Mardi Gras police brutality

SparkySpitfire

I would take the time to be shocked, but unfortunately I'm not.

Edit: Here's the ABC news article - http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-03-06/claims-of-police-brutality-at-mardi-gras-parade/4554958

I did do a search but couldn't find anything... But if it's been discussed before just let this thread die/be deleted.

Boombastic

Probably because they are having it in the middle of lent, the lord struck them down


Mardi gras is French for Fat Tuesday, referring to the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which begins on Ash Wednesday. The day is sometimes referred to as Shrove Tuesday

jugger0

Hot pants on a lad...

Good job officer

SparkySpitfire

jugger0 wrote: »

Hot pants on a lad...

Good job officer

Pretty sure it was a gay/lesbian event.

Gatling

Where's the brutality ,some slapper screaming about internal injuries and blood on the pavement ,bunch of tree hugging bleeding heart vegans ,

Old Perry

SparkySpitfire wrote: »

Pretty sure it was a gay/lesbian event.

Pretty sure it's not

Boombastic

Tis too

The Sydney Mardi Gras is an annual LGBT pride parade and festival in Sydney, Australia, attended by hundreds of thousands of people from around Australia

SparkySpitfire

Old Perry wrote: »

Pretty sure it's not

Not mardi gras itself, this particular event. I read in one of the news articles that the gay/lesbian community was "up in arms" over the video, why would they have been if it wasn't a gay/lesbian event?

jugger0

SparkySpitfire wrote: »

Pretty sure it was a gay/lesbian event.

Yeah i could tell by the hotpants and crying alright.

Lapin

SparkySpitfire wrote: »

Pretty sure it was a gay/lesbian event.

Old Perry wrote: »

Pretty sure it's not

Doesn't matter.

Hotpants on a bloke is just wrong wrong wrong.

AngryHippie

Video shows shag all really.

What was the guy being arrested for (fashion crimes aside)?

I've seen worse in the Valley on any given Saturday night. Cops don't take any sh1t, they really shouldn't have to either. sure, every now and again, someone gets a dislocated shoulder or a concussion.

I don't think it was that brutal.

RobbingBandit

Mardi Gras only happens in New Orleans, anywhere else is a ripoff:p

ColeTrain

I just feel sorry for my Irish brothers and sisters out there having to associate with them wild aussies. They seem to be out of control judging by that clip.

fasttalkerchat

That's shocking. Is it being treated as a homophobic attack or am I jumping to conclusions?
And I see they picked up an old RUC tactic:

This morning New South Wales Police released a statement saying they had charged the man with assaulting police, resisting arrest and using offensive language.

fasttalkerchat

AngryHippie wrote: »

Video shows shag all really.

What was the guy being arrested for (fashion crimes aside)?

I've seen worse in the Valley on any given Saturday night. Cops don't take any sh1t, they really shouldn't have to either. sure, every now and again, someone gets a dislocated shoulder or a concussion.

I don't think it was that brutal.

The police seem to have forgotten what the original arrest was for by the time it came to charging him.

smileyj1987

Thats why you don't fcuk with the police !

AngryHippie

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

The police seem to have forgotten what the original arrest was for by the time it came to charging him.

must have been the hotpants then.
In that case, maybe OTT

SparkySpitfire

Pretty much, it seems that he swore at cops, they tried to take him in, he resisted, possibly assaulting them in trying to get away? Then his head was thumped off the ground and the video starts.

All over a few curse words. :rolleyes: Aside from whether he deserved it or not, why would that police officer risk his rep by assaulting the kid over cursing?

fasttalkerchat

SparkySpitfire wrote: »

Pretty much, it seems that he swore at cops, they tried to take him in, he resisted, possibly assaulting them in trying to get away? Then his head was thumped off the ground and the video starts.

All over a few curse words. :rolleyes: Aside from whether he deserved it or not, why would that police officer risk his rep by assaulting the kid over cursing?

Its hard to believe that he would have sworn at them before being assaulted... even more so that a swear word would have provoked such a hate-filled and dangerous attack.

jank

'Hate-filled'? Em no, just no.

Canis Lupus

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

Its hard to believe that he would have sworn at them before being assaulted... even more so that a swear word would have provoked such a hate-filled and dangerous attack.

Pretty insightful considering you weren't there.

LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!!!!

ted1

Video shows f all, just before they throw him to the ground you see him lash out and kick someone. Stupid video really, as usual most the story is missing

gallag

Mardi gras police leniency. Hot pants, HOT PANTS????

Uriel.

