Skateboard hating cop caught on video for 2nd temper tantrum
Salvatore Rivieri, the Baltimore police officer who can be seen in a YouTube video wearing cute shorts and knocking a skinny 14-year-old skateboarder to the ground (David posted about it yesterday) is the star of another video that's recently surfaced.
This time he confronts Billy Friebele, an artist from Washington D.C., who was videotaping at the Harbor last summer.Unfortunately, I couldn't find the video on the ABC2 site so I don't know if Officer Rivieri is wearing those shorts. LinkFriebele told ABC2 [a Baltimore TV station] he was taping the reactions of passersby to a box he was moving with a remote controlled car. Officer Friebele is seen on tape kicking the box off of the car and then kicking the car. The officer then orders Friebele to leave the area.
This officer needs to be arrested, and put on trial for assault, menacing, and endangering the welfare of a child, and perhaps destruction of property.
My mother is a teacher, and no matter how bad a day she is having, and how bad the kids are, if she so much as laid a finger on one of her students, she would be fired and never be able to teach again, and may even be arrested.
Even though she has had colleagues who have been assaulted, she is not allowed to defend herself.
Anyone who deals with children is held to that standard.
But so often police are given a free pass.
I just think that the police should be held to the same standard as everyone else, and I saw that officer committing crimes.
I think this kind of behavior is caused because police are often trained to command authority and intimidate.
The problem is, officers like the one in this video are often very insecure, weak people.
So when they pretend to be tough, people see right through it.
Personally, I find most police who do that tough guy act come off more like Dwight K Schrute or Eric Cartman, and I have to bite my tongue to hold back my laughter and pretend to be intimidated.
I knew I had seen his style before. Same deal in first video, more violence though.
Nevermind, I was thinking of this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFUpa0OwlyU
The significant type giving the officer the name of the artist for one sentence threw me off.
get the shot, get it on Youtube, do it fast
The great thing about the abundance of video cameras is that we get to catch these boneheads that don't deserve a badge. The downside is that some people mistakenly assume these few videos are a representative sample of police conduct.
Sort of like how watching the news could lead one to believe that all is bad in the world because all the good stuff that happens just isn't newsworthy.
This now makes me wonder if it's some sort of sketch comedy routine...although I guess the newspapers would have checked their facts before reporting on it if it was...right?
someone on the other thug-cop thread mentioned jurisdictions in the US where filming cops was illegal. Never got an answer. True?
#3, I have to say I can see where the cop's coming from in that video. The kids are riding skateboards. The cop tells them to stop, and they don't. Throughout the whole sequence, the cop is giving instructions that the kids are blatantly ignoring, all the while saying "hey I'm just riding a skateboard, man", and trying to act like they are being unfairly persecuted. Never mind that it's illegal, and they're doing it right in front of a cop, and they're ignoring all his instructions.
They're treating the cop like a chump; as if he had no authority whatsoever. I don't think it's unreasonable to arrest the kids in order to disabuse them of that notion.
Well then, I guess neither you or the cop understand
proportionate use of force.
The Baltimore Sun article stated "...Rivieri's suspension entails a transfer to administrative duties with pay."
The abc article says "Officer Rivieri is suspended without pay pending the outcome of an internal investigation of the incident with the skate boarder."
I'm more inclined to believe the first, since abc also calls him "Officer Friebele" when that was actually the name of the artist.
Eureka! Whenever dubious police activity is taking place (or looks like it might start)all free citizens everywhere should immediately hold up their cellphone. It doesn't have to be on, or even have a camera function. Just the fact that suddenly there are potentially a dozen or whatever number of photographic records should have a salutary effect on the behaviour of everyone involved.
It can become the new Citizens Salute to Law Enforcement!"Phones UP!" Hey, if it catches on it might even change something. What are they going to do? Arrest everyone for holding their phone?
Takuan, sadly, some might indeed try to arrest everyone.
#9, Regardless of how annoying the kids may have been, the officer is still a criminal.
Even if the kids were cursing and yelling at the officer, I would still expect him to maintain a professional attitude.
If the kids were out and out disobeying his lawful orders, then he should have issued them a summons and moved on.
Officer Rivieri should already be pounding the street - LOOKING FOR A NEW JOB! - If Baltimore PD has not fired him as yet, they should be prosecuted themselves for aiding and abetting a criminal act! His behaviour is totally out of order.
OK,let them arrest everyone then. Sooner or later a judge becomes involved.
Squashy, they didn't treat the cop as if he had no authority, they recognized that he shouldn't have any. He obviously can't handle it. Maybe they should be arrested for causing his true colors to come out? Oh, I got it. Terrorism!
You want to see how tough this guy is, put him in general population with all the other thugs who beat up on teenagers. Maybe not. Maybe the review board is like you and will just let him off with a paid vacation.
Takuan #16: True enough, though past history on the legality of filming police actions is, if memory serves, pretty spotty. It's certainly not clear legal territory. Especially in these days when saying "it's illegal because we need it to be illegal to fight terrorism" is all the reason some LEOs and judges need. Sigh.
