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Police pepper spray peaceful students @ Davis
November 19, 2011 at
11:27 AM
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Just spreading the knowledge
Police pepper spray peaceful students
http://www.huffingtonp
Police pepper spray peaceful students
http://www.huffingtonp
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Last Edited by veritablequandary
December 4, 2011
at
10:28 AM
546 Comments
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Oh what? that's different somehow?
My granpa was a professor at Davis for years and gave the school millions after he retired, and so i spent a lot of time there as a kid and i still live less than 50 miles from it. It is a progressive town with an ag-based college, and this kind of force is not appropriate at it. Maybe at other schools - not in this area. Davis camps police made a big mistake. period. Davis (the city) will not allow this. And they have say in this too.
Who were praised? I commend the police for doing their job ... the same ones that were suspended due to following orders? That's the biggest joke - they are punished for following standard operating proecedures.
It's sad how people have total lack of respect for those in authority.
Whether you agree with the "Occupy" movement or not, this shows the hypocracy of this country.
If Libya or Syria pepper sprayed students that were peacefully demonstrating, I'm sure it would be all over the news as an example of how "Barbaric" that country is.
Obama himself said that the Middle Eastern countries should not do anything to the protestors.. He should worry more about his own country.
"Normal police procedure" is no different from the famous "I was just following orders" defense.
I'd rather get hit by a stick.
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Whether you agree with the "Occupy" movement or not, this shows the hypocracy of this country.
If Libya or Syria pepper sprayed students that were peacefully demonstrating, I'm sure it would be all over the news as an example of how "Barbaric" that country is.
Obama himself said that the Middle Eastern countries should not do anything to the protestors.. He should worry more about his own country.
Being stubborn when you've been asked to leave and warned that you will be pepper sprayed if you don't comply is just STUPID. We're not talking about the civil rights movement here. We're talking about the Occupy Movement which is kind of stupid to begin with!
"Most efficient method".. ie the laziest solution.
"Normal police procedure" is no different from the famous "I was just following orders" defense.
Is that right for your work to fire you due to the aftermath of you following procedure? Or, would your defense be (and rightfully so) that you just followed procedure?
However, pepper spray is the most appropriate solution.
Let me explain the difference in scenarios where the use of force can be different and the varying options:
Actual Scenario:
Students are told to stop blocking the passageway.
Students refuse to move and link arms.
Students now actively resist arrest by pulling away from police officers, refusing to move.
Students are warned that they must get off the sidewalk or face arrest.
Police officers again attempt to pull students away from the "chain", but they actively pull back and strengthen their link. This is now active resistance. (A notable difference from passive resistance which includes going limp or just not doing anything).
Options:
-Police can do nothing and neglect their legal duty to enforce the law.
-Police did attempt to use more verbal commands (didnt work).
-Police did attempt to use soft hands, again (tried pulling people off the line, didnt work).
-Police can use pepper spray, which is effective for large groups and is non-lethal, which will resort in people becoming uncomfortable and probably loosen their grip and or flee/disperse
-Police can use tear gas, also less lethal, but would affect the bystanders in the area.
-Police could use tasers, also less lethal, however is not effective for multiple persons.
-Police could use hard hands or physical force (punches, batons, etc), this would also be effective, but likely to cause serious bodily injury, probably not appropriate without any offensive moves by the suspect.
-The other options further up the use of force spectrum include, but obviously are not available considering the circumstances: beanbag rounds, rubber bullets, less lethal but guaranteed to cause serious bodily injury, and lethal/deadly force.
In the "Use of force continuum [wikipedia.org]" that most agencies use, you'll see where pepper spray sits in the escalation of force. Not all agencies have the same policies, but they're pretty close - there are only so many levels of force:
1. Officer Presence
2. Verbal Commands
3. Soft Techniques (Soft Hands, OC Spray, Tear Gas, Pepperballs, Wrist Locks)
4. Hard Techniques (Strikes and Takedowns, Batons, Less-than-lethal such as beanbag, rubber bullets)
5. Deadly Force (Threat of Deadly Force, Deadly Force)
Their use of pepperspray was not only a correct choice, but the way they arrived to it (by gradually stepping up to that level of force), is completely justified.
If the situation were different: people just sitting on the sidewalk, individually, where they weren't linking hands and pulling back from the officers, then yes police could individually grab one at a time and cart them off. However, the reality was they were working together to actively resist arrest.
As far as their legal right to protest: I completely agree that they have the right to protest. I support it actually. However you have to do it right. They were told to simply move off the sidewalk. They could've continued to protest on the grass like everyone else, but wanted to be defiant and break the law. They wanted to be martyrs.
P.S. I have been pepper-sprayed.
Look, i think folks have a right to do their jobs too, bt the police simply did not *have to* do this. It was a sign of exasperation and irritation.
I for one agree the kids will be better off staying in class and taking school seriously and avoiding confrontaion like this. However, if my kid had the balls to be peppersprayed, i'd be a little happy, secretly.
Change does not happen easily. and if everyone here thinks things don't need to change, well I don't know what to say...
I agree with 12321, we'd all still be oppresed (except rich white boys) if people were all sheeple...bt this is part of the deal with oppression, they will will taze, hose and pepperspray. Again, change isn't easy.
Don't confuse compliance with complacency.
/Nelson
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The cop try's reasoning with them. I mean hell he is just doing his job. He gives them more chances to leave then they deserve. I mean breaking a law is breaking a law.
Then OMG they get pepper sprayed. Victory is theirs, they will be famous for breaking the law. The world will feel their pain.
Then the cop has to deal with some backlash from people, who think we should support some dumb kids for pushing the officers to address the situation.
We do have a voice here. If you choose to choose to take a stand by breaking the law.... Then that is your decision. But with that comes consequences. .