Baltimore Cop vs kid

[Warpath]

wjz.com - Officer Suspended After Appearing In YouTube Video
Officer Suspended After Appearing In YouTube Video
Richard Sher BALTIMORE (WJZ) ―
A 17-year veteran of the Baltimore police force has been suspended with pay pending an internal investigation of his actions involving a 14-year-old skateboarder at Baltimore's Inner Harbor.
Richard Sher reports video of the confrontation in question appears on YouTube.com.
It happened mid-summer when City Police Officer Salvatore Rivieri asked 14-year-old Eric Bush and his friends to stop skateboarding at the Inner Harbor. Skateboarding is illegal there.
Bush's friend was videotaping the exchange, which at one point shows the officer grabbing Bush's skateboard and throwing him to the ground.
"He was just like up in my face, yelling at me...then he tackled me," Eric said. "It was like scary because I have diabetes and my blood sugar went crazy 'cause he scared me."
"I started watching the video and couldn't continue. I flipped out," said Peggy Miller, Eric's mother.
"I saw the tape. The officer handled the situation so poorly. It is very clear this is unacceptable," said Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon.
Officer Rivieri, a 17-year veteran of the BCPD, has been suspended with pay while the department conducts an internal investigation.
"The police commissioner, the mayor and the top command staff saw the video and are disappointed," said Sterling Clifford, spokesperson for the Baltimore City Police Department.
The attorney whose law firm represents Rivieri is defending the officer's actions.
"Police officers have a hard job. in this particular video, you dont see what happened before the officer took the boy down to the ground," Henry Belsky said. "Until you see the totality of what happened, one really does not know what reappy happened down there."
Many viewers have emailed Eyewitness News supporting the officer suggesting that what occurred before the confrontation was not shown on the tape.

Heres the story from a local Baltimore station.

[DynamiteRave]

Originally Posted by Warpath

wjz.com - Officer Suspended After Appearing In YouTube Video
Officer Suspended After Appearing In YouTube Video
Richard Sher BALTIMORE (WJZ) ―
A 17-year veteran of the Baltimore police force has been suspended with pay pending an internal investigation of his actions involving a 14-year-old skateboarder at Baltimore's Inner Harbor.
Richard Sher reports video of the confrontation in question appears on YouTube.com.
It happened mid-summer when City Police Officer Salvatore Rivieri asked 14-year-old Eric Bush and his friends to stop skateboarding at the Inner Harbor. Skateboarding is illegal there.
Bush's friend was videotaping the exchange, which at one point shows the officer grabbing Bush's skateboard and throwing him to the ground.
"He was just like up in my face, yelling at me...then he tackled me," Eric said. "It was like scary because I have diabetes and my blood sugar went crazy 'cause he scared me."
"I started watching the video and couldn't continue. I flipped out," said Peggy Miller, Eric's mother.
"I saw the tape. The officer handled the situation so poorly. It is very clear this is unacceptable," said Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon.
Officer Rivieri, a 17-year veteran of the BCPD, has been suspended with pay while the department conducts an internal investigation.
"The police commissioner, the mayor and the top command staff saw the video and are disappointed," said Sterling Clifford, spokesperson for the Baltimore City Police Department.
The attorney whose law firm represents Rivieri is defending the officer's actions.
"Police officers have a hard job. in this particular video, you dont see what happened before the officer took the boy down to the ground," Henry Belsky said. "Until you see the totality of what happened, one really does not know what reappy happened down there."
Many viewers have emailed Eyewitness News supporting the officer suggesting that what occurred before the confrontation was not shown on the tape.

Heres the story from a local Baltimore station.

I don't think anything supports physical force unless the person is A) Resisting or B) Threatening the life of the officer.

What the hell is a scrawny kid like that gonna do? I have no problem with him yelling at the kids (granted, I thought it was a bit harsh) but as soon as he put his hands on him, I was done.

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

Now how in the world can that be taken out of context? We saw the officer walk up to the kids and there is nothing whatsoever that indicates that the kids did anything wrong other than skateboard. I'm also curious as to why the cop wasn't charged with assault.

