Pajamas Media

114 Comments

1. D. Grant Chee----:

Dear Pseudonym, no sympathy here and no empathy.
You say you don’t know the officer; but give him
a pass for comitting a crime! Assault and battery comitted upon a 15-year old girl by an
obviously healthy man is the act of a sadist,
not a frustrated cop. You say but for the grace of God.. I suggest you hang up your badge, gun, mace, baton, stun-gun and taser. Darn good thing that was not my daughter he battered! What a
whiner you are for your blue bro!

Mar 5, 2009 - 3:03 am 2. Valerie:

I don’t think anyone who has ever come face to face with the type of behavior of that teenager will judge the policeman too harshly. Yes, he lost it, and he’ll pay for it, but professionals of any nature can have an off moment or two in a career.

That the girl happens to be young, well, that’s what is going to end up being her trump card. He will, of course, regret his actions and she won’t regret hers for one minute. She’ll gloat about she got the guy in trouble.

It’s a wonder there are still people out there willing to become policeman, fireman, soldiers…

Mar 5, 2009 - 3:23 am 3. ridgerunner:

OK, let’s take his career into account. As I understand it, he has been involved in two shootings. In one of them, he put eleven bullets into a mentally-ill man when the man did not comply fully after a traffic stop. This is not an officer whose actions appear reasonable. Too bad he hasn’t had a professional encounter with some real wise guys.

Mar 5, 2009 - 4:14 am 4. D. Grant Chee----:

Men who attack 15-year old daughters at home are charged with “Domestic violence” and their lives are ruined–across America daily. How is this officers actions excusable? Officers are given a pass by fellow officers and police abuse gets worse because police officers will not police the misconduct of fellow officers. How many dads who viewed the video are outraged by the unmanly cop? How many cops are outraged?

Mar 5, 2009 - 4:20 am 5. Greg:

He the policeman is without excuse.

Mar 5, 2009 - 4:29 am 6. Marie Claude:

this cop has, once more, given the opportunity to youngs to trash them

Mar 5, 2009 - 4:33 am 7. Nor Meyer:

Excuse me, but aren’t we required to defer to officers of the law whenever they make requests/demands of us, whether we agree with them or not? If you’re having a close encounter with a police officer then you’d best comply with his or her requests. After the fact you can lodge a complaint or whatever, but not during.

Mar 5, 2009 - 4:34 am 8. LibertyNow:

He’s an “Only One” see the http://waronguns.blogspot.com/ for more stories of elite only ones that aren’t the same as the rest of us “civilians”…

Mar 5, 2009 - 4:44 am 9. Mike T:

People would be a lot more sympathetic if it weren’t for the way that so many vice cops behave. You read the stories about SWAT raids on small time drug users and dealers that make you feel like you just read about someone trying to take out a beehive with a RPG. Then, when the cops get it wrong, they make all sorts of excuses about how it’s just an honest mistake. Yet, law enforcement is the first to jump on law-abiding citizens for even slightly breaking the law in self-defense, such as not retreating in states that lack a castle doctrine.

There is a real double standard, and it’s why a lot of people rejoice whenever they see a cop get crucified because it is the closest thing to a sign that the system isn’t completely broken that they will ever see.

Mar 5, 2009 - 4:53 am 10. sule:

Send the bills for this event to the girl’s parents, suspend the cop for a period of time, and next budding little hoodlum brought in, have enough staff on hand to control criminals who practice their freedom of expression on arresting officers.

Any attorney desiring to stiff taxpayers on behalf of perpetrators of crime, must first demonstrate sterling motives of justice by offering to patrol the neighborhoods from which their clients originate.

Two midnight shifts will suffice, twice a month, scheduled to coincide with the welfare checks being mailed out.

Mar 5, 2009 - 5:06 am 11. Michael O'Brein:

I’m all for supporting police and allowing them to do the tough jobs they have, but hitting his leg with her shoe is hardly justification for him beating up a 15 year old female child.

Sorry, this dude’s got anger issues and needs to be removed from any position of authority.

Mar 5, 2009 - 5:13 am 12. Craig:

Cops have to deal with the scourge of society. And blessedly, I’m not a cop. Cops are trained and paid to be benevolent to even the worst of the worse.

If one breaches, he/she is held accountable. And this cop will be held to that high standard of equanimity.

Mar 5, 2009 - 5:16 am 13. deguello:

What was she doing? drivig 35 in a 30mph zone? Or did she forget to pay her taxes.These clowns are orc police.

Mar 5, 2009 - 5:29 am 14. Mike:

What bothers me more than officers such as Schene are those such as his parner in the video, who makes no attempt to stop him, and those such as Dunphy, who excuse his actions.

The truly violent or corrupt law enforcement officers may be a small minority, but those who turn a blind eye towards misconduct by fellow officers seems to be legion.

Mar 5, 2009 - 5:32 am 15. CJ:

So pretend if I spank my 15 yr old daughter CPS comes a knocking, if I push the 17 yr old guy who gets her pregant I go to jail, lose my wages, lose my job, get sued, and you think this cop should get a desk job, or hand slap?
I don’t think he should be a cop if he can’t handle the verbal abuse, or insults and all the other crap he and I both have to take from some of todays youth.

Mar 5, 2009 - 5:44 am 16. Assistant Village Idiot:

Wow, people accuse Dunphy of condoning the behavior because he didn’t go into screaming fits condemining it? Merely condemning it isn’t enough, you have to be unrelenting in your diatribe against it? Nice attitude you folks have got there.

I work at an acute psychiatric hospital and endure provocation all the time. Those who do shift work on the units (as I once did) endure much more. No abuse is tolerated, and people are fired for it. But I understand exactly what Dunphy is talking about, and if you haven’t been there, you simply don’t understand. Whether by genetics or training, we have responses to threat in us that are for our own safety. This includes the desire of those charged with keeping order of squelching those who are out of control. We learn to exercise control over these impulses as part of our socialisation, and those in authority have an especial responsibility. But unless you’ve felt that adrenaline surge and fought it down, you are simply speaking in ignorance. I’m going to bet you couldn’t do it yourself, as arrogance and impulsive decision-making (which some show here) are predictors of who will be violent.

For those who do understand what I am talking about, reflect on the enormous self-control under extreme provocation shown by young military personnel at Gitmo.

Mar 5, 2009 - 6:05 am 17. Peter the Bubblehead:

13. deguello wrote:
What was she doing? drivig 35 in a 30mph zone? Or did she forget to pay her taxes.These clowns are orc police.

Peter asks: Did you simply skip over the part where it said she was a passenger in a stolen car? Or just too stupid to understand what that means?

Mar 5, 2009 - 6:07 am 18. john:

Have you thought that this type of behavior by the police is what is contributung to a lack of respect for the law? These oficers are setting themselves up as some sort of elite in society where the laws do not apply. I have seen a steady erosion of respect due to the increased criminality of the officers themselves. These events are not lost on the youth or anyone with eyes. It’s time for officers to hold themselves to the same standards they expect of us peons.

Mar 5, 2009 - 6:20 am 19. ken magalnik:

I have a simple proposition, that will quickly put an end to this sort of thing.

Police are granted powers and responsibilities by the populace. Those two go hand in hand. So as soon as a police officer starts behaving in a manner not befitting the uniform, he ceases to be a police officer, and should be treated like a civilian. Which means that his fellow officer should cuff him, read him his rights, and throw him into the next cell. The department should then decide whether they would like to rehire him, being an officer with experience (thus given preference over new applicants), but also having an arrest on his record for assaulting a minor. Any hiring policies the dept has when it comes to that sort of thing, will, of course, apply.

It’s not something outlandish that I am suggesting. I’m simply saying that professionals should act like professionals.

Mar 5, 2009 - 6:38 am 20. Hugo Williams:

The language and omissions here are all you need to know:

“Shoved” Shoved?? he body slammed her full force and smashed her into the wall.

NO mention of the multiple fist blows to her head when he knelt on her.

Then he “picks her up” – jerks her to her feet by her hair, you mean.

Jack Dunphy you are a liar and a coward, clearing up droppings left by vermin.

Mar 5, 2009 - 6:41 am 21. Robin:

Thank you, John. It hurt to have to tell my kids that the police are not their friend. They were when I was a child, but the relaxing of standards and the bullying nature of many police officers has ended the friendship. I will not allow any police officer to violate my Constitutional rights. It is time to be willing to die to oppose violations by law enforcement. I swore an oath to defend the Constitution. That oath did not stop when I retired from the Army.

Mar 5, 2009 - 6:45 am 22. Tolbert:

The girl was no threat to the officer. Being disrespectful, while not the wisest choice for the child, and yes, I call her a child because that is exactly what she is, was no cause for the beatdown the officer chose to administer.

