Seattle: Officer Punches woman, caught on tape.

[KFP]

Well, I guess I will be in the minority here, but I believe the punch was excessive and out of line. I support our officers and I realize they have stressful jobs, and I am not arguing that the girls were in the wrong. They were being rude and confrontational and resisting the officer; however, the officer was not defending himself. He got frustrated and threw a punch. I can understand the frustration, but if that were a bouncer at a bar, I think everyone would agree he was not justified. Officers have to show more restraint and better judgment in my opinion. I would be interested in hearing what some of the officers on this forum think.

I'm not trying to be confrontational at all, this is an honest question: How would you have handled it in the same situation?

I see it as a situation that required some degree of force on his part - does that mean taser, baton, oc spray??? I guess that is my point - any of those would still be viewed as excessive, yet they would have been necessary to take her into custody. Tough situation to be in.

[Beiruty]

I would suggest that a push back was enough to respond to her push back. Not saying a punch is an excessive force. So far, a punch is still simple force on force. The lady was not knocked off and she just disengaged from the confrontation and kept her distance. I guess you can say she was put in her place. I do note that the LEO spent to much time to restrain the second lady.

[Manfred]

These situations irritate me.

1. The general public has no idea how difficult it is to arrest someone who doesn’t want to be arrested.
2. When you break a law you have subjected yourself to detention.
3. The media has gotten laughably irresponsible when it comes to subjecting people to public scrutiny.
4. Whats the lesson here? If a camera is rolling...then just let them commit a crime?

We had an incident in Dallas not too long ago where an officer was shamed into resigning from the force for writing someone a ticket for speeding and running a red light because the man was a "pro-football player". The man thought him going to a hospital to see a relative gave him a pass to endanger other people...NNNNOooooo it doesn’t. The media and John Q' Idiot Public cost a good young man his job.

People just don’t realize how good we have it here. Hopefully the officer doesn’t have to jump through too many hoops to get back to normal duty.

-Manny

[Crossfire]

You guys are skating dangerously close to the edge of the forum etiquette boundaries.

This discusssion is not about race, and racial slurs will not be tolerated. Neither will profanity, or psuedo-profanity.

[Skooter]

I think the LEO hadled the situation very calmly. Almost too calmly in my opinion.

[Beiruty]

It is helpful to read this article: http://www.king5.com/news/Seattle-polic ... 03019.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Note the first one to be hand cuffed has already assaulted an LEO before and the charges were dropped.

[karder]

Well, I guess I will be in the minority here, but I believe the punch was excessive and out of line. I support our officers and I realize they have stressful jobs, and I am not arguing that the girls were in the wrong. They were being rude and confrontational and resisting the officer; however, the officer was not defending himself. He got frustrated and threw a punch. I can understand the frustration, but if that were a bouncer at a bar, I think everyone would agree he was not justified. Officers have to show more restraint and better judgment in my opinion. I would be interested in hearing what some of the officers on this forum think.

I'm not trying to be confrontational at all, this is an honest question: How would you have handled it in the same situation?

I see it as a situation that required some degree of force on his part - does that mean taser, baton, oc spray??? I guess that is my point - any of those would still be viewed as excessive, yet they would have been necessary to take her into custody. Tough situation to be in.

That is a tough question KFP. Honestly, I am not certain how I would have handled the situation. As I have said, I have great respect for police officers. My brother-in-law is a 20 year veteran of the EPPD and my baby brother just got accepted into the academy (ok, bragging). I think one of the things that makes being a patrol officer such a tough job is that they are required to act professionally, even when being abused by the people they are trying to serve and protect. I am in no way defending the conduct of the young ladies, but I just don't think that striking the girl was appropriate in that situation. I have been known to let my Irish temper get the best of me in the past, so I can sympathize with the officer's frustration, but I feel like he lost his cool and lashed out.

[seniorshooteress]

That was a really bad situation that LEO was in. He should have knocked them both out. Evidently his punch didn't hurt the one in pink to badly she was still able to mouth off and was still standing up after the punch. When you behave that way towards a LEO you are asking for it. IMO Looked like an unrulely crowd that could have become another threat. Wonder what the senerio would have been had the officer also been African American. Is that the politically correct term now? It changes on a daily basis.

[KD5NRH]

I think they should re-title the article. I offer my suggestions:
"Woman caught on tape assaulting officer"
"Officer defends self after being assaulted by 2 people while issuing ticket"

"Seattle cops don't just hit girls, they hit like girls, too."
"Officer fails to take full advantage of opportunity to give woman the beat-down she desperately needs."

I mean, c'mon; if you gotta hit somebody, lay 'em out with the first punch.

[Fangs]

I saw this on Facebook, and my tongue-in-cheek response went as follows: For all he knew she had a knife... she sure wasn't bringing him a sandwich.

[OldCannon]

As an officer in a predominantly police-hostile area of her city, my daughter or another cop on patrol goes through stuff like this at least once a week, fortunately they're very skilled at peacefully defusing the situation. It's infuriating the amount of horrible disrespect they get these days.

[Pinkycatcher]

Normally I'm not on the police side, well it's not that I'm anti-police, but most times that police make the news on video it's because they actually did something wrong. But this seems justified to me. Though I don't think he'll go back to working that neighborhood afterwards, he'll get his paid vacation and (rightfully) be back on the job after an investigation.

[Oldgringo]

lkd wrote:

As an officer in a predominantly police-hostile area of her city...

Great use of words in a politically correct phrase. I could certainly learn from you.

Best wishes to your daughter and her fellow LEO's as they attempt to maintain order in the 'hood'.