The cops never pull that shit here in Japan. They may elicit false confessions under torture and arrest, convict, and sentence the first name they find that is involved with whatever they're "investigating," especially if it's a dirty foreigner, but at least they're polite about it.
The cop in the video posted on #3 didn't beat anyone up. He just held them down. I seriously doubt that anyone was hurt at all.
I would be the first to call "abuse of power" when I see footage of cops recklessly risking people's lives with their stupid tasers. But for goodness sake, if a cop tells you to stop doing something, you don't run away, and you certainly don't just carry on regardless. And if you do do that, I don't see that having the cop chase you, catch you and pin you down is ushering in a police state. He didn't hit them. He didn't electrocute them. He just held them.
"Squashy, they didn't treat the cop as if he had no authority, they recognized that he shouldn't have any. He obviously can't handle it."
That's really not their call to make. Unless they have decided that they really should be allowed to skateboard wherever they like, and decide to go about changing the law Gandhi-style. In which case, I guess things are going to plan.
You are all missing the real point.
Baltimore dresses it's cops like complete clowns. How is anybody supposed to take them seriously?
@freakcitysf:
The creepy thing in that video is the lady passing by saying who instantly jumps to the cops defense.
Ok, that's one of about a dozen creepy things in that video.
When he grabs the two kids around the neck and tries to slam them to the ground, very easily could have broken their necks or severely injured them. And for what, the juvenile equivalent of a parking ticket. Disorderly conduct is nonsense. Good on the kids for filming it all. I'm put off by a surveillance society, but catching bastards being bastards on tape just does my heart good.
Squashy Said: The cop in the video posted on #3 didn't beat anyone up. He just held them down. I seriously doubt that anyone was hurt at all.
I'm sorry, did you see the adult man grabbing children by the throat for petty criminal offenses? That's what I saw. What is that thug going to do when he has to confront an actual criminal, just pull out his gun and shoot them dead?
The man in that video was trying to prove his toughness, not enforce the law. An actual professional law enforcement officer would not have escalated that situation into a mass arrest. Those kids were speaking to him, none of them touched him or stopped him from executing the initial (and assuredly also bogus) arrest. The kid running away, he was being threatened by a man choking another child. I'd run the fuck away from that as well.
If he can't handle a group of small children criticizing him he should not have police powers to begin with.
Cops get in much, much worse situations on a regular basis and are expected to remain calm and in control. That man was acting a fool.
This is NOT the video in question but a good analog:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ8RS-jELnE
Can't you see how subversive this is? Now I agree that beating up a 14 year old kid might be a little wrong but destroying this child molesting box was clearly the right thing to to.
Join me in the Salvatore Rivieri defence fund!
"When he grabs the two kids around the neck and tries to slam them to the ground, very easily could have broken their necks or severely injured them."
Do you mean the part where he says to the girl "hey, come here and sit down" and she says "No" and runs off? And he chases her and grabs her, and the other guy screams "She's riding a skateboard! What the fuck is wrong with you?" and kind of lunges at the cop and tries to do an odd little barge move on him, so the cop grabs him too, and wrestles him to the ground slowly, without any attempt to do any sort of slamming? Because unlike the taser situations more usually highlighted on this site, I really don't see anyone's safety being seriously jeopardised here. Well, except for the risk of injury caused by kids skateboarding though town in the first place, which is the point where people were most in danger of breaking their necks.
"The kid running away, he was being threatened by a man choking another child."
No he wasn't. Stp t wth th mldrmtcs. He didn't choke anyone and he didn't threaten any violence.
Although I'm sure there may well have been much better ways to deal with the situation before it got to that point, and it probably gave the cop a few things to think about that night, I don't have any sympathy for these kids. I know they probably honestly believed they weren't doing anything wrong - kids that age usually do. But I also think that the other people standing around probably weren't supporting the cop for no reason. I'm also sure that knowing that the whole thing was being videoed made the kids act twice as obnoxious for their moment of YouTube stardom. Nothing like having an audience.
n th nd, w hv sttn whr bnch f kds wr bng rcklss, bnxs, slf-rghts nd stpd, cp trd t ntrvn bt lst cntrl f th sttn, h trd t rgn cntrl n lss thn prfct (thgh hrdly trgs) wy, nbdy ws hrt, nd smn flmd th whl thng thnkng thy wr gttng fntstc scp. nd thn vryn sts rnd gttng wrkd p vr th vd.
There are plenty of cases of shocking police abuse out there - seeing several officers hold a man flat to the ground and tase him dead springs to mind, as does having an undercover cop put seven bullets into an innocent man's head on a subway train - but this isn't one of them. This is one guy trying to maintain public order and do his job, and having a rotten day. Cn w sv th trg fr th rl css, nd thn d th trg prprly?
Oh, Saaaaaaaalllllllvvatorrrrrrrrrrre!
