IS THIS BULLSHIT OR APPROPRIATE?

[HairOfTheDog]

^ Two angles of the incident filmed by two different students. At least three videos were taken (which is kinda ironic given that the female student's original infraction was looking at her phone in class).

The girl heard yelling "what the fuck" in the second video was protesting what she considered the SRO's brutality. She too was arrested.

Anyway, this case is getting a ton of news coverage now. LE will be holding a press conference later this morning.

[Maggot]

I don't understand why the cops should even care anymore. He should have just walked away and let that kid do whatever she wanted.

[SIXFOOTERsez]

Ya know, I don't see what the cop did as the problem. The way I see it the kids parents were the Epic Fail here. The obviously did not teach the kid any kind of respect for authority. She broke the rules, disobeyed the teacher, disobeyed the administrator and was continued to be a disruption to the class. The teachers and staff no longer have the right to remove a kid from class or punish them in any way, so what the hell were they supposed to do? Just buckle under and let the kids do whatever they want in class? Thats the reason there are cops in schools in the first place, everyone shows up gets a blue ribbon, all of them get praised and they Know the teachers can't do shit. So this kid continues to be a punk and disobey the cop, what now? Just let it go? Then what? Thats what got us here. IMHO Its way past time to take back the schools, the public and this country. We used to be Great, now a bunch of namby pamby pussies whining about Oh The Man Keeping Me Down. Stand up, pull your pants up, get your stupid ass educated, do what your supposed to do in a polite society and be something besides a drag on the rest of us.

[HairOfTheDog]

I don't think a cop should have been called in at all, Maggot. There was no threat being posed to the safety of anyone in the class.

The SRO is there to prevent or stop drug deals and violence, while serving as a positive role model for law enforcement.

And, I would never suggest that cops shouldn't care. I think some of them need to care more.

I think there's something wrong when people see a cop shoot a slow-fleeing unarmed man who was pulled over for a broken taillight 8 times in the back and say, "welp, dude shouldn't have run."

Of course he shouldn't have run, but that doesn't make a death sentence the logical or just response to resisting arrest. That same concept applies for me, based on what I know now, when it comes to the SRO physically assaulting the female teen in this case.

But, I'll wait to hear what the FBI, DOJ, and the sheriff's office have to say.

[Maggot]

What if the guy was running because he had a warrant for his arrest for armed robbery or murder. You just never know. Digression should be used and hindsight is always 20/20. Like watching an instant replay, its much easier to blame the catcher than it is to blame the ball.

Now I wonder how many asshole parents will send their kids to school telling them to be assholes to authority figures so they can sue the school.

[HairOfTheDog]

I think that type of thinking is a big part of the problem, Maggot.

There was no warrant in the case I was referring to and the cop who executed Walter Scott had no evidence to remotely support the scenario that you suggested. Scott was pulled over for a traffic violation, that's it. When he tried to evade arrest, presumably because he was behind on child support, he was shot down, in the back, from a very safe distance, while posing no threat to the cop or any of the cops who were patrolling in close proximity and could have helped catch Scott (whose friend and car were at the scene and could have also helped track down Scott quickly).

You can give cops a license to assault and kill in all situations based on "what ifs" if you want. I can't. I think it's more reasonable to expect them to act on what they know or reasonably suspect, with a lot of leeway if they are in the process of being assaulted or threatened. We have different mindsets.

If it turns out the teen girl was posing a threat to anyone, it'll change my initial opinion which is based on what we know now. If it's instead confirmed that she was simply refusing to leave class when she was choke-holded, slammed, and dragged, I'll continue to believe that it could have been handled more appropriately and it shouldn't take hindsight to know that such violence against a juvenile was going to create more problems than it solved.

[BlueTiki]

I don't think a cop should have been called in at all, Maggot. There was no threat being posed to the safety of anyone in the class.

"The incident happened inside a math class at the school around 10:30 a.m. Monday. According to Lott, the student was supposed to be working on a project using her computer, but instead had her cellphone out. Lott said the girl didn't comply when her teacher told her multiple times to put away the device. An administrator (vice-principal) then came to the class, Lott said, and the student continued to refuse to obey their requests. Fields was then called to the room to remove the student from the room."

"Around 10:30 a.m., the girl who had the confrontation with the officer was working on her computer, and had her phone out, Robinson (a student in the class) said. He said the teacher asked her for her phone, but she said no. An administrator was then called to the room, and Robinson said the administrator pleaded with the girl to get out of her seat, but she didn't."

