Ken, did you see the video taken from light pole on Savage site? Those damn paramedics need to lose their damn job! You know what they should have done? I'd give everyone of them some jail time! At least 10 or more cops just standing around then in come the medic toons my goodness what a bunch of bad people. Jake said" he must of went with all of their wives 'sarcasm'., never saw such uncaring people.
I can't tell from the video. That would depend on what they're being told by the cops. If he's under custody, and the police don't allow them to do their jobs, then they can't do them. I have had to tell cops before that their prisoner was probably going to die if we weren't allowed to transport him. You can't just grab them and go, but you can scare them with liability. I also wasn't sure if the first two people who were there with medic bags were the paramedics or cops, as EMT-trained police will carry medic bags in their cars.
After watching a clear video now I am really mad at all of the cops at this scene. And medics too! What a terrible way to die. Savages all of them including the ones who showed up later a few of them were white. as were the medics.
I watched part of the light-pole video a few minutes ago but I didn't have the stomach for it. When that cop kicked him it made me physically ill. They literally beat him to death. I read the comments on the Youtube video. Someone pointed out that at some point, one of the officers noticed the light pole camera and pointed his flashlight at it, then said something to the rest of them. That's when the beating stopped, and they pulled him up against the car.
Beth, I noticed that too, he looked up then another one looked up. Good thing for the pole camera. Although I don't like us beinf under surveillance guess in this age we need it.
Very sad IMO, but one thing is for sure, they intended to kill him. Some of the licks they put on him while he is being held up, proves it.
OK, I just watched the entire 26+ minute video. My gut feeling is that this was a purposeful personal beating. There was a point at about 20:33 of the body cam video that the intent was to send Nichols to the hospital, at the minimum. The level of brutality was clearly inexcusable by any criteria I can imagine. It would be interesting to know if there is any personal backstory here. You will note that somewhere around 6+ minutes one of the black officers may have appeared fatigued. I think he was collaterally maced. I doubt that any cared about the "pole camera", what with multiple running body cams. My opinion, only,
I'd like to think that most cops are just doing their job enforcing the law, but everyone is on edge now. I've never met a rude or non-caring paramedic when I go to fire dept if I don't want to go to er.
I'd like to open this up again, with additional thoughts. Let's start from the assumption that the beating was not warranted by anything seen on the videos. I sure couldn't see any reason for it. There may have been, but it wasn't on the videos. I've read a lot of talk in the media about the need for additional police reforms--and this makes me think further limitations. But I wonder if this is what the problem was with the Nichols killing by police. To me, it looked like they completely ignored any normal procedures. It looked like a rogue police cadre, like Rampart in LA back in the 80s or 90s. The problem was not bad procedure or training, but really bad individuals as cops who purposefully ignored procedures and training. So one would not need to change procedures, just punish the hell out of those who refused to follow them. Make it so that no cop thinks that they'll get away with ignoring established procedures. I'd like to suggest being more restrictive in the pool of recruits, but as it is many PDs are so understaffed that they've loosened standards. So it gets down to either having less than standard police, who have been trained, and made to understand that they *will* be punished like a criminal if they do not follow procedures, or have the PD understaffed by 20%. This is like it is in Portland, OR, (actually, it is undersrtaffed by 20% using lower standards--not enough, and not as good) and as a consequence (I suppose) I no longer see police cruisers, and by stated PD policy, many 911 calls are de-priotitzed. This includes active theft and almost all property crimes. In this city, you'd be a damned fool not to have a gun in the house. What do you think about needed reform vs severe public punishment?
I think we need more work farms aka chain gangs. Doing some of the work our taxes keep giving to big biz and others while able-bodied people sit in prisons. It is also good for them to work.
Now that the initial shock/outrage over the released videos is calming down, it will be interesting to hear what facts come out. I'm particularly interested in why they initially stopped him and the "traffic violation" that required five "special ops" policemen. I read that even the Memphis PD wasn't clear on the circumstances leading up to it.