We can go on and on about the emotional state of Deputy Schene, but in the end this is about the officers response to the lack of respect that he feels is his due. This says more about the officer than of the actions of an unarmed immature 15 year old female confined in a cell who has a fraction of the muscle mass of Deputy Schene and another officer able to assist him.

In the end he chose to take action, and make no mistake, it was his choice to take that action, not the result of some blind rage. No excuses can be accepted, yes, this is a high standard, no less will suffice for law enforcement personnel.

Deputy Schene’s punishment should be quick, decisive and of a nature that ensures a repeat incident will not occur. Does this mean ending his career? Possibly. It needs to be on the table as a means of enforcing compliance among subordinants to departmental policy.

Mar 5, 2009 - 7:09 am 23. submandave:

“But people rightfully expect better of police officers, and despite whatever provocation the girl may have committed, in reacting as he did Deputy Schene brought discredit to himself, his fellow deputies, and police officers everywhere. Now he needs to face the consequences.”

“I don’t suggest for a moment that Deputy Schene should escape punishment”

“You say you don’t know the officer; but give him a pass for comitting a crime!”

One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn’t belong …

For all their talk about nuance and shades of grey, some folks are very black and white when it comes to others. Some personality says something that someone considers racially insensitive: he must loose his job. Someone says something at work that someone considers sexist or suxual in nature: he must loose his job. A cop takes and takes and takes and then snaps: he must loose his job. Aren’t these the same folks who say that an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind?

Mar 5, 2009 - 7:17 am 24. Larry:

The officer did what this brat’s parents should have done long ago. Better to have a little sense knocked into her than be: a)raped b)killed/seriously injured in a car accident c)pregnant d)on drugs e)all the above. That’s the probable outcome anyway, and taxpayers end up supporting ever higher numbers of these people. Each year it gets worse.

Mar 5, 2009 - 7:23 am 25. one of my own:

No, no, wait. It gets better, dude, seriously. When they took her out of the cell, they water boarded her, man! Which I’m totally col with because, well two things .. . . first she might have know where a nookular bomb was and we probably had like, 60 seconds to fid it and TWO! water boarding isn’t torture anyway.

Kinda reminds me about that guy getting arrested for telling Cheney his foreign policy sucked. Such is the police state created by Republicans. Thanks, everybody. Really. Maybe we can elect Joe Horn president next time, maybe get those two border guards appointed Sheriff and Deputy of America. I love a good back shooter, don’t you? There’s been a ton of pimple dick “lock and load” crap spewed forth from this board over the last month. Well you just saw what armed assholes on a mission from god look like.

Grow up, you hypocrites. If she had an Obama T-shirt on you’d all be celebrating right now. Maybe somebody should step in a defend her rights, you know, somebody like the ACLU, because you can bet your sorry butt no conservative is going to do anything.

Mar 5, 2009 - 7:29 am 26. RJ:

“… without knowing anything else about him I can guess that during those eight years he has risked his life several times, most often without the slightest recognition by his superiors or the citizens he serves. What an injustice it would be if those eight years of service are overshadowed by thirty seconds of videotape.”

With absolutely equal evidence one could also guess that he’s been a bully and a thug cop for 8 years, and he finally got caught on tape doing what he does all the time.

Mar 5, 2009 - 7:44 am 27. Bugs:

This is why I didn’t become a police officer – and why most people shouldn’t become police officers. The cop in question here needs a long vacation. Also needs to think about his career choice.

Mar 5, 2009 - 8:03 am 28. Terbreugghen:

All you people, including Mr. Dunphy, are barking up the wrong tree. The REAL problem here is the girl, plain and simple. Mr. Dunphy appears to have gone over the line a bit, that’s true. But where is the lasting damage to his actions? Where is the permanent scarring, the loss of dignity, etc.? It is nonexistent. The kid had no dignity to begin with, and that is the elephant in this particular living room.

Mar 5, 2009 - 8:07 am 29. trangbang68:

One of my own, You have to cut down on your crack consumption before breakfast, dude. You’re coming off as a real ignorant clown. Your post had what exactly to do with the story?

Mar 5, 2009 - 8:13 am 30. deguello:

BUBBLEBRAIN# 17 : No cretin,I was being sarcastic, but now I understand;I didn’t realize it was ok to beat up teen-age girls, because they were riding in stolen cars. It should become SOP in al police departments.Do you enjoy beating up your wife?

Mar 5, 2009 - 8:14 am 31. Beat the Little Girls:

DUNPHY HAD YOU EXPECTED THAT WE WOULDN’T WATCH THE VIDEO!?!

you’re depiction of these events is deceptive.

You left out the kick to the gut,

slamming her head into a wall,

lifting her off her feet by her hair,

and pummeling her twice in the face.

You’d also left out the part about his drug and DUI record, two prior shootings, and his precinct’s record of violence against civilians.

As well as the fact that it’s apparent that he’s lying about the source of his injury, and refuses to take responsibility for his actions.

This assault goes beyond anything that might reasonably be described as a momentary lapse of judgment. He attacked her with the obvious intent of inflicting severe injury w/ four distinct assaults. If the other officer hadn’t come into the cell to protect her, he’d likely have continued until she was dead or unconscious.

He’d chosen to beat a 15 year old girl into submission. What kind of POS would be able to do that?!?

KEEP IN MIND DUNPHY – if you think that this is to be expected, in response to fat jokes and a thrown shoe, then so is violent retaliation by civilians against LEOs who cross the line. It’s a two way street.

Mar 5, 2009 - 8:20 am 32. Heather Cook:

So why shouldn’t the entire life of the 15 year old be taken into consideration? She hasn’t always been this way, she was likely under the influence… she might have had a huge fight with her parents, maybe her parents are abusive, maybe she’s had a rough life, maybe a good life.

He knows virtually nothing about her, yet his actions are now considered not AS BAD as hers.

Why should his career be taken into consideration when her past good deeds have not.

Possibly she is a brat. But we have no way of knowing. NO WAY. We don’t know if her parents beat her or abuse her in any fashion, we only see her at her worst. Just as we only see the officer at his worst.

But he was the one entrusted with the power. He was the one that should be removed from his job if he cannot make the right behavior response EVERY TIME. That’s one of the reasons we pay him to do his job.

Who cares what words she used, jeez, isn’t this cop an adult? Doesn’t he realize that he can walk away? My child gets mad, throws a temper tantrum and says mean things. So? Kids do that. We’re the adults. We know better so we do better.

Mar 5, 2009 - 8:24 am 33. deguello:

Beat the Lttle girls#31 Right on! regards,Deguello

Mar 5, 2009 - 8:33 am 34. Kevin:

I bet she doesn’t want to go back to jail again.

Mar 5, 2009 - 9:01 am 35. Blackwell:

Sorry, Jack. I know you regularly defend the LAPD and I agree with 90% of what you have written in the past. But this incident does not deserve your normally sound support.

Cops with the ability to detain, arrest, shoot and use billy clubs don’t get to react like the rest of us. If he does, he needs to find another line of work. Like a Seawolf sub captain that jokes about “sending them all off,” he’s not fit for his job.

We as citizens consent to be governed, not ruled. The police are there to protect us, not dish out curbside justice. I don’t want some cop with an attitude beating up me, my kids or anyone else’s because his sense of dignity was affronted. I can only wonder what the cop said, threatened and did on the way to jail.

So now we have a kid that hates cops for life; a city that’s going to have to pay for what this POS cop did; the image of good cops everywhere smeared by this temper tantrum.

The cop ought to be summarily fired; when the city is sued they ought to sue him for indemnity.

He’s not worthy of your support and from the comments here, he’s not getting any either.

Mar 5, 2009 - 9:16 am 36. Charlie Martin:

Jack, let’s be honest about what the tape shows. She kicks off a shoe — look at it, it’s not a forceful kick, and I’d bet he just told her to give him her shoes. He punches her, smashes her face against the concrete back wall with his hand in her hair, throws her to the ground by her hair, restrains her with his partner, once they have her hands behind her back he punches her full force pounding her face into the cement floor, then once she’s handcuffed picks her up by her hair to get her on her feet.

This is a 15 year old girl who appears to be about 5 feet tall and weigh about 110 pounds. And he’s been charged with simple assault.

I’m sorry, but you are defending what he did. I understand that you feel you might lose your temper that way; if you ever do, I hope you too are fired and imprisoned as that guy should be.

Dammit, we should be able to expect more of peace officers, not less.

Mar 5, 2009 - 9:20 am 37. Irwin Copper:

The deputy’s decision to use that type and amount of force will most certainly be ruled out of policy and illegal by a jury/judge. It is a safe prediction the deputy will be fired, convicted, and possibly imprisoned. To the cheer of many, his days of being the police are likely over.

So, THE question is why would a deputy push, strike, throw, hit, and punch a teenage girl for kicking a shoe at him on color video? Presumably he knew the camera was operating. Well, whatever the reason is I am certain that it will be proven unjustified or wrong…that’s why there’s a law against it and that’s why the deputy is charged.