Don't see any brutality there. Don't see much of anything except the usual PC hysterics you get. If the guy was fnucking around and ended up on the ground so be it. I'd speculate that if he wasn't resisting arrest or being obnoxious his life and everyone else's would probably have been a lot easier

crockholm

I can't help but think of the simpsons scene,when homer is accused of groping the student, and on the sally-jesse raphael show the woman says " I don't know Homer Simpson,I've never met Homer Simpson,but....*starts crying*

The blonde lass,giving the cops lip about the whole thing and crying like a banshee doesn't even know the fellah!!!!!

the groutch

Aussie police. Stern, stern but fair.

bedrock#1

Despite what your views are on men wearing hot pants, the police did not act in an appropriate manner.

Quick search on the web -

NSW code of conduct for police states

2 - act with care and diligence when on duty

4 - treat everyone with respect, courtesy and fairness

fair and objective decision making without prejudice

promoting community faith and confidence in their police

acting as a role model for the community and your colleagues

Universal Declaration of Human Rights-

Article 5.

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

topper75

Being drunk and disorderly is not a civil liberty in any country. Nor should it be.

Canis Lupus

bedrock#1 wrote: »

Despite what your views are on men wearing hot pants, the police did not act in an appropriate manner.

Quick search on the web -

NSW code of conduct for police states

2 - act with care and diligence when on duty

4 - treat everyone with respect, courtesy and fairness

fair and objective decision making without prejudice

promoting community faith and confidence in their police

acting as a role model for the community and your colleagues

Universal Declaration of Human Rights-

Article 5.

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Police seemed quite reasonable. I know UK or Irish police would have had less patience with bystanders shouting at them.

And quoting codes of conduct and human rights articles is frankly pointless, perhaps you should look at their codes for restraining and arresting a potential offender.

Reading through George Takei's Facebook, who has also posted this video, and there's people saying there that he was initially thrown to the ground because he was harassing police into assaulting him, before lashing out at them and lashing out again just before he was thrown to the ground a second time.

So, no, not brutality. The guy was being an idiot, this'll teach him to not do it again.

bedrock#1

Canis Lupus wrote: »

Police seemed quite reasonable. I know UK or Irish police would have had less patience with bystanders shouting at them.

And quoting codes of conduct and human rights articles is frankly pointless, perhaps you should look at their codes for restraining and arresting a potential offender.

Honestly?

Did you see the kid? and I stress KID He was balling his eyes out. The officer (who was about a foot taller and twice the weight of the kid) had his hands cuffed behind his back, proceeded to slam him to the ground (for the second time) and then stood on him.

It is clear from the video that the kid posed no threat to the police. It was abuse of power and unnecessarily violent treatment.

Please explain to me why it is pointless to quote the NSW police code of conduct when the officer were clearly breaching nearly half of it? Why have codes of conduct? Why bother with rights? Do you not think that with the power the police have and the pedestal they are held on in most western democracies that the should be immune from criticism and the law itself?

Uriel.

bedrock#1 wrote: »

Honestly?

Did you see the kid? and I stress KID He was balling his eyes out. The officer (who was about a foot taller and twice the weight of the kid) had his hands cuffed behind his back, proceeded to slam him to the ground (for the second time) and then stood on him.

It is clear from the video that the kid posed no threat to the police. It was abuse of power and unnecessarily violent treatment.

Please explain to me why it is pointless to quote the NSW police code of conduct when the officer were clearly breaching nearly half of it? Why have codes of conduct? Why bother with rights? Do you not think that with the power the police have and the pedestal they are held on in most western democracies that the should be immune from criticism and the law itself?

Why do you think it is acceptable for people to act like complete muppets. Yeah he got thrown to the ground... you think that is brutality? seriously? I don't know why the guy was originally arrested. But did he think lashing out at the police was going to somehow better his situation. We're all getting to be too much of a soft touch these days. If the worst thing that happens to that guy is to get thrown on the ground after being arrested and subsequently lashing out at the police, then he'll have a grand life.

perhaps he has learned his lesson and in future won't act like a tool

bedrock#1

Uriel. wrote: »

Why do you think it is acceptable for people to act like complete muppets. Yeah he got thrown to the ground... you think that is brutality? seriously? I don't know why the guy was originally arrested. But did he think lashing out at the police was going to somehow better his situation. We're all getting to be too much of a soft touch these days. If the worst thing that happens to that guy is to get thrown on the ground after being arrested and subsequently lashing out at the police, then he'll have a grand life.

perhaps he has learned his lesson and in future won't act like a tool

Hang on, when did I say it was ok for people to act as "complete muppets"??

All I did was point out the fact that they used excessive force and contravened their own code of conduct. Regardless of the situation it is not acceptable for the police to abuse their powers.

At what point were the police given the power to teach people lessons by abusing them and standing on them? Is that not why we have a criminal justice SYSTEM??? With rules and procedures? The rules and procedures are developed for this very reason, to limit the power of the state and by extension their police force. Without rules and procedures their is no law.

