Alabama Officers Fired for Beating Suspect After Car Crash
A dramatic 2008 police chase in Birmingham, Ala. -- that ended with officers beating an unconscious suspect who had been flung from his vehicle when it crashed -- has led to the firing of five officers one year later.
Police had been questioning 38-year-old Anthony Warren about possible drug activity when he fled and lead police on a nearly 30-minute chase. Warren's minivan eventually veered into a ditch, rolling twice and flinging him from an open window. Police then proceeded to beat the unconscious Warren, kicking, punching and striking him with clubs.
Birmingham police chief A.C. Roper said that while the officers actions before the crash were exemplary, the beating was "shameful." Five officers involved in the incident have been fired.
“Dr. King wrote from the Birmingham Jail that ‘injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,'” said Birmingham Mayor Larry P. Langford. “More than 40 years later, we must send the message that all citizens deserve equal and fair treatment under the law.”
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When a policeman puts on a badge he becomes a PULIC SERVANT and by that he is responsible to act with honor and respect.These five cops did neither. Why are they not in jail?
They have dishonored their profession and the public. There is a right way and a wrong way to do things, they are taught the right way, so what happened.
Do you have any idea what kind of mental attitude it takes to hit someone unresponsibe on the ground, and then to do it over and over? It takes a criminal to do that...these cops shame themselves. They were wrong and they deserved what happened to them.
This kind of stuff happens all the time.And I would say we do need to weed out the bad cops.
If you can't keep our cool you should not be a COP.I for one would have shot the guy for tring to run me over.But that is why I am not a cop.
You actually would have been justified in shooting him. The criminal committed attempted murder of the police officer when he tried to hit him with his vehicle. I think a good case could have been made based on the "Fleeing Felon Rule" as laid out in Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1 (1985). In this case the Supreme court held that deadly force "may not be used unless necessary to prevent the escape and the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others."
wow, way too close. Too bad they lost their cool, they were clearly heroes until that assault.
These cops look like the violent apes in the opening scenes of "2001: A Space Odyssey". It's past time for them to evolve or go extinct.
Police officers are held to a higher standard of anger management than ordinary citizens, and for good reason. These cops were clearly angry. They weren't afraid he was hiding a gun, approaching him cautiously. They ran at him, bodies wide open, and started hitting him. If he _had_ had a gun, they might have been shot! They were simply angry, taking revenge. That is wrong.
Good for Birmingham for doing the right thing and firing them!
As a prosecutor, a law enforcement officer has the right to use such force as is reasonably necessary under the circumstances to make a lawful arrest.
This suspect appeared to be non-responsive where his hands were spread out in clear view. Because of that, the level of force exceeds the resistance of the suspect. In fact, there was not resistance of the suspect even prior to the first officer's assault.
If anyone thinks that this isn't excessive force, then I guess that I'll be prosecuting you next.
If I don't think this is excessive force, what the hell would you prosecute me for? Having an opinion? The only connection I can make is that you're insinuating that the only people that would think this isn't excessive force are criminals themselves. In my opinion, that's a half-assed backwards statement. The criminals are saying the cops should die, and the people that hate criminals (not being one themselves) think the criminal in the video deserved to be killed...including me.
Even so, after letting my anger settle, I did view this as excessive force. However, I still believe the jackass got what he deserved for trying to kill a police officer. I have two cousins that are cops, and I have no respect for anyone who has no respect for the law or for the officers who try to enforce them.
Yes, the cops should have restrained from this, but after the chain of events that transpired I am very on level with them as to understanding why they lost control. I don't think they even realized that he was unconscious at first because they were so enraged....as I was. But, come on......to fire the cops? I'm sick of criminals of this nature being treated with kid gloves. Sorry.
Technically, you are correct, but that only applies with respect to the crimes the criminal has committed against society . We have a tradition of looking the other way when cops take it personally and administer "payback" should a perp commit a crime against the cop himself. This is to maintain the cop's command authority and to ensure that cops don't have to put up with degrading treatment at the hands of criminals.
We may have no choice but to prosecute the cops, given that the accusation can be proven. But those in the community who take it personally and get angry and resentful reveal that they identify with a dangerous criminal; should the rest of us not therefore view _them_ as would-be criminals?
At the start of the video, the suspect intentionaly tried to run over one of the police officers and literally came within three inches of killing him. They couldn't know that he was unconcious and not playing 'possum'. He had already showed that he was willing to kill a police officer and for all they knew he could have been holding a gun and was waiting for them to come close. I have seen worse wrecks where the suspect in a car chase gets out and continues running. I am actually surprised they just didn't shoot him to be safe. Since he had no qualms in attempted capital murder of a police officer, there was no reason to think that he wouldn't continue with that mind set at the end of the chase. People are so worried about political correctness, that they are willing to end the carreers of 5 'exemplary' police officers for over reacting in subduing a person who had just tried to kill one of them. Its called anger folks and not one of you can say that you haven't reacted instictively out of anger that most people would consider overreacting. You have to apply COMMON SENSE and look at the circumstances that lead to their response and respond appropriately. Firing them as sacrifical lambs to the bleeding hearts is way out of line with what happened. Reprimand, suspension at the most. These bleeding hearts are also the ones who scream the loudest for police when they are in trouble.