Saaaaaaaalllllllvvatorrrrrrrrrrre!
Saaaaaaaalllllllvvatorrrrrrrrrrre!
Oh, note to Squashy:
Re: the suspension with/without pay.
It's quite common in police union contracts that an officer under investigation is suspended with pay pending the outcome.
...The thing that's really getting to me is that *anyone* would defend this particular Fife's actions. He's clearly one of those power-mad cops who most likely was the school bully, and chose law enforcement as a means by which to legally continue his psychotic need to beat up those weaker than he is.
Bottom Line: It doesn't matter what those kids were doing, because it's obvious as hell that they weren't doing anything that justified that Fife's actions. He should have been out busting *real* crooks - drug thugs, muggers, rapists, child molesters, murderers - instead of picking on kids and trying to play little Hitler games.
That cop deserves a medal! Artists should learn that remote-control boxes are just disrespectful of society -- in fact, the cop should have threatened the artist's life! (And would have, too, if he'd only been 14.)
Obviously, when you wear shorts like that you have to crank up the masculinity a few notches in order to not become more lady like. This is what I think is happening. I think blame lies on the leaders of this gang of misfits.
Those shorts won out over the other uniform voted on, which was, a baseball uniform, roller skates, mime make up, and baseball bats.
Warriors forever!
Do you mean the part where he says to the girl "hey, come here and sit down" and she says "No" and runs off?
Actually I mean the part where he grabs two children around their throats and shoves them to the ground. First off, taking on two people, from behind, is more of a pro-wrestling move than anything. He looked ridiculous and was clearing out of control of not only the situation, but his temper as well.
And he chases her and grabs her, and the other guy screams "She's riding a skateboard! What the fuck is wrong with you?" and kind of lunges at the cop
and tries to do an odd little barge move on him, so the cop grabs him too,
You mean when the child questions the police officer chok restraining another kid on the ground? "kind of lunges"? That's ridiculous and inflammatory. At no point in that video did any of those kids make anything resembling a physical move on that cop. They were freaked out, scared and angry. If he'd responded as an adult and a professional he would have tried to resolve that situation, not exhasturbated it.
I really don't see anyone's safety being seriously jeopardised here. Well, except for the risk of injury caused by kids skateboarding though town in the first place, which is the point where people were most in danger of breaking their necks.
Do a search on choke-holds and police officers. Wrapping your hands around the neck of a child as a method of restraint, from behind and on multiple children. You don't see the danger in that?
No he wasn't. Stop it with the melodramatics. He didn't choke anyone and he didn't threaten any violence.
Actually, he did. It's the first image on the video, taken on a camera phone. You say "restraining", I see a man clearly lacking in self-control lashing out and wheeling at a group of kids grabbing at their necks. Stop minimizing an act of violence because it's not "as bad" as other acts of violence. Equivocation makes things like this acceptable.
I'm also sure that knowing that the whole thing was being videoed made the kids act twice as obnoxious for their moment of YouTube stardom. Nothing like having an audience.
You honestly make my blood boil with that kind of rhetoric. "Oh look at those kids, playing it up for their moment of stardom". They were doing what skateboarders have been doing for decaces, making skatetapes.
This is one guy trying to maintain public order and do his job, and having a rotten day. Can we save the outrage for the real cases, and then do the outrage properly?
Good god. There's so much wrong with your logic I can't even think of where to start.
What you had were a bunch of kids being assaulted by a cop for committing an incredibly petty crime.
Again, if this is how this knobhead reacts to skateboarders and mouthy teenagers what does he do with shoplifters? Waterboard them and crack out the electrodes?
The police are not there to enforce order by whatever means they see fit. They are accountable to the public and charged with acting with due and judicious force. If you really look at that video and see judicious force and appropriate behavior...I pity you.
RE: note to Squashy - I haven't even seen the Salvatore Rivieri video. I was talking about the other video.
Now, I know I shouldn't be getting worked up about this, and arguing on Boing Boing comments is only a couple of steps removed from arguing on YouTube comments. But I really think that everyone sitting around being smug about this, or faux-outraged, or painting me as some kind of Bill O'Reilly figure for daring to object to all this torch-and-pitchforks talk, are showing a disturbing lack of understanding here. It's easy to sit back and be disgusted. But the guy was clearly trying to do his job as best he could.
#28 - that's the easy, cliched and obvious tack to take. Look, the guy was just trying to stop the kids from acting recklessly, before they ended up bowling some old lady into the gutter. He wasn't out catching murderers or drug thugs, because he's not a detective - he was just walking the beat in town. Presumably he was assigned this job - I don't think he was patrolling the dirty back alleys one day when he thought to himself "I've had enough of catching all these rapists, I'm going into town to torment some teenagers". He was there, he saw a problem and he tried to sort it out.
