NEWS: YouTube Fighting Criminal Crime Fighters?

CULTURE: YouTube Fighting Criminal Crime Fighters?

Earlier this month, footage appeared on YouTube of a man being subdued by two members of the Los Angeles Police department. The video shows police using force to arrest 23-year-old William Cardenas, who was wanted in connection with a robbery and is a suspected gang member. The 20-second clip, captured on a bystander's videophone, shows officers tackling the fleeing Cardenas, after which one police officer uses his knee to apply pressure to the suspect's throat while his partner repeatedly punches the suspect in the face. In the footage, a struggling Cardenas yells, "I can't breathe."

The event occurred August 11 and the officers involved maintain that Cardenas was resisting arrest. Additional police reports have the officers testifying that Cardenas made an attempt to secure one officer's gun. More than two months ago, a Superior Court commissioner ruled that their conduct was "more than reasonable."

While these events are contentious in and of themselves, the real controversy now concerns the appearance of this footage and similar videos of suspected police brutality found on websites such as YouTube. Since the appearance of this video, an FBI investigation has opened up and the officers in question, Alexander Schlegel and Patrick Farrell, have been reassigned to administrative duty.

Police watchdog organizations are championing the new online forums, saying that they allow the public to see and decide for themselves.

Chiming in is Najee Ali, director of the Project Islamic H.O.P.E. who calls the amateur videos visual evidence that confirms what his association has been saying for years.

Police have already seen the results, claiming that Los Angeles is becoming crowded with advocates hoping to film police wrongdoing. However, LAPD official and spokesperson, Lt. Paul Vernon, warns that such footage can be confusing and misleading to the viewer.

Vernon sites that, of an estimated one million contacts made between his department and civilians each year, about 150,000 lead to arrests. Of that, only 1,800 involve the use of force, and of that number an "average of about three" are found excessive or a violation of LAPD guidelines. The ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) believes that stronger oversight of the police force is necessary, but does not think YouTube and its viewers are the forum in which to do it.

Obviously, this situation is a mixed blessing. While police may have new reasons to resist the temptation to abuse their authority, abbreviated video clips where the context is confusing, lost, missing, or deleted, are bound to show up in DIY media outlets. Unfortunately, there is, and probably always will be, a prevailing sense of an us against them attitude between police and civilians, as even the most innocent among us has committed a parking violation or had a great party broken up. YouTube and the like make us a more informed society. And as police are forced to become more accountable and responsible for their actions and behavior, we will, in turn, have to consider the source and merit of each piece of information held up for public scrutiny.

nice

He had it coming.

I'm still waiting to see something more than the 17 seconds of the Cardenas video. In and of itself, the footage released thus far does not give enough information to determine anything as to the propriety of the use of force. It may be that this is the only footage they have, but when a defense attorney releases a snippet at arraignment, I'm rather suspicious.

All in all, I think that having YouTube, etc, posting such videos is a good thing, for the obvious and non-obvious reasons. The obvious reason is that it is a check on real abuses of power by law enforcement, which can and do happen. The less obvious reason is that it will expose people, some of whom would otherwise have no clue, to what actual arrests with honest to God resistance look like.

Fuck that guy they should have shot him!

I remember when my grand parents were robbed by a piece of shit like this guy!

For those of you who dont know when the police tackle you and you have a cop sitting on ur chest the best thing is too go limp, that way THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR UNESSESSARY FORCE!

Don't fight, most of thoe cops out there are pretty damn tough and they look for reasons to kick ass.

I really enjoyed the article. My opinion rests on both sides of the fence, really. Yes, it may help document real police brutality, but it is very easy to become an armchair quarterback when it comes to clips of events like that. If I showed you the clip of my cousin (who is a cop) throwing a man to the ground, kneeling on the back of his neck, while the man screams that he can't breathe, you could take it as police brutality. If I showed you the minute long struggle beforehand, where he repeatedly punched him and reached for his gun, you would think differently.

This doesn't really seem to be an isolated occurrence either, I've seen quite a few youtube clips with cops being rather violent.

it must be nice to be able to edit out all the stuff that may have proven the officers' actions were justified.

The biggest problem I see with this sort of thing is that if the public jump up and down to much about how cops act then the criminals get an even longer leash and society spirals down into anarchy and everyone then jumps up and down screaming why dont the cops do something and its the same ppl who were all over the cops like white on rice.

BTW if you are shouting out that you can't breathe, you can breathe just fine.

You people are fuckin nuts!
Police Officers are, for the most part, the idiot jocks from high school who couldn't get into college, and got stuck in a uniform. Start off with racist tendencies, given a bit of power, a firearm, and a retracable club and dropped off in the poor part of town. Now they're ready to "clean up the scum".

These new technologies being used to keep track of cops is great. In the past you had to rely on word of mouth testimony, which is worth zero, or the rare occasion someone happened to have a bulky camcorder out and filming.

