about the behavior of the protesters and the police. People are .... "Today we received unconfirmed reports that over one hundred blue collar police refused to come into work in solidarity with our movement. ...Veterans and Soldiers - For and Against Occupy Wall StreetNov 11, 2011Civilians raced toward a fallen protester lying on his back on the pavement, mere steps from a throng of black-clad police in full riot gear, pointing guns as the civilians attempted to administer first aid. The fallen protester was ...
https://www.commondreams.org/further/2011/11/14-1#.TsRnkE_Qj-1.facebook
"Justice without force is powerless; force without justice is tyrannical." ~Blaise Pascal
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