The reason I feel sympathetic to the cop is because I've seen a few of these kind of situations arise, and it doesn't stem from power-madness, latent childhood issues or playing Hitler games, as people so often sneer. The thing is, if you are put in charge of a large group of people - whether you are a cop or a teacher or whatever - you're well aware that your control is an illusion. And maintaining the illusion is entirely dependent on people respecting the authority of your position. If they decide that they don't respect your authority, then you pretty much have to assert yourself by trying to be the dominant personality. Whether you actually feel that way is beside the point - you have to do it and you have to be convincing. Some people do this loudly, others are very good at doing it with quiet intensity. But if that doesn't work - if you're not convincing enough, if they laugh in your face - you're hung out to dry. And this guy was hung out to dry.
When that happens, you don't have too many options left. You could just give up, I suppose, but that's a pretty poor outcome for everyone concerned.
If you're a teacher, you can usually ask them to leave, or leave yourself, and then call their parents if you need to (since you have all that information conveniently on file already). If you're a police officer, I guess you'd probably try to take them down to the station. Maybe try to scare them a bit, get their parents to come and pick them up, and hopefully get them back on the right track? And that's what this guy tried to do.
I certainly don't see any evidence that this was a man who was enjoying himself. It looked like he was having a lousy, lousy day.
But yeah, it's easy to sneer.
RE: note to Squashy - I haven't even seen the Salvatore Rivieri video. I was talking about the other video.
Now, I know I shouldn't be getting worked up about this, nd rgng n Bng Bng cmmnts s nly cpl f stps rmvd frm rgng n YTb cmmnts. Bt rlly thnk tht vryn sttng rnd bng smg bt ths, r fx-trgd, r pntng m s sm knd f Bll 'Rlly fgr fr drng t bjct t ll ths trch-nd-ptchfrks tlk, r shwng dstrbng lck f ndrstndng hr. t's sy t st bck nd b dsgstd. But the guy was clearly trying to do his job as best he could.
#28 - that's the easy, cliched and obvious tack to take. Look, the guy was just trying to stop the kids from acting recklessly, before they ended up bowling some old lady into the gutter. He wasn't out catching murderers or drug thugs, because he's not a detective - he was just walking the beat in town. Presumably he was assigned this job - I don't think he was patrolling the dirty back alleys one day when he thought to himself "I've had enough of catching all these rapists, I'm going into town to torment some teenagers". He was there, he saw a problem and he tried to sort it out.
The reason I feel sympathetic to the cop is because I've seen a few of these kind of situations arise, and it doesn't stem from power-madness, latent childhood issues or playing Hitler games, s ppl s ftn snr.The thing is, if you are put in charge of a large group of people - whether you are a cop or a teacher or whatever - you're well aware that your control is an illusion. And maintaining the illusion is entirely dependent on people respecting the authority of your position. If they decide that they don't respect your authority, then you pretty much have to assert yourself by trying to be the dominant personality. Whether you actually feel that way is beside the point - you have to do it and you have to be convincing. Some people do this loudly, others are very good at doing it with quiet intensity. But if that doesn't work - if you're not convincing enough, if they laugh in your face - you're hung out to dry. And this guy was hung out to dry.
When that happens, you don't have too many options left. You could just give up, I suppose, but that's a pretty poor outcome for everyone concerned.
If you're a teacher, you can usually ask them to leave, or leave yourself, and then call their parents if you need to (since you have all that information conveniently on file already). If you're a police officer, I guess you'd probably try to take them down to the station. Maybe try to scare them a bit, get their parents to come and pick them up, and hopefully get them back on the right track? And that's what this guy tried to do.
I certainly don't see any evidence that this was a man who was enjoying himself. It looked like he was having a lousy, lousy day.
Bt yh, t's sy t snr.
Is this guy ever going to be held accountable for his actions? Does anyone know whether or not that kid's mother sued or got him suspended at least?
Squashy wrote:
Well! Believe it or not, we agree on that, Squashy. I do believe Salvatore Rivieri has demonstrated the best he can possibly bring to his job as a police officer. He has done his best "to protect and to serve."
And his best is, unfortunately, the opposite of the requirements for a police officer to honor the responsibility placed in him to be a public servant, to protect and to serve.
Which is why he should have his badge, taser gun, etc. taken away from him, shown the door, so he find some other line of work he is more suitable for.
End of debate.
@squashy:
I don't think you're hitler or Bill O'Reilly. But I do think you're operating from a false assumption.
The cops job isn't to control the masses, it's to police them. He entered this situation looking to assert control, dominance even, as opposed to acting as an agent of civil order.
We don't see the initial confrontation, just the choke hold picture, but let's assume for a moment that it was a valid arrest. If he'd ignored the other teens and kept his temper he could have effected the arrest and walked off with the young man in custody, end of situation. The other kids would have wandered off or gone home or moved on.
Instead he tried to assert dominance. He engaged the teenagers in anger, barking orders and threats. Yelling "Sit down, don't move" simply because the kids have the temerity to speak to him is ridiculous.