It was the VP's call to request the officer to remove the student.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/natio.../74668562/

[Maggot]

Be that as it may police will be thinking twice before responding to some situations. Shooting someone in the back and dumping a kid over could have been easily avoided by just thinking twice about their careers before reacting. When it involves their own personal safety they may need to think why they are putting themselves into such a situation. True criminals will love it and everyone will be happy. It still does not make it right but it is what will happen in the end.

[HairOfTheDog]

Thanks Tiki.

I understand that the student refused to comply with the requests of the teacher, the administrator, and the SRO before she was put in a choke hold, flipped out of the chair, and dragged to the front of the class. That's been consistently reported.

She was clearly wrong and deserved to be disciplined, in my opinion.

But, based on what's known now, I don't believe the physical force used was appropriate.

We should know more about the entire incident shortly. I think the LE press conference will start soon.

[Maggot]

Will she be visiting the White house next week? We can only hope.

[F.U.]

Disrespectful bitch got what she deserved. Maybe she will think the next time she is told to do something.

[Maggot]

The other kids will think twice before keeping their phone.

[sally]

I don't expect the teachers and officer to just sit there while she says na-na na-na boo- boo you can't make me do it, so I think it was necessary to call in the officer and have her physically removed from the class. The manner in which he did it, however, was excessive. I think he could have removed her without dragging her and slamming her to the ground.

[HairOfTheDog]

The Sheriff is giving his press conference now.

He explained that the Internal Affairs investigation showed that the girl was being disrespectful and disruptive; she was not just sitting quietly and refusing.

However, the law enforcement experts reviewed the video and determined unanimously that Fields violated training and policy in use of force when he flipped the 16-year-old girl from her chair and dragged her across the room. The head of SROs nationally weighed in earlier with the same conclusion on CNN.

Fields has been terminated; the sheriff takes responsibility for the wrongful action of his deputy. Sheriff Lott is making it very clear though that the girl is responsible for her own actions and bad decisions that led to the violent incident (though it doesn't justify his deputy's response).

[BlueTiki]

Fields has been terminated; the sheriff takes responsibility for the wrongful action of his deputy. Sheriff Lott is making it very clear though that the girl is responsible for her own actions and bad decisions that led to the violent incident (though it doesn't justify his deputy's response).

I think any reasonable person would agree with Lott.

And the parenthetical notation.

[HairOfTheDog]

I don't expect the teachers and officer to just sit there while she says na-na na-na boo- boo you can't make me do it, so I think it was necessary to call in the officer and have her physically removed from the class. The manner in which he did it, however, was excessive. I think he could have removed her without dragging her and slamming her to the ground.

Yeah, the original reports that she was just sitting quietly were inaccurate.

The sheriff just expressed the same view as yours based on what all of the witness interviews over the last 48 hours revealed.

He said the officer was not wrong in trying to restrain the girl and get her out of the class once he was called in, but Fields violated policy and training when he took his hands off of her to flip her and drag her.

The sheriff also just said that some teachers and administrators probably need to review the role of the SRO and shouldn't call them in if administrative action is more appropriate or preferable to law enforcement action.

Fields has tremendous support from the faculty and many of the students at the school, the sheriff said. He also served as the football coach of the school.

The girl's lawyer claims she suffered back injuries and her arm is in a cast as a result of the incident. The sheriff says he can't speak to her injuries, if any.

The charges against the students still stand. Sheriff Lott said that what his deputy did wrong doesn't erase what they did wrong.

If any criminal charges are to be filed against Fields, those will come from the FBI investigation.

[HairOfTheDog]

Sheriff Lott is well-balanced, in my opinion.

You can tell it's difficult for him to terminate an employee who he otherwise considered a strong performer and a valuable asset, but believes it's the right thing to do given the clear evidence of policy violation.

He said repeatedly that he welcomes citizens' videos of police action and encourages more citizens to film; LE can then evaluate to determine if problems exist and, if so, they will be addressed. He looks forward to all of his officers having body cams, he said.

ETA: CORRECTION: It's the throwing of the student across the room that was the violation of policy and training, NOT flipping the girl from the chair.

[Duchess]

He said repeatedly that he welcomes citizens' videos of police action and encourages more citizens to film; LE can then evaluate to determine if problems exist and, if so, they will be addressed. He looks forward to all of his officers having body cams, he said.

Interesting. I read that one of the students who filmed the cop on the student was arrested for recording the altercation and charged with disrupting school. I didn't even that was a thing.

[HairOfTheDog]

^ The other female student who was arrested may have taken video.

But, she was arrested for disrupting the class by screaming profanity when protesting the way that the girl was being placed under arrest.

Those are the only two arrests of which I'm aware.

[Maggot]

He should have just walked away. Many will learn from this. He could always find another job, now he may not be able to.