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| -Land of the Free |
| Video Shows Officer Confronting Man Filming Arrests In Towson |
| 2014-02-26 |
| [BALTIMORE.CBSLOCAL] Controversial confrontation. A man videotaped Baltimore County police as they arrested two people in Towson, but an altercation broke out between the man and officer. Now an investigation is underway. County police officials say they are concerned by the video and they've launched an investigation. Early Sunday morning, a man videotaped as Baltimore County police arrested two people in Towson. As the video rolled, he was confronted by an officer. "I'm allowed to do this," he told the officer. "Get it out of my face," the officer replied. "I have my rights," the man said. "You have no rights," the officer said. But the man didn't stop rolling and was once again aggressively approached. "Do you see the police presence here? Do you see us all? We're not [expletive] around. Do you understand? Do not disrespect us and do not not listen to us," the officer said. After backing away, the officer came at the man a third time, appearing to grab him. "I thought I had freedom of speech here," the man said. "You don't. You just lost it," the officer replied. County police, auxiliary officers and state police were all responding to a large crowd and disturbance on York Road. County police officials became aware of the video of the altercation Tuesday morning and have launched an investigation. "We are concerned about what we saw in the video and the department will be taking a thorough look at that video," said Elise Armacost. But officials with the ACLU say the video clearly shows illegal and improper police conduct. "I think the officer in the video is extraordinarily agitated, hostile and unprofessional. I think it's highly problematic," said David Rocah, ACLU Maryland. "The fact that officers can act this way, knowing that they're being filmed, I think shows a level of impunity that is quite troubling." Delegate Sandy Rosenberg says he's also concerned. "There needs to be either further training for the police and perhaps some appropriate disciplinary action for this individual policeman," Rosenberg said. The man who was filming was not arrested and has not filed a complaint in this case. In a statement, county police officials say they recognize and respect the rights of citizens to film officers on duty in a public place, unless the person filming has violated a law or statute. |
| Posted by:Fred |
#5 Baltimore county actually has a decent police force. Towson is a college town. Note that"County police, auxiliary officers and state police were all responding to a large crowd and disturbance on York RoadYork Road is the main thoroughfare running through Towson. The festivities took place at 1:45 in the morning. Another report sez "...on-duty officers witnessed a disturbance among several members of a large crowd in the 400 block of York Road"400 York Road features a Subway sammitch shop on the corner, a bail bondsman, and what looks like student apartments over it. My initial reaction was "bastards," referring to the cops. Closer examination suggests that with the presence of the campus cops, the county cops, and the State Police, it was probably a fairly large gathering of jerkwads and that the cop was feeling harried by yet another jerkwad in his face hollering "Hey! Look at me!" But I could be wrong. |
| Posted by: Fred 2014-02-26 11:25 |
| #4 Do what several departments already are doing. Fit every beat cop with live feed video. If for any reason the video goes off, goes blank, disappears, so does the officer's career. You want to remove these idiots out of the force as quickly as possible. With phone/camera technology linked to immediate cloud storage, it's too late to try to hide the event anymore. Get your state legislatures to remove immunity from any public official who obstructs or confiscates such equipment and you'll see behavior change almost immediately. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2014-02-26 08:37 |
| #3 In a statement, county police officials say they recognize and respect the rights of citizens to film officers on duty in a public place, unless the person filming has violated a law or statute. Given the fact that all citizens are always breaking some law or statute this is a moot point. Whether it's disorderly conduct or some other catch-all the police will always have an excuse, check out the blog-father for details. The police attitude demonstrated here is that of all the elite, institutional thugs today, "I have a pen and a phone"; cops have a gun and a badge. Different levels of the same $#it. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2014-02-26 08:30 |
| #2 Unfortunately I suspect the policeman was correct; "we no longer have any rights." A public apology for their conduct and 30 days off [disciplinary layoff] without pay. That should get their attention. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-02-26 02:07 |
| #1 Put a few of these pigs in state penitentiaries. In general population. The rest will get the message double-quick. |
| Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) 2014-02-26 01:12 |