Yes, the one teen ran. Again, the cop looked completely out of control and they were likely scared.
It's not his job to scare them straight. It's his job to be a police officer. I was raised to believe that cops were there to help you, that they were people you could turn to if you were scared. This militaristic "scared straight" bullocks doesn't work in a free society.
Stop saying "he had a bad day". That's an excuse and does nothing to justify his actions. If anything it makes his actions more vile since he obviously can't control himself.
I'm not sneering at all cops. The over-whelming majority of them do a damn hard job the best they can. But when someone vested with the powers they have goes over the line it should disgust us. Like a politician who steals or a judge who fixes cases. It should offend us greatly and move us to action.
Argh! I'm not even talking about Salvatore Rivieri! I never even saw that clip! As I said at the start of the previous post! Twice, thanks to my stupid browser! Gddmmt, nw trly m stck n n ntrnt rgmnt!
Shudderstep, I had responded, wth th tmst ftlty (gvn tht y wll n dbt dsmss nythng sy hr, nd frvrmr, s wrng) to a lot of the points you brought up, but I lost it in another browser mishap and I haven't got the stomach to type it out again n th fc f th byng mb. Except to say that you're right - I was referring to the bit at 2:10 where the guy does the odd little lunge, but actually it looks as though another cop may have given him a shove from off-camera.
And no, you don't pity me. Don't say that. You don't.
Actually, before this goes any further - Shudderstep, after just reading your last post (#36) there isn't really much to disagree with there. Myb 'm nt trppd n n ntrnt rgmnt ftr ll.
nd thnk th cp wll lrn frm ths nd mng th sttn mch bttr nxt tm - ppl d mprv wth xprnc. Bt d fl fr hm - th pr gy ws prbbly jst trnd t dl wth crmnls, nd nstd h gts TNGRS.
@squashy
the poor guy was probably just trained to deal with criminals, and instead he gets TEENAGERS.
Hopefully. Community policing, beat-walking and just generally encouraging cops to have positive interactions with the public is a really good thing. Citizens get to see law enforcement in a positive way and cops get to interact with people on a more personable level, not in crisis mode.
And the shorts...the shorts need to go. There must be a correlation between police stress and wearing shorty-shorts.
whew. I thought I was going to have to put you two in a chokehold for a second, there....
I saw something yesterday that I think is relevant to this.
I was in the subway, and a large group of teens clustering on the platform, obstructing commuters.
So a police officer politely but firmly instructed the teens to either board a train, or leave the station, but to stop loitering.
All of the teenagers rolled their eyes, and some of them made rude comments, but they quickly dispersed.
Then the cop left too.
This is how an officer should conduct himself.
He didn't lose control and fly off the handle because a group of teenagers didn't give him the respect he felt he was due.
And he never even reacted to their disrespectful attitudes in the slightest, which I think does a lot more to assert his authority than putting someone in a headlock who is half your size.
#32
"" The thing is, if you are put in charge of a large group of people - whether you are a cop or a teacher or whatever - you're well aware that your control is an illusion. And maintaining the illusion is entirely dependent on people respecting the authority of your position. If they decide that they don't respect your authority, then you pretty much have to assert yourself by trying to be the dominant personality. Whether you actually feel that way is beside the point - you have to do it and you have to be convincing. ""
But you don't have to shout and be a dick to affect people's behaviour. Calm instructions and proportionate reactions to the situation will tend to show you as measured and in-control rather than looking like a freaked-out idiot, which will break the illusion of authority much, much quicker.
And respecting someone's postion is different than respecting their authority. NOBODY gets unconditional respect.
You are clearly the lovechild of Hitler and Bill O'Reily.
Squashy: Allow me to try to address Riveiri's acts of police brutality from another angle.
I am trying to find a classic police video of a Maine state trooper who pulled a man over for speeding. The ensuing exchange was caught by the trooper's own in-car police video camera.
I am willing to wager many have seen it. I am trying to find it online, so far no luck with YouTube searches.
In the meantime please assume that the following description of the video is accurate.
The man who was pulled over was agitated and hostile even before the trooper walked to the driver's window. The man was swearing before the trooper said two words. The trooper ignored the swearing and calmly explained to the man he was speeding (probably told him how fast he was going - IIRC he was WAY over the limit).
The trooper gave the man his ticket.
The man started screaming. I mean SCREAMING, when he saw how much money he was on the hook for.
He tore up the ticket in front of the trooper and threw the pieces on the ground.
Now the trooper responded in a very anti-Riveri manner. In fact I suggest the trooper acted in the exact OPPOSITE manner of Angry Sal.
No swearing, no violence, no nothing...the trooper instead firmly but calmly told the man if he did not pick up the pieces of his ticket, he would write him up for littering.
The man is totally unglued, sputtering and swearing...but he also opened his car door and picked up the pieces of paper.
The encounter ended with the man continuing his swearing and sputtering and drove off, with his ripped up ticket in his car, when the trooper was finished with him.
