I don't write very often about police brutality because I have a law suit making its way through the courts right now on this very subject. In a nutshell, my case involves a home invasion where there were 3 sleeping women who were dragged out of their beds terrified and then terrorized and brutalized. I ended up with a broken arm and a broken back. My 90 year old Mother, who was bedridden and blind and recovering from a massive stroke and hip surgery ended up in the hospital and on a respirator after she stopped breathing out of pure fright. The police report after this incident had 23 outright lies and 12 half truths, all designed to make it sound like "we deserved" what happened that early morning in our own home. It should be noted that they weren't even at the right address. Not that it mattered to the officers at the time, they didn't even check to see who it was they were attacking. So I offer this disclaimer when I say that after listening to the lawyer for the New Orleans police involved in the brutal attack on a 64 year old man, I don't believe one word.
According to the lawyer, the gentleman, a retired school teacher, was so strong, he was able to lift all three policemen plus an FBI agent up off the ground and that hitting him in the head and pounding him into the pavement was the "only" way to subdue him. After seeing the police in question, can anyone take this claim seriously? One of the police looked like he weighed close to 300 lbs.
The one trouble with being mostly conservative is that most conservatives believe the police are some kind of heroes all the time. This just isn't true. New Orleans has had numerous past problems with police brutality just as we have had in Southern California. It is a mentality that invades departments and is allowed to perpetuate through prosecutors who refuse to do the right thing. Let's hope it isn't the case here.
While I think that the majority of police do try to be good and effective public servants, there are always going to be some rogues in the mix, just as in all jobs that concentrate power in general.
What happened to you and your family is horrible, just as what happened in N.O. is horrible. Prosecution of these kinds of police brutality cases should be more vigorous. In cases where the cops are the only armed people on the scene and outnumber the alleged lawbreaker, no such force should be necessary.
Posted by: ken grandlund | 13 October 2005 at 09:05 AM