Some will write the deputy assaulted this girl because he is evil, dumb, racist, Etc. Others may write police do this everyday and this day he was caught on video. Both are arguable and not constructive.

A more likely answer of why this deputy reacted the way he did was due to the cumulative stress he encountered in his career OR Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from one or more of the potential deadly incidents in his career. From what I know, there is no justification for his action, but WHY did this occur? I read this deputy was involved in several critical incidents…..shootings?

Do you believe public safety (cops, firefighters, dispatchers, EMS, Etc.) workers carry the psychological baggage of all they have seen, done, and been involved with into every situation they are exposed?

To expect perfect performance without adequate treatment or accessible coping tools is not realistic-that is a reason you get national headlines when a grown men strikes a teenage girl for kicking a shoe at him while being video recorded. This is not an excuse for the deputy because in my view, there is no legal excuse for his conduct. Rather, this is a rational and defendable explanation of why it occurred.

Mar 5, 2009 - 9:47 am 38. Robert F:

“The typical police officer comes from a family that instills in him a respect for the law and for lawful authority”

Sorry, “Jack”, but that is not my observation. While I can see some cop losing it in a highly charged situation, that is not why the typical cop loses it. They care less about right and wrong, good and evil, then they do about getting their a**es kissed. I learned this in part from observing pro-life blockades of abortion clinics. The people there were not there to provoke the police, in fact, they did their best to be non-provocative. Yet I observed abuses like pulling off a priest’s collar and stuffing it in his mouth, along with false charges and false testimony. For the rest of us, that is known as “perjury”. Most of these situations had a dozen or more cops involved, but not ONE had the integrity to stop the abuse. I have no doubt that there were many “Jacks” alongside the perpetrators, and like “Jack”, merely explained it all away.

Mar 5, 2009 - 9:53 am 39. Watermelon rocks:

its obvious the man had hit is limit of too many bratty 15 year olds but that doesnt justify him beating her. is it justified to beat my kid because it smarts back to me and if so my kid would be in a hospital by now because thats part of young adolescence. although policemen are humans just like the rest of us they are to an extent put on a pedistal because they except the responsibility that others dont and they are excpected to uphold them so they should be punished extensively if they go against common law/morals

Mar 5, 2009 - 9:57 am 40. Henry David:

Sending this creep to jail isn’t enough punishment. These creeps are drawn to law enforcement. Maybe they’ve been beaten as kids. I vote for concealed carry, let these creeps have it.

Mar 5, 2009 - 10:05 am 41. Delia:

This is one of those instances where the ‘MATURITY’ of the ‘BIGGER, stronger, ARMED adult’ comes into play.

If you beat on someone weaker…it means YOU are the one who is weak.

If someone kicks at you who is smaller and meek you make damned sure they can’t kick you again but you don’t kick back. Is that so hard?

Our law enforcement officers take a LOT of flack, no doubt but good grief…you guys are supposed to be setting a good example NOT a bad one! You men in blue ARREST a man for slapping a woman!

To serve and PROTECT. Remember?

Thanks for listening…

Mar 5, 2009 - 10:12 am 42. Marge:

How can anybody excuse this. If they do, they are as bad as he is. he is supposed to be a mature member of law enforcement. She was a immature brat.

Mar 5, 2009 - 10:27 am 43. deguello:

Iwouldn’t feel too sorry for the officer involved,this video will probably get him hired by Obama’s IRS.

Mar 5, 2009 - 10:27 am 44. Eilish:

As a former public school teacher for junior high and high school, I recognized that girl as soon as she walked in the door. I could see the set of her shoulders and imagine exactly the tone of voice, curling lip, rolling eyes and every other mark of a defiant, disrespectful child. So, I imagine can most parents, teachers and others who deal with teenagers on a regular basis because this behavior is TYPICAL. That’s right; it’s wrong, it needs correction and discipline, but it’s typical!

My jaw dropped when I saw a professional law-enforcement officer body tackle a 15 year old girl, throw her on the ground and beat her!

Mr. Dunphy, you “understand” this man? You thought, “There, but for the grace of God….?” Seriously? If we cannot depend on professionally trained law enforcement officers to deal professionally with defiant children, we have major problems. Your qualified defense of this officer seriously diminishes my opinion of law enforcement.

Mar 5, 2009 - 10:45 am 45. Rabel:

Mr. “Dunphy”,

Your description of the incident is deliberately dishonest. You omitted at least three overhand punches including the two that the officer threw after the girl was restrained on the floor. Also, your assertion that “he picks her up and takes her out of the cell while holding her by the hair” is a clear and intentional distortion of what actually happened.

I’m not overly concerned about the assault of a bratty teen by yet another out-of-control lawman. I’m concerned that a blatantly dishonest man such as yourself is given a forum to spread his lies by Pajamas Media. PJM is beginning to serve an important function in the world of online news and it belittles the enterprise to grant a byline to an obviously dishonest cop.

Mar 5, 2009 - 10:49 am 46. Peter the Bubblehead:

30. deguello wrote:
BUBBLEBRAIN# 17 : No cretin,I was being sarcastic, but now I understand;I didn’t realize it was ok to beat up teen-age girls, because they were riding in stolen cars. It should become SOP in al police departments.Do you enjoy beating up your wife?

Peter writes: Nice sarcasm. You merely appeared to be a brainless boob making stupid comments that had little to do with the story on hand.

I know police officers. I am related to police officers. I have performed law enforcement duties myself. I am not making excuses for the particular officer referred to in this article, but until you walk a mile in his shoes, dealing with the crap police officer deal with EVERY DAY, then keep your stupid @$$, brainless sarcastic comments to yourself.

And if ANYONE is the wifebeater in this exchange, it is obviously mister deguesting, who flies off the handle at the least prvocation. Thank God he isnt a cop or he propbably would have beaten up an entire school of teenages by now.

Mar 5, 2009 - 10:59 am 47. NMSC:

Seriously – for a grown man, a police officer, to beat the crap out of an unarmed child is cowardly. There is no getting around it.

Mar 5, 2009 - 11:07 am 48. Michael Thomas:

Looking at that tape, I’m reminded of the experience I’ve had a few times during traffic stops in Chicago and its suburbs.

If I get stopped it’s not going to be anything exciting: it’s not going to be for going 55 in a 30 zone, it’s going to be for going 34 in a 30 zone, and it’s not going to be for crashing an intersection deep into the red, it’s going to be for not realizing that the no left turn sign applies to this driveway instead of the one a few feet further down the street – in other words, it’s going to be for something were in a certain sense it’s a nuisance ticket, and the officer may have some discretion about whether or not they write it.

Now for me, the primary cost of a ticket is the time wasted in blood pressure raised, not the dollars paid.

If I’m driving it’s likely because I’m going to job, and if I get pulled over my goal is going to be first to avoid getting a ticket written in the first place, or if tickets going to be written, to make sure the interaction creates as little stress as possible for me to carry into interaction with the next client – so I’m going to be politely deferential, the last thing I’m going to do be doing is anything that could potentially rile up the officer.

I’m also going into the encounter knowing that the officer has no reason to expect it’s going to be a difficult situation: I’m in my 50s, well-dressed and well groomed, the cars is late-model and it’s clean, the tags and insurance are current and I have the documentation, if the officer calls in my license it’s going to be valid at with at most two relatively low point movers movers in the last few years, I’m sober, and I’ve got nothing in the car or on my person that gives me many reason to be concerned about getting pulled over.

That’s happened probably five or six times in the last decade, and three or four of those have gone pretty much the way I expected, the officer is polite and professional, I’m polite and deferential, sometimes the ticket gets written, sometimes it doesn’t, but either way I’m back on the road in 10 or 15 minutes ready to leave the incident behind and get focused on the job.

The other two however have really given me pause – it’s not that I ever felt the situation was likely slipping out of control, but rather that it was very clear to me that if I wasn’t very careful it could slip out of control… that I was dealing with an officer who was aggressively looking for confrontation, or at least expecting that there was a very good possibility one would arise. And this, keep in mind, is an interaction with a sober 50-60 year-old white guy who’s being very careful not to do anything confrontational.

Over the years I thought a good deal about those two confrontations could have gone bad, and looking back I realize that there are some common threads, for example early in our interaction the officer accused me of lying, on no rational basis apparent to me at the time, or later.

In one case I discovered that someone had stolen the yearly renewal tag off my license plate when I was pulled over for not having it. I asked the officer if I could get out and take a look (we were parked beside of a quiet Chicago residential street), and when I saw it was missing I knew immediately what had happened, and explaind to the officer that I had the current registration (to which the sticker is attached when they send it to you) was clipped to the sun visor along with my city registration and insurance card. The officer then became have enraged, and told me “Look, I know you’re lying, I know you took that off and put on a plate for another car, I don’t know why you even think you can get away with lying about sometng this obvious.”