Okay. Let's review.
In this corner we have this Maine state trooper kept his cool, maintained control of the situation and maintained control of himself. I have seen this video several times over the years on various news programs. IIRC the trooper was officially recognized for his outstanding professionalism.
IOW, this Maine state trooper EARNED the respect of EVERYONE watching him on that police car video.
And in the other corner, we have Angry Sal, a guy so easily intimidated by a 14 year old kid he actually got physically violent with him, had to invoke the name of his badge and the entire police force as emotional backup.
What Angry Sal does not, can not, and never will realize, but the Maine state trooper did, is that respect is not handed out like a welfare check. You EARN it.
Angry Sal has EARNED the contempt of millions of disgusted people who have seen his little performances on YouTube and on the evening news.
If you have followed along so far, Angry Sal's actions, compared with exemplary actions of that Maine state trooper, confirms that Angry Sal has no absolutely business being employed in any capacity as any public servant, much less a police officer.
Seriously, Mark. By his behavior, Officer Rivieri has provided plenty of justification for criticism, ridicule, and litigation. Commenting on his shorts--his uniform--is needless, nay, petty.
#43
That's a great vid, saw it a few times myself. The guy is a complete loon, high-pitched freaked-out voice and all :)
(also, I'm gonna do Squashy a favour and point out again that he wasn't refering to the Riveri vid, as he hasn't seen it. however, your point is entirely relevant to both videos)
#44, that is true. However, they are terribly silly looking, as is the clown car he joysticks around.
Just sayin'.
"now I truly am stuck in an internet argument!"
...And one you've who's lost it, and not just by majority dissent. Every point you've raised has been shot down in flames, period. While you're entited to your opinion, in this case it's clearly wrong and the better part of valor calls for a quiet retreat on your part.
Calm is a powerful weapon. It shows discipline, patience, control.
My mum taught me that we can't control other people, but we can control how we respond. You can try to piss me off all day long, but when I give in I give up my control and you win.
I think alot of people's mums taught them that simple idea, and if more people practiced it, we'd have a much smoother ride.
I love how people want to arrest this guy for confronting someone breaking the law and a two paragraph on a website w/o video. So much for the "rule of law". Go mob mentality!!!!
I saw the first video, with the skateboarder. While I agree with him that kids need to show respect (and parents need to teach it), he went about it the wrong way. His behavior was way over the top, and I don't think that the young man internalized a good lesson from his encounter with Mr. Policeman.
Obviously the remote controlled box had a speaker in it that was being used to call people "man" and "dude." The box deserved it.
i think he's overcompensating because they make him drive that silly little car.
Squashy: the guy was just trying to stop the kids from acting recklessly, before they ended up bowling some old lady into the gutter.
Your whole argument fails from the start, if this is what you are basing it on.
See, I ride skateboards, and many moons ago, I was that exact 14-year-old. It may be one of the main justifications behind ridiculous anti-skateboarding laws in public areas, written by people who have never skateboarded - you know, public safety and all - but, please...
If you have ANY semblance of experience riding a board, you have as much control over your movement as a person running on their feet. You have precise turning, stopping and starting control. Sure, your speed may make people jump out of the way when they see you coming, but you will NEVER hit anyone. I never have in 20-odd years of skateboarding, and have never seen anyone else do it either. They only person who would possibly be in danger of hitting someone would be an inexperienced, clumsy dufus, not someone good enough to be videotaping their tricks.
Have YOU ever seen someone 'bowled over' by a skateboarder? Do you know anyone who ever has? Can you point to any news stories where this is a regular problem, or has ever even happened ONCE? I doubt it.
There are many other more serious and dangerous things going on than kids skateboarding or mouthing off. The police aren't protecting ANYONE, not even themselves when physically assaulting a minor who is guilty of a very slight infraction, if any. They are wrong when they act like this. Period.
i think we have learned several things from this whole thing:
1. "angry sal" is crazy and should be fired from his job.
2. squashy is crazy and needs to get a job (hopefully one that is not a position of power).
3. a few out-of-control cops make all cops look bad...therefore all police officers should make it known that this behavior will not be tolerated by citizens, and more importantly, other officers.
4. 14 year old skateboarders and spontaneously moving cardboard boxes are the real reasons for the current yellow level on the national threat advisory
maybe we are all missing the obvious. This person's employment choice might just rotate around his need to be able to put his hands on young children.
Dude Dude Dude Dude Dude
Dude Dude Dude Dude Dude
Dude Dude Dude Dude Dude
Dude Dude Dude Dude Dude
Dude Dude Dude Dude Dude
Fat, ugly, moronic, boorish
Dude!
Phew, I know I feel better!
So Billie Holiday was singing "I Cover the Waterfront" and Officer Rivieri walks up and takes the microphone away and yells "NO! YOU don't cover the damn waterfront, I COVER the Goddamn waterfront!! You GOT THAT??!!"