When those who make the law, break the law, in the name of the law it calls into question the legitimacy of the states power and the exercise of their monopoly on the use of violence. the police are the manifestation of this legitimate use of force.

topper75

bedrock#1 wrote: »

Regardless of the situation it is not acceptable for the police to abuse their powers.

It was clear from the video that they were restraining a drunk and abusive individual. I would say that is use of their powers as police officers, not abuse.

bedrock#1

topper75 wrote: »

It was clear from the video that they were restraining a drunk and abusive individual. I would say that is use of their powers as police officers, not abuse.

You seem to be confusing restraint and abuse. An officer of that size does not need to treat a person in custody in the manner that kid was treated. All police forces are trained in techniques of restraint that achieve the aim of restraining a suspect without causing undue injury. If the officer in question followed procedure he would not have to essentially body slam a kid and stand on him, which, no matter how you dress it up and try to rationalize it is an abuse of power and amounts to assault.

Also being abusive does not equal physical abuse. Again this shows a lack of understanding of the correct procedures and conduct expected from police officers.

Annasopra

jugger0 wrote: »

Yeah i could tell by the hotpants and crying alright.

I never knew that heterosexuals don't cry

mike65

I was expecting hoping for lots of busty wimmins flashing and being hauled into a paddy wagon

Canis Lupus

bedrock#1 wrote: »

Honestly?

Did you see the kid? and I stress KID He was balling his eyes out. The officer (who was about a foot taller and twice the weight of the kid) had his hands cuffed behind his back, proceeded to slam him to the ground (for the second time) and then stood on him.

It is clear from the video that the kid posed no threat to the police. It was abuse of power and unnecessarily violent treatment.

Please explain to me why it is pointless to quote the NSW police code of conduct when the officer were clearly breaching nearly half of it? Why have codes of conduct? Why bother with rights? Do you not think that with the power the police have and the pedestal they are held on in most western democracies that the should be immune from criticism and the law itself?

Act like a f*cktard and the police will restrain you. Size is irrelevant, the fact he was crying was irrelevant. At the start of the video he clearly needs restraining. The video shows nothing of what he did but some posts already indicate he (your poor crying kid) was lashing out at the police.

Frankly the video doesn't show enough but I don't see anything particularly wrong with anything shown.

From every personal experience I've had or seen involving police, people who end up crying on the ground with their hands cuffed behind their back have deserved it.

As for your codes I'm fairly sure police will be allowed to use reasonable force to restrain an individual. If you somehow think you're able to be belligerent and uncooperative when under arrest being a potential danger to the police and general public then the police will quickly disabuse you of that notion and quite rightly too.

EDIT: it's also worth pointing out, regarding the news article link, that Australian news even the stuff on tv is the equivalent of the The Sun and the Daily Mail combined. It's mostly sensationalist crap of the highest order. Two weeks ago breaking news requiring a reporter to visit the site and report live was a small fishing boat grounded on rocks about 10 feet from the shore. They'll take ANYTHING and try to spin it into a story here.

bedrock#1

Canis Lupus wrote: »

Act like a f*cktard and the police will restrain you. Size is irrelevant, the fact he was crying was irrelevant. At the start of the video he clearly needs restraining. The video shows nothing of what he did but some posts already indicate he (your poor crying kid) was lashing out at the police.

Frankly the video doesn't show enough but I don't see anything particularly wrong with anything shown.

From every personal experience I've had or seen involving police, people who end up crying on the ground with their hands cuffed behind their back have deserved it.

As for your codes I'm fairly sure police will be allowed to use reasonable force to restrain an individual. If you somehow think you're able to be belligerent and uncooperative when under arrest being a potential danger to the police and general public then the police will quickly disabuse you of that notion and quite rightly too.

EDIT: it's also worth pointing out, regarding the news article link, that Australian news even the stuff on tv is the equivalent of the The Sun and the Daily Mail combined. It's mostly sensationalist crap of the highest order. Two weeks ago breaking news requiring a reporter to visit the site and report live was a small fishing boat grounded on rocks about 10 feet from the shore. They'll take ANYTHING and try to spin it into a story here.

See you have done what most people do, ignore the actuality of the situation and bring in 'what I think' because of a few anecdotal incidents you have encountered. From what I saw in that video and comparing that to the codes of conduct set up for the New South Wales police force he used excessive force and abused his power. Regardless of the media culture in the country re sensationalization (fail to see the relevance TBH) and regardless of any verbal abuse directed at the police they didn't handle the situation in a proper manner.