I was pretty much totally taken aback by this – it seem totally off-the-wall to me – but before I could say anything, he walked over the passenger side door, opened it, and started rummaging through the glove compartment, tossing stuff onto the seat, on the floor, and out the door onto the pavement – were talking things like the owners manual, the tire warrantees, several years of service records, that kind of stuff.

Right in the middle of this performance another Chicago patrol car passed by on the street the other direction, slowed for a look, when halfway down the block, turned and came back. A second officer got out of the car and spent the next four or five minutes trying to get the first officer calmed down, pretty much ignoring me the process – thinking about in retrospect my guess is that this was not the first time he’d done it, and my guess is that he been dispatched to check out the situation and calm things down if necessary the instant the first officer called in my license before pulling me over.

The second time was in a north-shore Chicago suburb. I was driving to an appointment with a doctor I’d not seen before, in an office in a building I’d not visited before. I was stopped the left-hand lane way to make a left-hand turn in the parking lot, when a police officer pulled up behind me and started beeping his horn. Traffic was stopped in the right lane as well, so I assumed he wanted me to let him them pass, and when oncomming traffic let up I made my left turn into the parking lot.

He immediately pulled behind me with lights flashing, blocked me into the parking space in which I pulled, and came storming up to the car door red-faced and angry.

It took me a minute or two to understand what he was angry about: there were two driveways in the parking lot, I was pulling into the first, about 50 feet down the road was a second, with a no left turn sign beside it and a painted arrow on the driveway indicating it was an exit only, thus the no left turn sign.

It seemed (that in his opinion anyway) the no left turn sign applied to both driveways, and he had been beeping at me to signal me that I could make the turn.

I was okay with that so far -”Oh well. Lousy signage. I’m probably going to end up with a ticket.. ” – but as this guy railed on it became clear that he had somehow convinced himself that I’d know when I wasn’t supposed to make a left turn their, and had done so in some kind of demonstration of contempt for him as a police officer.

I hadn’t said two words to this point, and when he came to a stop that sort of challenged me to say something, all I could do could do was explain that I’ve never been there before, that I assumed he wanted me to let him by, so I made what I assumed was a legal turn into the parking lot to clear his lane. This got them off on another spluttering tangent, claiming that I was lying to him about everything, that I just made the turn to annoy him, and that I didn’t have any appointment in the building at all.

I was pretty floored by this whole thing, and made the msitake of saying “Look, I don’t know where you got this idea, but I do have an appointment here , and if you don’t believe me we could just walk up to the doctors office and ask the receptionist.”

This *really* enraged him, he told to step out of the car, and called for backup.

Before he could even cuff me two additional cars were in the lot, including one that contained a supervisor of some sort, who proceeded to try and sort things out. He listened to the first officer, asked me one or two questions, motioned for the third officer to take the first offer the side, asked a few more questions, and told me I was free to go – no apology, no explanation – just free to go – I got in my car, drove out of lot, and drove home – no way I was sticking around to see if this guy was waiting for me when I returned to my car after the appointment.

Now what strikes me about both these incidents is the officers angry, assertive and completely incorrect assumption that I was lying and they’re working themselves up about it into a state of rage, and the fact that this happened to me, imagine what happens to someone whose minority, or high, or not being extremely careful about what they say and how they act – I find it very suggestive that in both cases other police officers intervened quickly and that they seemed to have a pretty good handle on what was actually happening – but I also wonder what would’ve happened during either encounter if they been there 30 seconds or a minute later.

Now I just have my little tiny random sample to go on, but based on my experience substantial numbers of police on the street are, spoiling for a fight, and looking to pick it even with people who are doing nothing whatsoever to elicit that kind of response, let alone someone who gives him the slightest “justification” for such an opportunity.

And with that in mind, when I look at that tape, I see such an officer, primed to beat someone down and instantaneously out of control when presented with a minor provocation (it’s clear to me, watching her kick one shoe off and out the door, and preparing to do the same with the other, that the act is it worst insolent and in no way hazardous to the officer’s safety) that gives them the opportunity to rough up a 15-year-old girl for sassing them. And I find it entirely consistent with his other behavior and delusional self-justification that he later claimed the girl inflicted an injury the officer inflicted on himself while throwing her around holding cell.

As to the issue of whether she was “asking for it” and received a proportional response, I doubt most people suppose that they can do the same to their 15-year-old child, or their spouse, or their coworker in response to a similar provocation, or that most people would be surprised if they ended up on the end of an assault charge for doing so, and I find the various sorts of defenses offered for this officer’s behavior risible when they are not infuriating.

Mar 5, 2009 - 11:07 am 49. Marc Malone:

I don’t care for cops myself, but I would like to play devil’s advocate for a sec.

She was a passenger in her parents’ car which was reported as stolen. Who reported it stolen? My money’s on the parents. Who stole it? Probably the girl’s worthless boyfriend with her complicity. She probably did it to defy her parents. In retaliation, to teach her a lesson, they reported it stolen, knowing she’d get arrested. They’re probably fed up with her. I’ve seen it before.

Now in jail, the girl knows what’s up. She knows her parents are behind this, and so she is defiant to the end, doubtless with a potty-mouth. Told to remove her shoes per protocol, she takes advantage of the opportunity to further demonstrate her defiance. She kicks the shoe at the cop. This is called “assaulting an officer”. He is completely within his rights to subdue her.

Of course, he went beyond mere subdual and vented his frustration. Still, there’d be less hoopla about this if it had been a 15-year-old boy instead. We want equal rights for women, but don’t really want to see them given the beating a boy would get. Hypocrisy. The beating was overboard, even if it were a boy. I’m just making a point.

I hope the parents step in and ask that the officer not be charged, or that it be limited in scope. They are at fault for the situation, for not raising their kid properly, and for using the cops to do the job they should be doing. They won’t do this, of course, as they obviously lack integrity and competence. They’ll use this as an excuse to cash in by suing the police department.

Dysfunctional family meets dysfunctional cop. This cannot end well, unless one of them suddenly grows up.

Mar 5, 2009 - 11:29 am 50. Blackwell:

Peter the Bubblehead:

I am a bit “up to here” with the notion that cops have it so tough their excesses require me to walk a mile in their shoes to object to out of control behavior. While I am more of the “support your local police” type, this notion that cops live in a nether world I cannot judge is unadulterated nonsense. Like the owners of the Titanic insisting that landlubbers couldn’t decide that only a few lifeboats was negligence. This wasn’t a split-second shooting during a bank robbery.

Can busdrivers slam rude passengers to the pavement? Obnoxious clients or lawyers be tasered by stressed out judges? Bankers fed up with deadbeat borrowers and snotty sighs from people waiting in long lines? And don’t forget those public school teachers who probably dealt with that kid every day without beating her up. But then the teachers don’t have a cell and the ability to handcuff students before beating them.

Maybe paramedics ought to be able to slap any rude person on a stretcher that compains about being dropepd or manhandled.

What this cop did was despicable and inexcusable.

Mar 5, 2009 - 11:33 am 51. Ozzie:

48. Michael Thomas wrote…

“”"Now what strikes me about both these incidents is the officers angry, assertive and completely incorrect assumption that I was lying and they’re working themselves up about it into a state of rage, …”"”

Civilian police are not much different than the worst people they deal with. I avoid then in public and private affairs like the plague. You never know which one is the wife beater, which is the adrenalin addict and which is a normal person doing their job. During traffic stops (I’ve had one in 15 years) you have to figure it out quickly because you have no choice. Military police seem to behave completely different from civilian police, and I’ve never encountered one acting outside a tight envelope of professional behavior.

Mar 5, 2009 - 12:09 pm 52. Nor Meyer:

Seems to me a lot of posters are getting over-exercised about the video. Where’s the blood? I’ve seen more outrageous encounters watching WWF. You want to see real violence go to some s. side Chicago bar some Frida nite—-scary!

Mar 5, 2009 - 12:20 pm 53. D. Grant Chee----:

Why is anyone defending the cop, he’ll be fine.
If he were a civilian he’d be doing time! Are we unable to accept he acted criminally? He got caught by a camera, his fellow officer aided and abbeted his crim act! Whineing because he may lose his job is wrongheaded, an example needs to be set! Has no citizen noticed flagrant bully cops? One of my sons is a cop who would have
whupped that crim cops’ ass! Both officers owe straight cops their badge! Abuse of authority is a crime. Those defending the brutality will of course be in the courthouse tomorrow to say
the guy on trial was under stress when he beat
his adult spouse, the robber “Snapped” and the
rapist was hard up? Cops arrest, then a fair trial occurs. Cops who abuse citizens are criminals; and promote crime!

