Seattle: Officer Punches woman, caught on tape.

[dicion]

LANGUAGE WARNING FOR THE LINK!

http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailywee ... caught.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

To me, it's amazing the complete slant the article trys to put on the officer's actions. From the title alone "Seattle Police Officer Caught on Tape Punching Woman During Jaywalking Stop" you can see the article has an agenda to begin with.

Most of the comments below the article have gotten it right though. The officer was assaulted, it was 2 on 1. I don't see the problem. Don't want to be punched by a cop? Don't attack one first.

I personally think the officer should have Tazed both of them... but that's just me.

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"

[Teamless]

the cop should get a medal. he took it very easy on both of the women

[karl]

From what I've heard in discussions on this board the area is not friendly to LEOs, or anyone with a gun for that matter.

[Medic218]

I'm ok with what he did, I'm not a cop but alot people arent EMS friendly either sometimes and for no good reason.
I think people just think we(police, fire, EMS) like being bossy and dont actually think that we're asking them to do something for a reason and not just to be difficult.
You deffinitly need to have patients to work in public safety but everyone has a tipping point and this cop reached his and I think acted appropriately to protect his own safety.

[redlin67]

If that had been a guy, the officer would have twisted that arm and slammed him to the ground right away. Those gals should consider themselves lucky that he used minimal force to subdue them. to the LEO, he showed a lot more constraint that I would have if in that scenario.

[Quahog]

What ever happened to respect the police? I see stuff like that and it frosts me.

[Crossfire]

The thing that struck me about this video - as many times as the question has been asked on this board about whether a CHL holder can carry handcuffs and use them to detain someone - just look at how difficult it is to put cuffs on someone who is non cooperative. The officer was obviously bigger and stronger than the woman, and still it was a real struggle for him.

The other thing is, how many of us have to do our jobs in the midst of a crowd of people who are yelling obscenities at us and video taping everything we do? I don't think he did everything right. He could have handled it better. But I sure wouldn't want to be in his shoes. So, kudos to him.

Also, I added a language warning for the link. Not for the video, but for the article. What kind of newspaper prints that sort of language in a story???

[DONT TREAD ON ME]

Notice not a single bystander stopped to help the officer but plenty stopped to tape the incident.

[Oldgringo]

The thing that struck me about this video - as many times as the question has been asked on this board about whether a CHL holder can carry handcuffs and use them to detain someone - just look at how difficult it is to put cuffs on someone who is non cooperative. The officer was obviously bigger and stronger than the woman, and still it was a real struggle for him.

The other thing is, how many of us have to do our jobs in the midst of a crowd of people who are yelling obscenities at us and video taping everything we do? I don't think he did everything right. He could have handled it better. But I sure wouldn't want to be in his shoes. So, kudos to him.

I absolutely agree with Crossfire, handcuffs indeed!

A CHL is not a Batman license. Let the LEO's do their job while we CH licensees do ours; i.e., protect ourselves and ours.

[Beiruty]

The LEO used force, justifiably. The moment that lady and her accomplice started to restrain the officer and even pushed him, instead of he complying with his commands, it was assault on the officer and resisting arrest. The response came like lightning Bolt, squarely between the eyes. Tazer/PSpray could have been deployed however, the punch proved faster.

She learned and will keep learning a lesson. Do not assault LEOs. And, I do not understand how in the world the woman that got punched thought that she had the right to obstruct LEO from doing his job?

[Oldgringo]

Beiruty wrote:

I do not understand how in the world the woman that got punched thought that she had the right to obstruct LEO from doing his job?

I understand exactly how she thought that she had the right and if you've been around awhile and will think about it for a minute or two, it'll come to you.

HERE"S A CLUE: had this honky (me) done that to an arresting LEO, do you think it would have made national prime time news? No. I'd be under the jail and the keys would have been thrown away.

[MasterofFajitas]

It seems that it took far too long to get the situation under control but then, I wasn't there. At the point of physical confrontation with the lady in pink, it was two against one...with a crowd like that gathering steam, it could have turned out rather badly if one or two others had decided to join in.

[KFP]

When I saw this, I immediately thought that everyone would be supporting the use of a taser instead of a fist. Ironically, many people think that tasers are excessive force when they are used. I think more than anything else, this illustrates that all too often LEOs are unnecessarily scrutinized for doing their jobs.

I'm sure there is a definitive use of force continuum, but I honestly have no idea what I would say goes where on it.

Gun>Baton>Taser>Physical Force>Pepper Spray???

I think there can be a lot of good arguments made for placing each of those (gun excluded) in almost any other position depending on how it is used. What do you think?

[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.

[Beiruty]

Both ladies in the incidents have criminal records. Their hate and distaste to the LEO is clear.