In ancient times we had trolls who lived under bridges and preyed on people walking overhead, now we have an officer who lives at Inner Harbor and preys on anybody he wants.
I think from this point on, Officer Rivieri should universally be known as "Officer Dude." Or "Officer Short-Shorts." There's your respect.
Officer Hotti Hot-Pants. "We wear short-shorts...if you dare wear short-shorts, Nair for short-shorts!"
you lost me at "And the shorts...the shorts need to go. There must be a correlation between police stress and wearing shorty-shorts. "
...#55: Good point! The Nazi pig probably has a few dozen pedo mags stuffed in his matress at home. Perhaps we need a search warrant and raid that particular hovel!
While I believe in respecting another's rights, I feel absolutely no compulsion to respect the actual person without a good reason.
When I get pulled over, I will act in a respectful manner because age and experience have tought me that that is the most prudent course. But that is all I am doing, acting. Someone's choice of vocation is not enough to garner my respect. Be they doctor, lawyer, cop, dentist. I don't 'command' respect from other people based on the uniform I choose to wear, and I think it is foolish to assume that other people should.
Respect is earned. I give many people my respect, and many people I think are just plane a-holes.
Cops do have a tough job, and that job also comes with a lot of responsability. When an officer displays that he is capable of weilding that responsability in a considered manner that is beneficial to the public, then I give him respect. It is a tough thing to do a difficult job well. It is an easy thing to do a difficult job poorly.
Nothing I saw by this man demonstrates any reason anyone should respect him. He immediately chose a showing of force when dealing with children. Children who haven't learned to 'respect' his authority. The same argument for forcing respect has been used to subjugate meeker individuals throughout history. There are several ways he could have handled this situation, and he was pretty quick to choose this path. And there is no way you could convince me that he wasn't enjoying it.
And if I remember from the first thread, he isn't new to the job. So the already specious and flawed argument that he hasn't learned to properly control himself doesn't apply. Not that it should matter. A cop should now how to handle himself when dealing with children on his first day and his last.
This man is an ass. And his shorts aren't helping.
Wow, a cop whose a bully. Next up -- it turns out the sky is blue!
i support anyone kicking r/c cars being driving towards them. why didn't he tase the bro? batteries must have died.
All the people hating on that cop and saying that those poor abused children didnt do anything wrong, please. I bet your kids cuss you to your face and run all you. That cop did a good job and those little punks got what they deserved. Pray for those children to see the error of their ways. Peace and hair grease.
Be careful what you wish for people. If officer Rivieri is sacked, he might end up working for the TSA. The uniform is better, he can confiscate anything he wants, and scream at people all day long (and likely get promoted for it).
The second video (the one from two years ago) is in a newscast video HERE: http://www.abc2news.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoId=8229@wmar.dayport.com
...and Sal was riding 'round in the same clowncar, and wearing the same clownsuit, while acting like an idiot and actually giving an unlawful order (telling the artist to leave the public space for no reason than Sal didn't like the little remote control car he purposely kicked).
The two vids together tend to show just how petty a bully Sal is. He should not be in a position of power.
It seems there are some people who have an "either/or" attitude with regards to these incidents. In other words, they defend the cop because they'd rather not side with a bunch of "snotty punk kids." It shouldn't be like that, would you defend that same cop if he acted belligerent with you for no apparent reason? If your own kids (let's assume you raised them well) were committing some minor infraction and the cop tackled them, who you applaud him?
It's all about what is reasonable. The skateboarders did not need to be tackled, they were (apparently) skating, a minor offense, they weren't thieves or rapists, they were maybe disrespectful (and that's a big maybe, "dude" is not the same as "pig", I'm sure they call their friends "dude" all the time), but last I checked "disrespect" wasn't against the law.
"All the people hating on that cop and saying that those poor abused children didnt do anything wrong, please. I bet your kids cuss you to your face and run all you. That cop did a good job and those little punks got what they deserved. Pray for those children to see the error of their ways. Peace and hair grease."
...See? This is what I'm talking about. Those of you supporting the cop aren't doing it because he was in the right - which he damn well wasn't - but because you don't want to support the skatepunks because they're skatepunks. That's the same sort of crap that justified the turning of a blind eye towards civil rights violations for centuries: Concentration Camp Guard X may be a sadistic, murdering bastard who tortures inmates to death, but because they're of an inferior age/race/creed/color/species/gender/sexual preference/choice of sport, we'll just ignore the crimes so long as nobody else takes notice.
OM @ #69,
One thing I've learned from discussions involving police actions is that there is a certain segment of the population that will defend anything as long as it is perpetrated by an authority figure.
If this officer had shot the kid in the back of the head and then started a bonfire to consume the evidence, there would still be some bozos posting on every message board, attempting to minimize the cop's crimes. It's tribal.
I suppose it is human nature to imagine that unchecked power (no matter how idiotically wielded) will solve the problems of society, and to visualize a nice, dramatic, violent solution to the things we don't like.