Mar 5, 2009 - 1:12 pm 54. Richard L. Kent, Esq.:

Nor Meyer, is that your complaint? A 15yo girl having the snot kicked out of her by a 6′2″ cop isn’t violent enough for your taste? Jesus wept!

And Ozzie: there’s no Big Blue Wall in the Army. It’s bigger, and greener, but it has its own rules, and God have mercy on the thug in uniform, cuz the Army sure won’t!

Mar 5, 2009 - 1:13 pm 55. Ms. Attitude:

I’ve always supported law enforcement officers and taught my children the same. My son was “brought in” for drag racing. He informed me that the police officer pulled him out of the window before he could open the door and get out. He called me from the police station and when I got there my son was sitting at the officers desk drinking a coke with him. I asked why he wasn’t locked up and the officer told me that I had a very respectable son and they had a good conversation in the squad car. He still got the ticket and I understood my son being pulled from the car because I’m sure the officer had no idea what to expect. (My son stands 6ft 2in) I sold the car, he got community service and a lesson learned.

I think the officer in the article went a little crazy. He should be put on a permanant vacation! Even if her parents didn’t teach her to respect the law, he just taught her to disrespect them that much more!

Mar 5, 2009 - 1:14 pm 56. Mary Jackson:

“Jack Dunphy” is the pseudonym of an officer with the Los Angeles Police Department. The opinions expressed are his own and almost certainly do not reflect those of the LAPD management.

Just as well. The cop’s actions were beyond despicable, and should not be “understood”, anymore than you should “understand” the 9/11 terrorists a la Susan Sonntag.

Don’t try to understand ‘im. Just rope, throw and brand ‘im.

Mar 5, 2009 - 1:30 pm 57. OmegaPaladin:

Whoa.

I get the feeling Jack Dunphy would need to go on camera beating the officer in question to satisfy some people. Some might want nothing less than an execution. Seriously, the cop needs to be punished, but the punishment should consider the circumstances of the crime. A minimum would be suspension without pay, mandatory anger management counseling, and a reduction in rank/seniority.

I lack sympathy for the girl or her parents. Period. While she should not have been beaten, she was acting irresponsibly. (For the other posters here, I repeat that SHE SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN BEATEN) I hope she learns from her sentence for the stolen car incident.

Mar 5, 2009 - 2:05 pm 58. Mary Jackson:

While she should not have been beaten, she was acting irresponsibly.

So if he hadn’t been a cop but a member of the public, allowances should have been made for the circumstances?

That cop is a despicable bully and unstable to boot. If he reacts like that at a mouthy teenager – technically a child – throwing a shoe, how can he be trusted to deal with real danger.

Suppose she’d been wearing a short skirt and flashed her knickers at him. Perhaps it would be “understandable” if he raped her.

Mar 5, 2009 - 2:18 pm 59. Jose A. Garcia:

No crime. Act like a punk A– B—– and get treated like one. In my world she needed a good a– whooping. Mouthy little tramp.

That’s the type of kid you get with no accountability, then you send fine young men and women out there into the world as cops. We’ve become too soft, too lax. You ought to know your place when you’ve done wrong and take your punishment. Not get rewarded. The good thing is that after this girl wins her silly law suit she’ll have enough money to hang herself with.

Mar 5, 2009 - 2:37 pm 60. Blackwell:

OmegaPaladin:

The “crime” for which she beaten was kicking off her shoe. There was no where to sit to take it off except the floor. I’ve seen my daughters do it the same way. I think they’ve even hit me in the ankle once or twice. Sometimes they hit the wall. Its not a beating offense in our house, but perhaps I’ve been to lax.

Why lack sympathy for her parents? What did they do, except call the cops when they found their car missing?

You lack sympathy for the 15 yr old girl who kicked off her shoe? A girl that took her parents’ car for a joyride? (no one has suggested she was taking it to a chop shop).

In addition to all posted above, I also think some cops delight in pouncing on helpless kids and obedient white guys like our man from Chicago above. Its so much easier than arresting armed robbers, homeless men harassing passers by or street thugs. Some people think that the police are mindful of the street thugs’ proclivity for hitting back, and default to harassing working white and black stiffs who they know pose no risk of fighting back. This is worse than the “Skateboard cop” video that became notorious last year.

What if it had been your kid? (don’t tell me she would have been better off for it), or some tourist who went back to britain to tell everyone how awful our cops were? Suppose the kid had lost her front teeth, blown out an eye socket or nose?

Suspending/demoting him for beating an unarmed non-resisting kid is way to easy: I don’t want to pay for his pension, ihs health benefits or have his friggin union trying to reinstate him. He needs to be drop kicked right out the door before he does something worse and really hurts someone.

Mar 5, 2009 - 3:19 pm 61. Jack:

Jack Dunphy – I haven’t read the other comments because I wanted to talk to you first. That cop messed up, and he messed up big.

That said, I see police chases where after 30 minutes of harrowing high speed pursuit, putting your lives in danger and being afraid of what that nut might do and I think to myself, “As a guy who’s never hit anyone in his life, that guy is going to get a beat down when I get my hands on him.”

Adrenaline, fear, anxiety, excitement (not in the traditional way, just the heightened consciousness way) in those situations put you in a fight or flight mode in a VERY human way. I think people believe that this type of scenario happens so often that you should be used to it, and they don’t realize that it is NOT common for every officer. I ask them to think honestly about how they would feel if they were the cop in that situation after that much time chasing some guy.

My heart bleeds for the police, and I can totally feel for them in these cases. In fact, in the same way my heart bleeds for the man (or woman) who comes home and finds their spouse in bed with someone else…in those next few minutes, you aren’t of sound mind. While Police have a high duty to uphold for sure, temporary insanity of a sort seems to come into play from a psychological standpoint.

Now, on to this particular case. That shoe she kicked at him was NOT life-threatening…it was petulant. I have to say, he may have been highly irritated, but it was that which set him off, not fear for himself or his partner. He over-reacted, and I just can’t bring myself to find the mitigating factor there other than she called him some names. It would have been excusable if he was in high school, or perhaps even if he was a parent who had a long history with that girl (although not nearly to that level of violence…but some sort of over-reaction).

But an officer of the law can’t be goaded into that kind of over-reaction based on just that. She was in a cell, he had backup, she was a 15 year old girl that posed no threat. If we can’t trust him to just close the cell door, I’m not sure we can trust him in arguably more stressful situations.

But I get it, and I think you all put up with more than you deserve, and I truly respect what you do for all of us (even for those of us who don’t always deserve it).

Thanks,
Jack

Mar 5, 2009 - 3:24 pm 62. John M.:

I get the feeling Jack Dunphy would need to go on camera beating the officer in question to satisfy some people.

That would be a good start.

Among civilians, if I were to witness such an attack, I would be legally justified in shooting the assailant. He is obviously exacting grievous bodily harm and with the likely intent to murder that girl.

But civilians have no legally recognized right of self defense against police. That’s not to say that they can’t be punished for assaulting or killing civilians. But a civilian cannot legally resist or even flee a police officer who is intent on harming them, no matter how egregious their behavior.

Mar 5, 2009 - 3:30 pm 63. Leatherneck:

Man, reading some of these posts is causing me to puke. The Cop will get punished, not killed for what he did.

The 15 year old girl will think twice next time she shows disrespect to the Police. Her parents should be asked where she learned how to be so disrespectful.

Mar 5, 2009 - 3:57 pm 64. DavidN:

OK, I understand the provocation issue. I also understand the pressures on being a cop, though I’m not one myself. All of that being said, we’re talking about a 15-year-old girl here, and an adult male who was hit in the shin with a shoe. It can’t have actually hurt him, and regardless of what she said to him, called him, etc., he should have the full weight of the department fall on him. The whole point is that this is a man who is trusted to carry a gun around, and given a badge, and the authority to order civilians to do things, with the power under certain circumstances to arrest them or shoot them if they don’t comply. If *this* is sufficient provocation to cause him to lose it, we’re in real trouble if this guy remains a cop. My understanding is that patrol officers regularly stop drunks who are belligerent, and do things like vomit on the officer. If he roughs up a teenager for hitting him with a shoe, he’s likely to unload his gun on a drunk driver, or beat an angry woman to death, or something. I have to say I hope Officer Dunphy is merely saying that he understands the officer was frustrated, and feels sorry that he’s pissed his career away…because that’s what’s happened, and it’s the desired outcome.

Mar 5, 2009 - 4:51 pm 65. eor:

I want someone to takes these little brats to task! The policeman over reacted–but someone needs to deal with her. Maybe the way to do it is to put her parents in the next cell. She will not be a good member of our society if she keeps on this way. I’m sure some crooked lawyer has her case already and his buddy judge will let her go on her merry way. I don’t condone what the policeman did–but he will pay dearly for it. I remember the good old days–before liberals took over.