I'm not saying that police brutality does not happen, or that this isn't a good way to catch it when it does, but that whole 'fuck da po-lice' shit is so juvenile.

There are dickheads on any force, but the majority of police officers that I know and that I have come across will treat you with the same respect that you show them. If you are acting like a twat, or get caught doing something fucked up by the police, no, they aren't going to be nice to you.

I agree that there is abuse of power and brutality in some cases. The problem with video tapes like this is that they do not show the entire story. Then again from what little I did see, I find the officers to be justified due to the fact that as they are trying to control his arms and roll him over, he is resisting. Some would say that he has a right to resist. That is a crock of shit. Even if you have done nothing wrong, if you are a suspect to a crime the police have the right to cuff you and detain you. If you resist physically or even verbally, I have no sympathy for you when they take you to the ground and force you to submit. If you have done nothing wrong, then you have no reason to not cooperate.

HIS GRANDPARENTS WERE ROBBED!! SHOW SOME COMPASSION!!

If you wanna fight police, be sure you know what you´re doing, be sure you will win the fight, or just go limp and let them read you your rights.

hasn't the clash taught you anything?

Yeah sorry Im not a big fan of multiple felons. Assholes like this guy like to fight with the cops, and it makes the police more aggressive overall. They are the kind of people who complain about not being able to breathe while they are taking pot shots at the cops.

I have no sympathy for criminals. If he is a wanted suspect for robbery and gang affiliation, then sure, put your knee in his throat. Get him off the street. He had it coming. The sad thing is, this guy will probably get off on a technicality for "improper restraint" from a police officer and be back on the streets where he will probably end up falling back into the circle of a crime. The officers didn't act in an improper manner, I think. They are doing their jobs. All the guy had to do was obey the officers' orders, and looking from it, he was fighting back.

I'm tired of comments like that. I plan on becoming an officer myself, and they do a pretty damn thorough profile check to make sure that your mentally fit to be an officer. Most everyone that goes to an academy is there because they want to help people. even the bad cops started off with good intentions and if they turn bad, its usually from experiences on the force. bad cops should be punished, without a doubt, but you have to keep in mind what they go through as an officer. you never see what happens before the confrontation, Anyone they are arresting could have a weapon. they want these people immobilized as soon as possible, if someone is struggling all it takes is one free hand to make the situation considerably worse. no one ever takes into account while they are watching the high speed chase what the cops might be thinking. its very dangerous, the cops have families, and some asshole is going 90 down city streets and they Have to give chase, risking their life and their chance to be a parent for their kids cause some chump doesn't want to go to jail on drug charges, I understand a bit of anger. these youtube videos will not be showing anything that led up to an arrest, its just how it will work. you cannot get a good idea of whats been happening if all you see is the struggle. the small amount of bad cops give the good cops a bad name, that doesn't mean we shouldn't be vigilant and swift in our punishment of them, but videos like this sure as hell won't help.

Me either. These cops should lose their jobs (hey,if they did nothing wrong--why did their own administration take them off the street?).

Good to know that according to your own dopey logic, suspicion=guilt and that some people "have it coming".

You know why it's sad? It could have been prevented. Doesn't the fact that the TWO cops, who have the guy on his back, still need to punch him repeatedly in the face? Even if you don't think it's a crime, at the very least, this officer is shitty at his job, and he shouldn't be a fucking cop if he can't restrain a guy who is clearly outnumbered and on his back. If the suspect is guilty (still not proven) and gets out due to the excessive force the cops used--it's the fucking cop's fault! Why is that so hard to understand?

The guy is in a gang. I think its safe to say that he is guilty of some sort of crime.
I love cops. I love that they beat the shit out of people who have committed crimes that affect someone else. They deserve it. I have no sympathy for him. I have sympathy for the cops who have been taken off the streets and desk. Those cops make me feel safe. If the cops didn't violate his civil rights, then by all means, do what you have to do to restrain.

Anyone else watch that episode of Anderson 360 on CNN a while back of the Orelans cops who beat/threatened to shoot people so they could get steal the rolex watches from stores?
Those are bad cops.

that actually wasn't excessive at all. if you actually watch the video, the Entire time he is resisting. he was trying to get his arms free. I believe the reason these cops are off the street is because of this negative publicity, not because they are bad cops. it sometimes takes more than two officers to take someone down and if as this video shows it did, there was probably a struggle right before this video was taken. on his back is still rather dangerous, this video would have been excessive if he was on his stomach with his arms pinned

I'm glad that your ill-informed, dumb opinion of who is and isn't guilty of "some sort of crime" counts for shit.

I'm glad that the LAPD makes people in Windsor, ON feel safe. Otherwise the big bad gang members might grab you!

Exactly! If he is restraining, then he has a chance of injuring one of the officers or other people.