I can predict what will happen. The cop is going to enjoy his nice paid vacation, he will get a written warning, and that will be the end of it. Hopefully he chokes on a twinkie.

[FRPLG]

The guy mentioned nothing about a priot situation other than the"I told you not too skate here" He made it VERY clear he was upset with the kid's behavior IN THE VIDEO.

[Campbell17]

dude!

[EternalEnigma21]

Ive had many run ins myself with the law and cops are people. Some are good and some are bad. However, if someone is given the authority and power they're given it should be monitored and when things like this happen, he should have his authority stripped. I'd give him a parking maid job on double secret probation.

[Gmanc711]

Originally Posted by Campbell17

dude!

LOL...maybe this can be the next budwiser commerical

[JGisLordOfTheRings]

Cop = Tool

This is a douche. Even if I was 14, and he put his hands on me, F-it, I woulda started swinging, cop or not. He had no right to get physical with the kid.....

[EternalEnigma21]

Originally Posted by JGisLordOfTheRings

Cop = Tool

This is a douche. Even if I was 14, and he put his hands on me, F-it, I woulda started swinging, cop or not. He had no right to get physical with the kid.....

.


that reminds me of one of my friends in tx. he was 15 and really skinny/lanky... his father lost control of him one day and called the cops over. another friend and i showed up first and when the cop showed up he got physical with my friend ryan and ryan knocked him out cold with one lick.... the cop was snoring.

the look on his dad's face was f'ing priceless. he def. got arrested later on, but it was one of the most bizzare things I had seen up to that point.

[JGisLordOfTheRings]

Originally Posted by canthetuna

.


that reminds me of one of my friends in tx. he was 15 and really skinny/lanky... his father lost control of him one day and called the cops over. another friend and i showed up first and when the cop showed up he got physical with my friend ryan and ryan knocked him out cold with one lick.... the cop was snoring.

the look on his dad's face was f'ing priceless. he def. got arrested later on, but it was one of the most bizzare things I had seen up to that point.

Wow. I give that kid props just for taking the heat for what he believed in. Like I said, at 14-15, F-it, that cop is probably eating concrete if he did that shiz to me.

[love them hogs]

I agree that this cop went way too far when he got physical with the kid.Maybe the kid deserved to be yelled at but taking the kid to the ground was where he crossed the line.To be honest when I watched the video I thought the cop didnt even tell the kid to sit down until he was already halfway down to the ground.As if the cop was only trying to take the skateboard but then stumbled and realized he was going down and started to say sit down to cover his ass.

I would also like to add that police officers have to be in complete control of every situation.Unfurtunatly some officers feel that they have to act like dicks to do this.The truth is that anyone could be armed and dangerous and you just cant afford to let your gaurd down.So while I dont like it at all when I encounter an officer like this I kind of understand why they are like that.

[jsarno]

Originally Posted by FRPLG

I know a lot of cops. I can say that of the many I know 90% of them woudl react similarly. There are seriosuly only a few that are reasonable people the rest are a bunch of power hungry pieces of sh*t. At no point in that entire situation did he act like a responsible law enforcment agent. The kid should have just asked him to leave him alone and left.

This has got to be one of the most ignorant posts I have seen, and it's screams cop hater.
My neighbor to the right is a Sheriff, neighbor across the street is City police, and I have 5 close friends that are involved with some for of law enforcement. (7 total in state police / sheriff / or city) Not a single one of them is power hungry. They are great people that I bar-b-que with, drink occasion beers with and have a good time. They have very difficult jobs, and do their jobs with a TON of restraint. You should put yourselves in their shoes for 2 seconds. You have not one freakin clue what these guys go through on a day to day basis.
I am not defending the guy in the video, he acted out of line, but he has some truth to his comments. Kids do not treat police with respect, and I can only assume you are a kid with a comment like "the kid should have just asked him to leave him alone and left." What kind of nonsense is that? The kid SHOULD have apologized to the officer and stop calling him dude. To me, there were two people in the wrong in that video. The cop was absolutely wrong by throwing the kid down, and the kid was wrong by not listening and abiding by what the cop wanted. It would have went a whole lot smoother if the kid wasn't being a little punk...and I'm sure there was more to the video than what we saw.
This is a good tool for listening to people talk about the police, if you have ever been arrested and you have something bad to say about the police, you should be ignored. 99 times out of 100, it's your fault, and you escalated the situation with your mouth.
Sure there are bad apples in law enforcement, but they are few and far between.

