Cop Investigated Over YouTube Video

Status
Not open for further replies.
H

HardOCP News

[H] News
Joined
Dec 31, 1969
Messages
0
You know, if you are going to body check some protester off his bike…you should probably make sure no one is video taping you. I mean you just have to know it is going to end up on YouTube.

The video (see below), which was shot by a tourist and posted on the video-sharing site Sunday, shows bicyclists whizzing past uniformed officers during the Times Square protest. One officer begins to stride across the street, picking up speed and violently tackling a bicyclist into a crowded sidewalk.
Click to expand...
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUkiyBVytRQ

The cop will no doubt say he thought the guy on the bike was coming right at him, it was hectic, hundreds of bikes running the red light, etc. etc.

Dude on the bike is going to say "I was peacefully protesting at 25mph and BAM!...I need a check to make things better"
 
I don't know enough about the incident to make a judgment.

The cop clearly ignored all kinds of bicyclists but for some reason or other very specifically targeted that individual, which would lead me to believe there's some reason behind it.
 
Should this be here in the tech forums?

Anyways, I'll just say what someone else said about this:

"We get these jerks riding in SF too. Their tendency to ride over pedestrians while protesting automobiles doesn't give them a lot of sympathy with me. From blowing through red lights, riding on the sidewalks and running down peds in cross-walks Critical Mass riders need to grow up a little and dummy up that they're not so precious."
 
Steve,

Thanks for throwing a link up for the video on Youtube, couldn't find one on the yahoo article's page.
 
It's in the tech section because it is technology being used to police the police.

I'm glad someone was around to video tape this as the story the officer gave was completely different from what the video shows. It is obvious to me that this officer was abusing his power.
 
Lets say the bicyclist did do something wrong and the officer needed to hold him for questioning. The officer should have yelled at him and pointed to him or held up his hand and asked him to stop. If the guy tried to get away then I think the officer could have body checked him. If I was caught speeding in my car I certainly wouldn't expect a cop car to T-bone me to get me to stop unless I tried to get away.
 
This is tech news because technology is used as the only evidence against the cops (video recording device, YouTube, etc.)


*edit* oops, Sizzle beat me to it ;)
 
Steve said:
This is tech news because technology is used as the only evidence against the cops (video recording device, YouTube, etc.)


*edit* oops, Sizzle beat me to it ;)
Click to expand...

That would qualify every youtube video that involves a cop.
 
I think that bicyclist hit critical mass.



Somebody had to say it.
 
mcravenufo said:
Lets say the bicyclist did do something wrong and the officer needed to hold him for questioning. The officer should have yelled at him and pointed to him or held up his hand and asked him to stop. If the guy tried to get away then I think the officer could have body checked him. If I was caught speeding in my car I certainly wouldn't expect a cop car to T-bone me to get me to stop unless I tried to get away.
Click to expand...

Exactly. Not sure how he resisted arrest, either. Kinda hard to resist when all that seemed to have happened was a body check and him hitting the ground hard.
 
Either way you've got to give the 2 points to the cop for a clean take down; and he seemed to make sure to pick up the bike, (would leaving it there constitute littering?)
 
Ockie said:
That would qualify every youtube video that involves a cop.
Click to expand...

I think you answered your own question to an extent. On the flip side, I 'enjoy' something different from the norm every now and then.
 
Protesters that whose method of protest involves violating laws get no sympathy from me. Cyclists are bound by the same rules of the road as other vehicles. This is much the same as all the illegal immigrants protesting immigration law by marching on the CA state capital last year: people protesting by flaunting the law. Of course, there are enough idiots that will say "Police oppression! Violation of my freedom of speech" or whatever when they get arrested for breaking laws, and enough other idiots to listen to them.

Protesters that get my respect, even when I don't agree with their position, are the ones that gather peaceably, and their demonstration doesn't stop the general public from going about my daily business. I've been in a couple protests and we made sure to not be obnoxious: you win allies by stating your case in a calm, friendly manner, not by getting in everyone's way.

I don't know about this specific instance, so I'll refrain from commenting other than I'll not make a judgment either way based on a scant 30 seconds of video.
 