4/5 officers with one skinny little kid who was too pissed and needed to be treated as such, was cuffed, body slammed and stood on. It was like the fecking wild west. Totally over the top, totally uncalled for and excessive.

crockholm

bedrock#1 wrote: »

See you have done what most people do, ignore the actuality of the situation and bring in 'what I think' because of a few anecdotal incidents you have encountered. From what I saw in that video and comparing that to the codes of conduct set up for the New South Wales police force he used excessive force and abused his power. Regardless of the media culture in the country re sensationalization (fail to see the relevance TBH) and regardless of any verbal abuse directed at the police they didn't handle the situation in a proper manner.

4/5 officers with one skinny little kid who was too pissed and needed to be treated as such, was cuffed, body slammed and stood on. It was like the fecking wild west. Totally over the top, totally uncalled for and excessive.

I'm going out on a limb here, but you Sir, sound like you don't have much experience in dealing with drunk and aggressive people.You do not give a sucker an even break,and if the NSW guidelines are about being un-prejudiced,then surely you can't prejudice the hotpants wearer simply because of his smaller stature?

bedrock#1

crockholm wrote: »

I'm going out on a limb here, but you Sir, sound like you don't have much experience in dealing with drunk and aggressive people.You do not give a sucker an even break,and if the NSW guidelines are about being un-prejudiced,then surely you can't prejudice the hotpants wearer simply because of his smaller stature?

Didn't look aggressive to me at all, hysterical maybe, but not a threat. 5 officers, trained and patrolling a Mardi Gras parade - come on. Surely they knew they would encounter some drunken shenanigans.... It still doesn't explain their need to body slam a kid and stand on him.

Whether or not I have experience is immaterial. They are TRAINED and this is the crucial point. They have a code of conduct and procedures to follow and they didn't. And of course size and strength comes into it. The police are paid to assess situations and use their best judgement - they didn't in this case.

What threat did he pose to them half naked and handcuffed? Tell me.

wonderfulname

mango salsa wrote: »

I never knew that heterosexuals don't cry

I never knew they don't wear hotpants, nowt as queer as folk that's for sure...

Lapin

smileyj1987 wrote: »

Thats why you don't fcuk with the police !

True, it usually works the other way round.

D1stant

Sigh. If only we could enforce people into Junior B hurling teams for 2 years as a form of national service, there'd be a lot less shrieking over some twat getting a slap

crockholm

bedrock#1 wrote: »

Didn't look aggressive to me at all, hysterical maybe, but not a threat. 5 officers, trained and patrolling a Mardi Gras parade - come on. Surely they knew they would encounter some drunken shenanigans.... It still doesn't explain their need to body slam a kid and stand on him.

Whether or not I have experience is immaterial. They are TRAINED and this is the crucial point. They have a code of conduct and procedures to follow and they didn't. And of course size and strength comes into it. The police are paid to assess situations and use their best judgement - they didn't in this case.

What threat did he pose to them half naked and handcuffed? Tell me.

Trained counts for nought until you take away the possibility of the guy to do harm, from my own experience,I have seen a guy get his nose broken by the drunk who swung his head back and connected, he had 3 men around him,both arms in arm-locks,but no-one kept the head forward.

do you really think you can guage another mans strength just by looking at him?wrong wrong wrong.

The best advice is to co-operate, offer no resistance,be respectful

bedrock#1

crockholm wrote: »

Trained counts for nought until you take away the possibility of the guy to do harm, from my own experience,I have seen a guy get his nose broken by the drunk who swung his head back and connected, he had 3 men around him,both arms in arm-locks,but no-one kept the head forward.

do you really think you can guage another mans strength just by looking at him?wrong wrong wrong.

The best advice is to co-operate, offer no resistance,be respectful

So you are telling me a guy (police officer) got his nose broken - because he didn't follow the correct restraint procedures and restrain the suspects head?

See, those pesky procedures are good for something.

I'm not interested in the story you are telling me. I'm talking about this story and this video. Stop changing the subject. The eye witnesses said the officer grabbed the kid slammed him to the ground and then smashed his head into the concrete. Then after handcuffing him he stood him up. When the hysterical drunk kid pulls away the officer again slams him into the ground and this time stands on him. At what point did the officer use the correct force, procedure or judgement?

Dyr

Needs more tazer tbh

crockholm

I know well you're not interested in my experience, you're interested in seeing this episode as a gross injustice/intolerance whatever, I don't agree with that. Simples.

crockholm

I know you're not interested in my story,you're interested in seeing this episode as a case of intolerance/police brutality/victimization whatever. Correct procedure? I can't see where the cop was over zealous, and remember that word you used "hysterical"may you have lots of fun using reason and critical thinking when you bump into someone in that state

bedrock#1

As is your right. I just see the police as being a unique position, what with the legitimate use of force, training, equipment etc. on their side. As I see it they are in such a powerful position the regulation governing them should be as tight as a ducks arse - as should their accountability.