[jsarno]

Originally Posted by JGisLordOfTheRings

Cop = Tool

This is a douche. Even if I was 14, and he put his hands on me, F-it, I woulda started swinging, cop or not. He had no right to get physical with the kid.....

Wow...simply wow...what are kids these days being taught?

Sure he had no right to get physical, but you think the answer would be "start swinging". Damn...I am getting scared as to the direction of this country.
Please tell me there are SANE people out there???

[DynamiteRave]

Originally Posted by jsarno

This has got to be one of the most ignorant posts I have seen, and it's screams cop hater.
My neighbor to the right is a Sheriff, neighbor across the street is City police, and I have 5 close friends that are involved with some for of law enforcement. (7 total in state police / sheriff / or city) Not a single one of them is power hungry. They are great people that I bar-b-que with, drink occasion beers with and have a good time. They have very difficult jobs, and do their jobs with a TON of restraint. You should put yourselves in their shoes for 2 seconds. You have not one freakin clue what these guys go through on a day to day basis.
I am not defending the guy in the video, he acted out of line, but he has some truth to his comments. Kids do not treat police with respect, and I can only assume you are a kid with a comment like "the kid should have just asked him to leave him alone and left." What kind of nonsense is that? The kid SHOULD have apologized to the officer and stop calling him dude. To me, there were two people in the wrong in that video. The cop was absolutely wrong by throwing the kid down, and the kid was wrong by not listening and abiding by what the cop wanted. It would have went a whole lot smoother if the kid wasn't being a little punk...and I'm sure there was more to the video than what we saw.
This is a good tool for listening to people talk about the police, if you have ever been arrested and you have something bad to say about the police, you should be ignored. 99 times out of 100, it's your fault, and you escalated the situation with your mouth.
Sure there are bad apples in law enforcement, but they are few and far between.

I lean to the right when it comes to crime and punishment and I think most offenses (depending on the situation) should be punished.. Pretty severely. But all I see in this video is a 14 year old kid, being a 14 year old kid. If he was 16 or 17 then I could understand what you're saying but kids are in no way like the kids of the 70s and 80s where they were brought up with respect.

This kid is like a cupcake compared to the kids I had to deal with in high school. Those kids that went to the public school up the street from me.. Inner city kids. It was a scary thing.

[EternalEnigma21]

This is a good tool for listening to people talk about the police, if you have ever been arrested and you have something bad to say about the police, you should be ignored. 99 times out of 100, it's your fault, and you escalated the situation with your mouth.

that's completely ignorant. Ive been arrested and had my life threatened by police who had a grudge against me for sleeping with a married cop's girlfriend. I've been arrested and assaulted for not having a vin plate on a truck i bought. I didn't remove it, and the charge was thrown out. As it turns out that cop (in a different state than the aforementioned, mind you) was called over because he was dating our neighbor who was a hooter's waitress that we had thrown out of a party for acting like a complete cunt the week before. It took him over 2 hours of detaining me with no reason (his original claim was that my truck had no vaild inspection sticker, which was true, but since it wasn't on a public road I wasn't in violation) to finally find something to charge me with.

cops are people of various character, just like in any other walk of life, no matter who they beat or who they barbeque with. some are attracted to the job to truly help people and that's great. some like to carry guns and sticks and feel empowered. the people who are drawn to that aspect of the job should be weeded out, but then who else are we gonna get to deal with the crack heads, and murderers and rapists... petty theives and arsonists, etc....