Mar 5, 2009 - 5:33 pm 66. NahnCee:

Name Malika Calhoun. Malika. Arrested on suspicion of car theft. Why am I thinking the bimbo probably isn’t an honor society member? And will the parental units jump at the chance to sue the deep pockets of King County. If I were on a jury, I would *not* award poor little Malika a red cent.

Mar 5, 2009 - 6:34 pm 67. Yaacov:

No there is no excuse. A police officer in this type of scenario needs to be able to control his emotions, his rage, and act according to what need to be well-ingrained professional standards. If he cannot do so in a particular situation so he needs to have the ability–an ability that is partly a function of personality and partly training–to realize in time that he is on the verge of ceasing to function as a protector of the public, and remove himself from the situation ASAP by asking for assistance or what have you,

People who go into law enforcement need to be well screened for their potential to isolate their emotions under stress, and speaking as a psychologist I can tell you that the tools to do this screening well are widely available. From there on it is a matter of ingraining the core values that must inform the work of police, and teaching that these values must be paramount at all times.

An abusive cop is absolute poison to a democratic society where power lies with the people.

Mar 5, 2009 - 6:47 pm 68. yoyo:

I think we have to accept that a lot of men who are attracted to careers in the police force are the same people who were bullies at school and wife beaters in their private life. We have got to find better ways of weeding out these guys before they injure or kill people and detroy the respect that people used to show the police force.

This man is VERY lucky he hasn’t caused this girl permanent damage, people die after one misjudged puch in bar fights all the time, or he would be facing a well deserved manslaughter charge. Sack him now before he kills.

Mar 5, 2009 - 7:59 pm 69. Delia:

I’ve never met a ‘bad’ cop yet. The ‘few’ bad apples must be rare indeed because many a ‘good’ cop has saved my very life.

This CHILD did not deserve to have a beat-down. Nor does she ‘deserve’ one from her parents. Tough love doesn’t mean ROUGH love. I was ‘beat’ by my mother and it made me MORE rebellious not LESS rebellious.

Law enforcement can’t be a ‘do as I say, not as I do’ type of thing. Just like we uphold judges, lawyers and preachers to a high standard…we also hold our law enforcement up to that standard as well. If you can’t ‘hack’ it…don’t do the job if you’re goin’ to go ‘postal’…don’t push the envelopes.

The few bad cops in the bunch don’t make the rest of the GOOD cops bad. Just don’t stand up for the bad apples by defending them when there is NO DEFENSE.

Mar 5, 2009 - 8:23 pm 70. Flighterdoc:

The reason (supposedly) society gives badges, guns and the right to take away our freedom to police is because they are supposed to be able to do the right thing with them.

This thug with badge and his partner should be summarily fired, and charged – with assault under color of authority (probably a felony). If a jury finds him guilty, off to the big house.

The city taxpayers should not defend them (unless their actions were within their training standards), their fellow officers should not justify their actions, and if holding these thugs with badges personally, financially and legally responsible makes it harder to recruit, then good.

Frankly, in the last 40 or more years of my life I’ve never considered the sight of a police officer to be a good thing for me. I’m law abiding, don’t even get many traffic tickets (the last one probably 10 years ago, and yes, I deserved it), I even pay my taxes on time. But all the law does for me is give me a sense of intimidation, and when my homes were burgled or vehicles stolen, I didn’t even get the comfort of someone taking a report.

Then we have the malfeasance that Mr. Dunphy’s department has engaged in: Stealing bond money raised for one purpose and never used….then demanding more payments or else police efforts will decline?

Screw them all.

Mar 5, 2009 - 8:42 pm 71. Blackwell:

NahnCee:

You assume from her name she’s a bimbo and not an honors student and so deserves to beaten by some a cop?

Ever read about those two people: one a vegetarian, a war hero and who didn’t drink, smoke or swear? The other drank all the time, got up late, smoked and almost flunked out of school? The first was Hitler and the second Churchill.

Mar 5, 2009 - 8:48 pm 72. k a 0 s:

I venture to say that if this worthless human being who — for even a nanosecond found it justified to beat the tar out of a fifteen year old girl — has more than likely done so on several occasions in the past.

If one wishes to take into account this “law enforcement” officer’s entire career when determining appropriate punishment keep in mind the likelihood that women beaters and bullies do not snap in a once-in-a-lifetime-type-mistake. They are repeat offenders.

What would happen if this was video of the father beating his own 15 year old after she stole the car? Should a judge or would a judge take into account the previous 14 years of parenting? No.

This 31 year old should be prosecuted to the full extent of the “law”.

Mar 5, 2009 - 9:19 pm 73. David:

You will respect my authoratae!

“Cartman”

Mar 5, 2009 - 10:55 pm 74. CMAR II:

I gotta disagree with you, Jack. This officer is authorized to carry a gun. When he testifies in court, unless there is clear evidence contradicting him, he automatically gets the benefit of doubt and his word carries more weight than the defendant.

He is clearly not someone with the temperment to be granted that kind of authority. If he is found guilty, he should be fired. The kid…yeah, brat, actually…did not spit in his face. She kicked off her shoe which hit him in the shin. It might have even been unintentional.

I like his attorney’s take:
“We had argued strenuously that the videotape released to the media this morning not be released because it does not tell the whole story of the incident.”

This sounds like the sort of argument a lawyer would offer for a burgler when he’s about to claim that the guy’s mistreatment as a child caused him to break into houses. Out, out, out, with this immature fool.

Mar 5, 2009 - 11:00 pm 75. John M.:

This thug with badge and his partner should be summarily fired

I don’t blame the other officer, a trainee. If he hadn’t entered the cell, Schene would likely have continued to beat her. You can see that he’s trying to protect her head as Schene strikes her in the face.

For the cowards that are defending him, I’d like to know what ‘the voices’ are telling you about this girl. Because you can’t hear her on the video. All you see is that she’s kicked off her sneaker. Which Schene claims constituted a 3rd degree assault against he shin.

Mar 5, 2009 - 11:00 pm 76. Alex:

People are surprised at this behavoir by the Police officer…??

This happens every day in America.

Mar 6, 2009 - 3:47 am 77. patelis:

I read the article and all the comments before watching that video. Not only am I in shcok about the policeman’s behavior, but about anyone who defended him in the above comments.

The girl kicked off her shoe, there is no voice in this tape maybe that is a good thing cause I can’t imagine what that officer was saying to her when he chose to kick into a wall throw on the flow, pull her arms straight up with handcuffs on and drag her by her hair.

That attack made me sick to my stomach, I don’t care what kind of kid that is, no matter what kind of trouble she has been in that is unwarranted. For those of you who feel that she will respect the law now, tell me why would she have any respect for the law? She might have a hard time trusting anyone with authority if this is what can happen.

Based upon her being in a car that was reported as stolen it could have been a misunderstanding, this could have been the first time she did anything like this. Her kicking off her shoe and hitting the police officer it is clear from the video she literally kicked it off. The was no way she meant to hit the officer, she was being obstanant but that is about it.

Now if you watched the whole scene you see the officer comes back to the holding cell and looks for any signs of an altercation and clears it away. Tells me that he knew that it wouldn’t bode well for him if there was any evidence to suggest that he was acting anything but professional. Especially since he lied to the paramedics about why the girl couldn’t breath.

This officer is a disgrace and should not get a free pass, if he wasn’t in a uniform this would be open and shut for most of us. He should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law he attacked a person in a vicious manner and wished to inflict pain on her.

Mar 6, 2009 - 7:38 am 78. deguello:

70 FLIGHTERDOC:Well, the main purpose of a police force is not to protect the citizen,but to intimidate him on behalf of the government,and the dominant elites. The whole structure of petty oppression at work,and overall nationaloppression,depends on intimidating citizens who believe that the law is anything other than the instrument of control. Consider: would a boss unfairly treat, or unjustly fire the average Joe if he knew, that he could/would beat him the way this orc cop beat the teenager?Do you think Barney Frank, Bush,Dodd, Obama and the other clowns who destroyed,and continue to ,destroy, the american economy would have done that if they knew that violent civil disobedience would ensue? Black people,tax resisters, and other marginalized folks have known that the law exists as a vehicle for repression; white middle class folks caught up in the clutches of the Obama regime,are about to find this out.

Mar 6, 2009 - 8:08 am 79. Scott:

“That cop messed up, and he messed up big.”
Ya, he forgot to turn off the camera first.
I am totally surprised after witnessing this “severe beating” that the tiny little babe is still alive. Another miracle: not one drop of blood on the floor after “smashing her head into the concrete with full force repeatedly”.
I didn’t catch the name of the hospital, did anyone else?

hilarious over reach from both sides, he will go down for this, without a doubt, but those who think this is police brutality need to see the real thing, up close.