@ #65 I LIKE STRANGE
For the record, my kids don't run all me.
#43 - Mikey, I think this must be the video you're referring to.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6791959446828923055
That is some kind of impressive. That's a cop who commands respect - someone I'd actually want to turn to if I was in trouble.
You kind of have to wonder if the driver in that episode was on drugs and/or having a psychotic breakdown. That's just not a normal reaction. Not violent at least, but wow...
I'm with squashy and malcolmkass.
We already know that there's a lot of people out there who suck at what they do.
Screaming and whining "POLICE BRUTALITY!!!!" and "DICTATOR RULE!!!!" every time some story like this comes up is very annoying.
(Yes, I still read all of the comments...)
Stop bitching that the TSA made you take your laptop out of its bag. Stop bitching that, once in a while, inexpert police officers meet people who, instead of politely following instructions, insist on making a big deal about it. It happens.
Stop acting like everyone's out to get you.
Thank you.
Back to the fuzzy, knit, unicorn tea cozies, then.
how about if you accept it and the rest of us keep complaining?
Okay.
@ dragonfrog #72
That video is excellent.
Rational Cop vs. Rational Person = Boring.
Rational Cop vs. Irrational Person = Amusing and inspiring.
Irrational Cop vs. Rational Person = Somehow, these don't turn up on YouTube very often...
Irrational Cop vs. Irrational Person = OMG Hitler, police brutality.
I dunno. Before I wrote that little grid, I thought it might be illuminating. Meh. I just get tired of everyone treating these videos like there's some kind of anti-justice conspiracy. They're entertainment. You get to watch some punk get his ass kicked by a police officer dressed like a clown. FOR FREE. Lighten up.
#43 and #72:
I watched that Maine state trooper video in a law enforcement ethics class. What the video doesn't tell you is that this state trooper had several complaints filed against him for rude and obnoxious behavior, and was being investigated by IA.
To "prove his innocence," the trooper started using his in-car camera to tape his behavior, but only AFTER his initial contact with the traffic violators and AFTER he rudely riled them. His videos gave the impression of a model law enforcement officer, as you can see, but the dialogue isn't the beginning of a normal traffic stop; it picks up with the driver asking when the court date is, so he already knows he's getting a ticket. In fact, the trooper is carrying the ticket to the driver to sign, right from the get-go of the video. We all know it takes the police eons to write a ticket, so it's apparent this recording does not capture the entire traffic stop.
As I recall, the trooper's filming tactic came to light when the trooper had the camera rolling before he was ready to turn it on at a different traffic stop. And once the camera is rolling, there's no way to back up the tape and record over/delete it, so he was caught and reprimanded (I don't know to what extent) for his actions.
This story clearly illustrates what is wrong with the recently touted ideal that "Only the police should be able to have guns"
#77
That's extremely interesting! Do you know of any more documentation of that? If it was coursework in am ethics class, I guess I'll probably be able to find some.
What confuses me is the fact that the officer is able to turn the camera on and off. Presumably the purpose of the cameras was largely to protect officers from complaints of one sort of misbehaviour or another. If that's the case, then letting the cop choose when to record and when not to would utterly destroy the cameras' value. Anyone could accuse an officer of just the behaviour this fellow was using.
#79:
The cop car cameras, just like all other recording devices, can only record for as long as the media allow, whether tape, disk, hard drive, etc. Most cops work 8- to 12-hour shifts. If the cameras ran constantly, you'd have a lot of recordings of virtually nothing at a great expense to the police dept. Most police depts. don't have that kind of money to throw away, so allowing the officers to decide when to turn on/off the camera is economically sound.
You may wonder why the cameras aren't tied to the ignition of the cop car. Simply put, it's so the cameras can record the events of a traffic stop or of a pursuit based on the given situation and at the discretion of the police officer, in accordance with his/her agency's policy.
Regardless of how dangerous skateboarding through the city centre may or may not be, it's still illegal. And if you are doing something illegal, regardless of how minor, and a cop tells you to stop (which they are bound to do), and you say "um, nope, I won't stop" and keep on going, then you automatically have a conflict situation. How well that situation is resolved is largely due to the skill and experience of the cop, and, as we see, people are often less than perfect. Which is why I have a huge problem with cops who routinely use potentially-lethal tasers on people.
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Sometimes I really do wonder if we (all humans) are going to be able to get it together enough to cooperate and solve anything.
"But the problem is the kids had stopped when the dude went off on them. Even if they were are you saying it is acceptable for cops to have temper tantrums when people don't instantly obey them?"
...No, the problem is that Squishy is just taking the cop's side because he knows it pisses the rest of us who believe that our freedoms are sacrosanct and that cops should be immediately removed from their position the second they abuse one iota of their authority.
Or, to put it another way, after reading his blatherings, I'm now convinced he's just trolling.
someone say the other video wasn't up?
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=867_1203133697
"There was a time when we'd take a guy like you in the back and beat you with a hose."~ Capt. John O'Hagen