Huh, no edit function in this post, so replied to add:

Not only is it a very short clip, but the audio is just crap. There is no way to tell if the cop ordered the cyclist to stop or if there was any exchange.

We see the cop check the cyclist. What happened before? After? What happened just before the camera turned and focused on those two officers?
 
The bike rider may have been done some thing off camera that other police witnessed and radioed the other two officers to pick him up. We don't really know the rest. But that take down was prolly a little more than what was necessary. The officer is still getting paid and is on desk duty. That is prolly a sign that this is one of those things that is only happening because the press is all over it.

From the article:
"The bicyclist, Christopher Long, 29, was charged with blocking traffic, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, and assault, prosecutors said."
 
I'm going to wager this particular rider did something off camera that likely justified the take-down. I'm also going to wager that it isn't going to matter, after all, the pigs are just a bunch of trigger-happy power-mad Nazis, right? Jump to the headlines, fade from D-34.
 
I wonder. If that same cyclist did not obey laws to protect civilians perhaps the police officer was justified. Not like he was running around trying to take down every person on a bike. Plus that guy that got taken down clearly knew something was about to happen. He was trying to avoid those police more than most any other rider in the video.
 
The cop was only 22? Evidently a little too young for so much responsibility?
 
from the vid it looked like the biker hippie tried at the last moment to veer into the cop. not a good idea imo.
 
A group of Critical Mass guys in Seattle blocked a guy in a driveway, started banging on his hood, he backed up to get out of the way, accidentally hit one that moved in behind him then they beat they crap out of the guy. Essentially they assualted him and when he tried to flee, they amped it up a bit. Two are now in jail.

They are protesting to get people to "share the road." As far as I'm concerned they're doucebags on wheels. Blocading a driveway or intersection against the light is not "sharing he road" it's "being an asshole" and that's what these people are.
 
The Smoking gun

JULY 29--You've probably seen that YouTube video of the New York cop viciously knocking down a bicyclist in Times Square last week. Officer Patrick Pogan's blindside hit on Christopher Long led NYPD brass yesterday to strip the rookie cop of his gun and badge pending a department probe. That review will surely focus on the 22-year-old Pogan's sworn account of the takedown, which led to Manhattan prosecutors filing three misdemeanor charges against the 29-year-old Long, who was participating in a monthly bike ride organized by transportation activists. As seen in the below Criminal Court complaint filed against Long (who spent 26 hours in jail after his arrest Friday night), Pogan offered a fantastical version of the incident. Pogan claimed that Long drove his bicycle directly into him, knocking the cop to the ground and causing "lacerations on deponent's forearm." The video, of course, shows Pogan delivering a blow that would have made former Oakland Raider Jack Tatum proud. Pogan also claimed that Long resisted arrest and even exclaimed, "You are pawns in the game, I'm gonna have your job." The bicycle enthusiast's second statement may prove prophetic.
 
ianken said:
A group of Critical Mass guys in Seattle blocked a guy in a driveway, started banging on his hood, he backed up to get out of the way, accidentally hit one that moved in behind him then they beat they crap out of the guy. Essentially they assualted him and when he tried to flee, they amped it up a bit. Two are now in jail.

They are protesting to get people to "share the road." As far as I'm concerned they're doucebags on wheels. Blocading a driveway or intersection against the light is not "sharing he road" it's "being an asshole" and that's what these people are.
Click to expand...

I agree. Its that kind of behavior that spawns GTA-style driving. TEN POINTS!
 
Just a little update:
The officer that did the body-checking has been relieved of his badge and gun pending an investigation. mayor Bloomberg came out condemning the incident, although softened that blow by stating "he didn't want to voice too strong of an opinion" worrying it might sway the investigation. lets wait and see how Police Comm. Ray Kelly fields this one......
 
Well while we do not see what exactly was happening the news article did state that the cop saw him weaving in and out of traffic and around cars etc etc.

BUT the issue at hand is in the officers statement he said that he warned the guy and told him to stop. At that point it does not really matter what the biker was doing. The cop clearly did not point/yell or make any attempt at getting the guy to stop. He walked over and body checked him.
 