Also, about the guy with the long rambling police stories: no doubt you sweetened up your end. In my youth I had several run ins, and you are lying your ass off by omission. Even the freaky ones behave if you show some respect. I’ve been called vulgar names while handcuffed to a bench, had my license thrown at me once, and once thrown into a mud puddle. I’ve managed to talk my way into several tickets with my big mouth.
Now that I am the respectable father of 4 with a clean record, I seldom get tickets even when I am stopped. I have learned to simply agree with whatever the charge is, even if it is wrong, and argue in court if needed.
He over reacted for sure, and will go down for it.

Mar 6, 2009 - 8:09 am 80. MarkD:

I’m sorry Jack, but I cannot excuse, condone, or forgive here. He needs to be removed from the job, and prosecuted for assault.

By all means, throw the book at the car thief. Justice will be administered by the law, period. I’m not usually a zero tolerance kind of person, except when it comes to police and prosecutors. We grant them extraordinary authority over our lives. There is no room for error. The penalty for the sort of prosecutorial misconduct we saw at Duke should be the prosecutor serving three sentences for rape.

Mar 6, 2009 - 8:26 am 81. Tom Horne:

The guy should not be a cop. He is 31, with 8 years as a policeman, so he got the job at about 23.

Most people are not mature enough at 23 to take a job that has the potential to set them apart from society and develop the “us versis them” mentality that many cops develop. Minimum age for a cop should be 30. Personalities are fully formed, long term physical and mental defects are mostly revealed, and the guy has had time to mature.

If he is still an asshole at 30 a good background check should turn it up and he can be screened out. It is not as likely that a 30 year old will become a badge heavy asshole as it is that a 23 year old will turn out that way. With the increasing militarization of our police departments, an ability to better screen applicants, by giving them more time to develop a history and mature, is even more important. Our freedoms are in danger.

Mar 6, 2009 - 8:30 am 82. Doug:

The cop is only doing what the parents should have done along time ago. It’s time for parents to do more than just make them.

Mar 6, 2009 - 8:44 am 83. jvon:

I completely understand what would lead a person to react like this, having worked security jobs in the past.

I also do not think that a person who cannot control their reactions to a physical provocation like this does not belong interacting with the public while in uniform. He probably should have landed a desk job long before this happened. Now it’s too late for him.

Mar 6, 2009 - 9:08 am 84. blogengeezer:

I witnessed an intelligent little boy growing up in my neighborhood with my own sons. He was never taught the word NO. Everything he did was just fine with his parents. As he grew older, the endless confrontations increased in intensity and violence. The public became his victims, leaving a heavy trail of destruction. The extremely lenient law enforcement system, meant nothing to the young man and frequently we were witnesses to his outrageous exploits. On one last violent attack… on the wrong person, he was ‘terminated’ at the age of 26…in his own home.

Mar 6, 2009 - 10:02 am 85. Tim:

Cops are scum, pure and simple. Let’s go back to the days of “lawlessness and anarchy”. It can’t be any worse than what we have to put up with from scum like Schene and their apologists like Jack Dunphy. I hope that girls father hunts down this scum bag POS and issues the critical beat down that HIS parents failed to give him as a child.

Mar 6, 2009 - 10:19 am 86. Frank:

A fully grown man jump kicking a 15 year old girl before slamming her into the wall and punching her in the head is “understandable”?

Maybe if the 15 year old girl was pointing a bazooka at an orphanage.

I see no bazooka and no orphanage in this video.

I give cops the benefit of the doubt. I won’t let this scum bag Schene, and Dunphy defending him, poison my view of all officers. Someone on the force reported him, so we know they aren’t all bad.

Mar 6, 2009 - 11:56 am 87. Frank:

I love the commenters who seem to think that because the girls name is Malika (i.e she’s black) she deserved what she got.

I can only wonder what you’re reactions would be if it was your child on the receiving end.

Mar 6, 2009 - 12:20 pm 88. Delia:

87. Frank:

“I can only wonder what you’re reactions would be if it was your child on the receiving end.”
~

Don’t even go there. My blood boils just ‘THINKING’ about it. GRRRRRRRRRR.

Mar 6, 2009 - 2:05 pm 89. Roland:

Sorry but this officer and all officers should be held to a higher standard than some typical street thug. The only thing that differentiates him from that girl is the badge and a gun that he wears. If you can’t control your anger at someone throwing a shoe at you how can I trust you with a gun and fairly enforce the law if you feel it doesn’t apply to you? Schene should be at bare minimum suspended without pay for 6 months and put on parking violation duty when he returns.

Mar 6, 2009 - 2:43 pm 90. Frank:

Roland:

Aside from a badge and a gun, a couple other things that differentiate between that cop and the girl are about 15 years and 200 pounds

Mar 6, 2009 - 3:41 pm 91. S.E.:

I am the wife of a police Sergeant. I watched the video numerous times. I’m appalled at what I have seen and read (P.I.)
Did this officer review the tape? He could have killed her (ramming her head against what I should assume, concrete bricks.)
I understand his job but I also understand that some, are too high strung- wrong. I think he’s definately one of them.
Anyone in a large agency and small, who’s been around a long while, has seen standards lower. This isn’t good for the agency, not good for L.E. and not good for citizens.
Better for everyone, that we get rid of these officers and lean heavily on high standards.
The officer in the video over-reacted and it’s clear…to everyone!
His shin injury wasn’t sustained on account of her tossing her shoe off her foot.If he reviewed the video, he knows better.
He isn’t good and he should be let go.

Mar 7, 2009 - 12:16 am 92. S.E.:

“He isn’t good and he should be let go.”

To add, he should be Tried. I assume this will be.

Mar 7, 2009 - 12:30 am 93. jvon:

I agree, he should lose his job. He also, since he was in addition to being undisciplined enough to allow himself to be provoked into attacking an unarmed teenage girl was stupid enough to allow himself being videotaped doing it, will probably be convicted on assault charges.

To earlier commenters — I said I understood it, not that I condoned it. Unless you have worked a job like his you cannot understand that it does get tempting. But putting on a uniform (or taking any position of public trust) means resisting urges like that. It’s why the uniform exists.

Mar 7, 2009 - 7:52 am 94. disgusted:

This officer doesnt have the emotional self control required to be carrying a gun.
This is no valid justification for what he did. The problem is that sometimes the same people that were schoolyard bullies end up being policeman with the authority to beat up and shoot people. There are certainly some good and courageous policeman. This isnt one of them. He is unloading on a 15 year old girl thats in custody.

Another recent case involved a BART policeman that shot a suspect that was already seated and handcuffed.

There should be some psychological screening required before a person can work as a policeman.

Mar 7, 2009 - 8:02 am 95. A.M. Mallett:

pseudonym , you have to be kidding! I have a better solution for you if this is one of those cases of “but by the grace of God go I”! Learn how to ask “do you want fries with that, ma’am?”. I have a better solution to this problem should you or one of your fellow loose cannons go off on a 15 year old girl in a confined cell. Let’s have a couple 15 year old girls kick the living daylights out of you or the perp who beats children.

You are a significant part of the problem! Absolutely disgusting piece of propaganda and PR spin.

Mar 7, 2009 - 12:39 pm 96. Robin Abbott:

I would argue that from the video that this kind of action is the norm in this police station not an aberration. The second officer at no time tried to protect the girl or stop or slow the assault by the first officer. This is a 15 year old small girl being kicked, beaten, thrown down, held down, beaten some more, handcuffed, jerked up by her hair ect. At no time did it appear that the second officer even raised a hand to protect the girl in his charge.

Criminal.

A year in jail. Not enough for even the second officer for his failure to protect.

Robin Abbott

Mar 8, 2009 - 9:41 am 97. Sir Milk Snow:

I tried the McDonalds hot coffee trick to get rich but it dint work. This game seems to work like a charm. Do something stupid to a cop – take a few lumps – get instant fame – sympathy – and a few million dollars in a lawsuit !!! Diss chick will be set for life after the civil suit. Cops need to stop falling for this expensive game !!!!

Mar 8, 2009 - 9:47 am 98. RobertG:

As a boy I thought I would be a policeman-we had a few on our block, several of my friends fathers were policeman or deputies, good guys all. Several of my boyhood friends did go into police work-I chose another path and have always been glad I did:

I would sure hate to be the policeman on that tape, I would not look good in prison orange-orange would contrast with my gray hair- for that young smart mouth lass would have received more than a harsh take down.

As my father taught me :”if you don’t want to take a beating do not start a fight”. Is there a defense fund for Deputy Paul Schene?

Mar 8, 2009 - 10:32 am 99. goldfish:

This video was harsh…I dont understand why people with a bad temper, which these officers had, are working as police officers. The girl didnt do anything to deserve a beating like that. Theres a lot of people that talk bad to cops and some of them understand its because of the situation and geting arrested isnt what anyone wants to happen to them. People have big mouths but it doesnt mean they should be treated like that, the girl was being pulled by her hair and shoved into the wall while having her hair pulled. That officer deserves to go to trial because who knows what else he has done behind closed doors if something like this made him blow up.

Mar 8, 2009 - 4:19 pm 100. Roy001:

From reading this forum I understand that that cop has been abusive before. His superiors obviously tolerated his behavior and demeanor in the past. Hope that the girls family finds a goooood lawyer and sues the police department, the low life cop and his entire family.

Mar 10, 2009 - 5:50 pm 101. Roy001:

The only bad thing is that this law suite is going to be paid by us the taxpayers. A law should be passed that only the cop and his family and his supervisors (to whom he’s probably related)should pay for the abuse with their houses, pension plans and all of their life savings. Lets see then if any police supervisors will tolerate a low like this men in their department. Please do not refer to the scum that beat that child as a police officer in your comments. He does not deserve that title. The only just punishment would be to give this cop to the angry mob waiting outside by the courthouse.
But again since this unfortunately is not possible the only consolation that the girls family might have is that this bad apple ex cop is going to be every inmates bitch in jail.

Mar 10, 2009 - 10:07 pm 102. joe117:

Yeah, you never know the hidden part of the story. Her shoe could have had a poision needle in it and he had to beat her senseless because he might have been stuck with the needle.
That makes sense…..

And just because she looked like a 75 pound 15 year old girl doesn’t mean that she wasn’t an undercover Al Kieda operative. That officer was just trying to protect us all.

Of course it goes both ways.
Could be that the officer got off on humping young girls while he punched them in the head and dragged her around by her hair?
That just might be what he likes.
I’ve heard of stranger things.

I wonder what the offecer might have done with her shoes if she had just set them by the cell door? He might just take them home and …….strapped them on the back legs of a sheep….and ……
Yeah….
” Her shoe could’ve had a needle, blade, etc in it….why should this officer be expected to react any differently?”

He might have taken them home to check for blades and spent the remainder of the evening sniffing them for blades.

And I’m still not sure if a guy could be arrested for playing the part of a LEO beating an underage girl in a porn video.
I’d say someone should look into that.

Mar 17, 2009 - 1:59 pm 103. Ryan:

You people think this is understandable? Maybe if she had pulled a gun on him. She wasn’t going to hurt him, therefore he had no right to hurt her. If he were not a cop he would be charged with felony assault and be looking forward to prison time. According to the sympathizers in these posts next time some loud mouthed jerk gives me crap I can beat them up because it’s ‘understandable’ when you are provoked. Provocation is no excuse for criminal behavior of any kind.

Mar 23, 2009 - 12:29 am 104. John:

“When you have done wrong take your punishment”

That goes both ways pal.
I agree that she was in a stolen car, so she was arrested. She should have gone without resisting. But she didn’t, that doesn’t mean she should be beaten.
If you believe people who have done wrong should admit it and take their punishment, then this cop should step up and take responsibility for what he did instead of pleading not guilty when he was caught on camera breaking the law. She did not deserve to get beaten, and in no way is that part of Due Process, he had no right to hurt her. What he did was wrong and against the law. It’s called assault.
We civilians can’t get away with beating on each other. That cop shouldn’t either. According to your way of thinking you should be saying to him: Be a man, step up and admit you screwed up, you broke the law, you hurt someone badly when you had no right. You deserve to be punished, and you will. Take it, or does the law apply to everyone but you?

Mar 23, 2009 - 12:42 am 105. Jordan:

I have been a school teacher for 12 years. I put up with snotty nasty foul mouth badly behaved children all day, and I have had a few shoes thrown at me in my time (and worse) but I have never assaulted one of them. If I did my career would be over and I would be facing jail time. As the adult I am expected to act like one. It is not okay, for anyone anywhere, to hit someone just because they insulted you. That’s how children behave, so this officer needs to grow up. Any adult who sees a hand cuffed 15 year old half their size as a threat needs help.

Mar 23, 2009 - 12:44 am 106. Shane:

So someone calls you a name a throws a shoe at you, that makes it okay to beat her becuase she “provoked” you? Really. Well in that case….

Does that mean if a girl wearing skimpy shorts bends over in front of me and I catch a look at her undies I get to rape her because she “provoked” me?

And I guess that means that mext time my neighbors are having a party late at night and I’m trying to sleep I get to go light their house on fire because they “provoked” me.

Maybe next time someone cuts me off in traffic I get to smash my car into theirs on purpose because they “provoked” me.

Stop making excuses. It’s not okay.

Mar 23, 2009 - 12:55 am 107. Shay:

This behavior is understandable, jack? Beating on people you don’t like is okay now? If you believe that then you must think it was okay for Al Kieda to bomb us on 9/11 because they don’t like us. Since you think this is okay, go across the street and beat your neighbors kid to a pulp. You know, the one who plays his music too loud. Or next time your standing in line and the person in front of you is talking into their cell phone go ahead and kick their legs out from under them because they are annoying you. Go ahead since you think it’s understandable to let people provoke you into hurting them, even when they are no threat to you whatsoever. Good job Jack. Let everyone know that you think it’s okay for police to do whatever they want, and the rest of us have to abide by the laws.

Mar 23, 2009 - 1:29 am 108. straightarrow:

I’ll just say this. Had that been my child, this motherless son would already be on a very permanent vacation.

Make excuses for him all you want, he wouldn’t be back.

Mar 23, 2009 - 5:33 pm 109. Deputy Dan:

Jack Dunphy,

Been awfully busy at the dang old job and haven’t checked for your column lately.

Since you’ve written this column, we’ve seen four Oakland Police officers shot to death by a misguided youth who has been linked to an earlier murder, confirmed to have raped a 12-year-old girl, served time in prison, and was pining about not having a job because of “society” whilst rolling through the hood on a new set of 22s.

The majority of people ragging you here should have been in that small mob praising killer Mixon and excoriating police the other day in Oakland.

I understand from brother officers around the country that incidents of resisting police, including aggravated assault and murder are on the rise thanks to the change in Washington and the universal anti-cop mode major media are in.

It is clear we have come a long way in the 7.5 years since 9/11. Cops are once again the crap on society’s collective heel.

The only thing keeping cops from staging a nationwide strike is the fact we KNOW what will happen if these s!@#bags have free rein.

And we can’t let that happen.

In Hoc,

Deputy Dan

Mar 28, 2009 - 6:56 am 110. Misplaced Texan:

This is a 15 year old girl child.There is no excuse for his actions, period.Who is next? An 80 yr old woman? As a 50+ female I know longer have any respect or trust for law enforcement.

May 23, 2009 - 6:10 pm 111. brian:

the officer overreacted. he is trained know when to use force. i dont belive that a 15 yearold girl kicking off her shoes warrented the assualt. now if i wqent after that officer for what i belived was a threat the way he went affter that girl i’d be doing time in the state pin. so in dont see why the officer sholuld be treated any diffrent. i think he should be held to a higher standerd.

Jun 7, 2009 - 2:08 pm 112. Philtex:

You protest too much on behalf of the officer. The girl was in a car “stolen” from her parents. Otherwise in my experience known as typical teenage misadventure…not the hardened car thief the word stolen implicates. You say the office made a choice, then you say he let his emotions make a choice for him. Isn’t the essence of grace under fire denying one’s animal instincts and setting them aside. Yes, everyone is fallable, but I can’t imagine a situation where my fallabilty would lead me to attack a confined 15 year old girl, no matter how smart her mouth was, and I know how infuriating a 15 year old girl’s tongue can be, their words can cut like an emotional knife. I like you and your blog, you just twisted yourself up a little to give a cop some cover on this one, despite your clear and honest assertion that he deserves what’s coming to him, and I too hope his entire career is taken into account. Sorry, run-on sentences are my specialty.

Jul 29, 2009 - 11:33 am 113. Scott A:

Take his career into considerations when handing out a punishment?!?!? What the heck for?!?!?!? Do judges take other people careers into consideration when they hand down their punishment? NO!! On second thought yeah you should take his career into consideration. Given his career he should be held to a higher standard than the rest of the civilians. He should and is trained to deal with these kind of people. So therefore his punishment should be more severe, just as a professional boxer’s punishment is more sever for punching someone on the street. He has definitely made the job more difficult for the rest of us. Does he think that he is the only cop that has to deal with a smart azz teen? Happens often and I have never did anything like that to one especially a little girl. Oooo he is such a big man for beating up a little girl!!

Nov 20, 2009 - 10:24 am 114. ScottA:

Deputy Dan,

WE are not talking about some useless openly roaming thug with a guns in public that shot officers (I did see this on the national news and I am sorry) raped children and God know what else. This is a little girl flipping her Keds which then hit the officers in the shin.

Nov 20, 2009 - 10:31 am

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