Cyclists don't belong in the road with cars. (This is coming from a bike enthusiast that cycles strictly off-road).

Cops rarely adhere to any laws themselves and only seem to get punished for major wrong-doing when an entire city calls for it.

So they both get asshole awards from me.
 
infect0 said:
Well while we do not see what exactly was happening the news article did state that the cop saw him weaving in and out of traffic and around cars etc etc.

BUT the issue at hand is in the officers statement he said that he warned the guy and told him to stop. At that point it does not really matter what the biker was doing. The cop clearly did not point/yell or make any attempt at getting the guy to stop. He walked over and body checked him.
Click to expand...

a different cop could of told him to stop down the street and he could of got a call over the radio. the cop looked like he knew which one it was.
 
Wow, that was an awesome move, two thumbs up. That cop rules.
 
EDIT: Watch the slow motion section of the video, you can see the cyclist lean into the cop as cop walked over, cop reacted and plowed the cyclist down.

Verdict: Cyclist had it coming.
 
Wow, I can't believe anyone of you are defending that cop.

He was stripped of his badge and his gun. He clearly did something wrong there. Cops who shoot people in questionable situations don't get stripped like that.

The cop RAN into him. He's a former LINEMAN, he knew exactly what he was doing.

Not only that the courts ruled that the ride could take place!

I'm at a loss how some of you just bow to police power. What the exactly was the cop protecting?

Oh, by the way, the biker was an army vet. Let's flip the headline.

"Army vet body checked off his bike during legal protest!" Change any minds?
 
It's clear that the officer picked him from the get go and didn't say or motion anything to the on coming biker. Wether the biker was in the right or wrong, the officer should have never taken him down in that manner, especially with pedestrians on the sidewalk there too. Sorry to say, some officers just don't think enough. And what makes it worse for him, is that he lied on the incident report...not good.
One thing I'm wondering about, if the biker did do something wrong, how come the other officer didn't help, between the two of them they could have stopped the biker in his tracks with ease.
 
The cop probably overreacted here, hell, it looks like assault, but there is almost definitely another side to the story.

It sure looks like the two cops are trying to spot a specific cyclist. When they spot him, both begin moving towards him. When the cop moves in front of the cyclist, the cyclist tries to ride around him and the cop lays him out. Why this cyclist? Someone find out exactly why this cyclist was singled out and we can know exactly what kind of incident this really is.
 
theystolemyname said:
Cyclists don't belong in the road with cars. (This is coming from a bike enthusiast that cycles strictly off-road).

Cops rarely adhere to any laws themselves and only seem to get punished for major wrong-doing when an entire city calls for it.

So they both get asshole awards from me.
Click to expand...

Actually, in most states it's illegal to ride bicycles anywhere BUT the road. I see people riding bikes on the sidewalk at high speed here in Las Vegas so often, and I swear I tell you, I want to body check 'em so bad sometimes it's tough to hold back. At 6'6" 380 lbs... I could knock 'em clear off the bike, over a semi, and into the upper deck of a casino. :)

Bikes on pavement, people on concrete... as it should be. And for the complete retards that choose to ride bikes on the wrong side of the road into traffic, so be it. If they want to see "it" coming, more power to 'em.
 
Man, that was an EPIC body slam, stupid hippie probably deserved it, but the cop probably should have just let him go. These jackasses aren't bringing awareness to anything, they are just pissing people off.

And what kind of name is Critical Mass, sounds like a euphemism for a giant, toilet clogging, shit...
 
Joe Average said:
Bikes on pavement, people on concrete... as it should be.
Click to expand...

I agree, but cyclists need to have the common courtesy of staying the hell away from roads that they can't keep pace on. Plan your sodding bike route for light traffic and available shoulders. At least once a month, I get the utter joy of some twerp on his cycle holding up traffic on a two-lane double-solid road because he feels the need to bike at 30 on a 45mph street.
 
yea thats a douchebag cop for you.. hope he gets whats comin to him
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top